Valentino Feels The Pinch: Profit Slides 22% As Luxury Sector Cools

by News Editor

April 18, 2025

Italian fashion house Valentino is navigating rougher waters. The brand reported a 22% drop in operating profit for 2024, landing at €246 million, as luxury demand softened, particularly in Asia, once considered a growth engine for high-end brands.

Despite solid sales in Japan, the Middle East, and the Americas, total revenue dipped 2% at constant exchange rates to €1.31 billion. The company points to one-off costs and continued investment in its directly operated stores as key profit pressures.

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With China’s luxury appetite waning and geopolitical uncertainty, including lingering effects from U.S. trade policy under Donald Trump, European brands are increasingly relying on wealthy American shoppers. But even that fallback is showing cracks.

One bright spot: e-commerce. Online sales rose 5% year-over-year, a modest but meaningful gain as Valentino works to strengthen its digital presence.

CEO Jacopo Venturini struck a hopeful tone, spotlighting the brand’s creative reboot under Alessandro Michele. The former Gucci star, known for his eclectic and maximalist style, stepped into the role in March 2024 after the departure of Pierpaolo Piccioli, who defined Valentino’s identity for over two decades.

All eyes are now on Michele’s vision for the brand—and whether it can reignite momentum in a slowing global market.

Meanwhile, the company’s long-term path may soon shift. In 2023, Kering acquired a 30% stake in Valentino, with an option to buy full ownership by 2028. As luxury groups recalibrate amid cooling demand, strategic moves like this could shape the next era of fashion power plays.

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SoftBank Shares Tumble Amid Tech Profit Taking And High-Risk AI Investments

by THEFUTURE.TEAM

June 4, 2026

Market Sell-Off And Profit Taking

SoftBank Group’s share price plunged over 11% following an overnight sell-off in the U.S. market, as broader profit taking in the technology sector weighed on investor sentiment. Major Asian technology players, including TSMC and Foxconn, experienced similar declines, reflecting a cautious approach among investors despite recent gains.

High-Stakes AI Investments

Despite this short-term volatility, SoftBank’s year-to-date share price surge of approximately 70% is largely fueled by robust investor enthusiasm around its high-risk bets on artificial intelligence. Concerns persist over these aggressive investments, even as the market continues to rally on the promise of AI-driven returns.

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Global Technology Landscape

In the broader market, South Korean giants such as Samsung and SK Hynix witnessed modest declines of 1.25% and 2.75%, respectively, following profit taking after surpassing key market valuations. Similarly, overnight in the U.S., semiconductor leader Nvidia fell 3.62%, while Alphabet and Amazon saw declines of 0.79% and 2.5%, respectively.

Long-Term Vision Versus Short-Term Focus

SoftBank CEO Masayoshi Son has been vocal about the transformative potential of artificial intelligence, predicting that the AI revolution could be 50 times larger than the dot-com boom of the 2000s. However, as noted in a recent investor note by Deutsche Bank analyst Peter Milliken, market enthusiasm appears narrowly fixated on short-term momentum rather than a detailed long-term roadmap.

Strategic Asset Reallocation

Adding another layer to the unfolding narrative, SoftBank recently divested a 3.25% stake in Indian eyewear maker Lenskart through its affiliate SVF II Lightbulb (Cayman). The transaction, which involved selling 56.5 million shares at 508.55 Indian rupees each (approximately $5.32 per share), valued the deal at nearly 28.73 billion rupees. Following the sale, SoftBank’s shares traded at 7,377 yen, marking an 11.3% drop.

This dynamic environment underscores the challenges of balancing aggressive, innovation-driven investments with the need for prudent risk management in volatile markets.

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