Farfetch Ltd shares jumped as much as 23% in after-hours trading following financial results that beat Wall Street’s expectations, a sign that luxury retail could still be a port in the storm amid a slowdown in discretionary shopping.
Gross merchandise volume — the total dollar amount of processed orders — climbed to $931.7 million in the first quarter, Farfetch said in a statement Thursday, far exceeding the average analyst estimate of $904.9 million. The company also reported smaller losses than expectations.
After sequentially growing sales volumes in both the US and China, the company believes it is on track to deliver growth ahead of the luxury market at large, chief financial officer Elliot Jordan said in the statement.
Farfetch’s results echo similarly impressive first-quarter performance from industry leaders LVMH Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton and Richemont, representing a strong start to the year for the luxury sector even as US consumers pull back on discretionary spending. The return of Chinese consumers helped both European luxury houses report top-line growth, sending shares for both higher after the results.
Shares of Farfetch pared gains to rise about 17% as of 5:03 p.m. in New York. The stock is down by about 8.3% this year through Thursday, in contrast to the 9.3% year-to-date gain for the S&P 500 Index.
Farfetch also reiterated its full year outlook for GMV to reach $4.9 billion, while its adjusted Ebitda margin should be in the range of 1 to 3%.
