In this article, we will talk about the Top Home Luxury Scent of 2024. For our detailed discussion, go directly to the Top 25 Home Luxury Scents of 2024. 

The high-end perfume industry was valued at $13.66 billion in 2022 and is predicted to grow to $19.62 billion by 2029, with a 5.3% CAGR between 2023 and 2029, as mentioned in our article, “11 Best Travel-Size Fragrances For Your Next Vacation.” As previously stated in our article “15 Best Everyday Colognes in 2024,” the global perfume market stood at $50.85 billion in 2022 and is anticipated to increase at a CAGR of 5.9% between 2023 and 2030.

Inter Parfums, Inc. (NASDAQ:IPAR)’s Financial Performance Over The Years; Should You Buy This Stock? 

Inter Parfums, Inc. has been a global fragrance company since 1982, producing and distributing luxury fragrances and associated items through license agreements with brand owners. The company operates in two segments: European activities through its 72% owned subsidiary, Interparfums SA, and United States operations through fully owned subsidiaries in the US and Italy. Prestigious brands such as Abercrombie & Fitch, Anna Sui, Boucheron, Coach, Donna Karan/DKNY, Emilio Pucci, Ferragamo, Graff, GUESS, Hollister, Jimmy Choo, Karl Lagerfeld, Kate Spade, Lacoste, MCM, Moncler, Montblanc, Oscar de la Renta, Roberto Cavalli, and Van Cleef & Arpels are distributed globally through a diverse network of distributors in over 120 countries.

The fragrance company reports that net sales for the year ended March 31, 2024, increased 4% to $324 million from $312 million at the same time the previous year, and earnings per share were $1.27, down 24% from the same quarter last year, despite missing Zacks consensus estimates of $331 million and $0.34, respectively.

The company’s operational income had a sharp decline of 24.7% from the previous year, mostly due to a very high comparable margin in Q1/2023. The slower growth is expected to be set aside in 2024, according to Inter Parfums’ confirmed forecast. The business anticipates $1.45 billion in sales, a 10.0% rise over 2023. The adjusted EPS is predicted to increase by 8.4% to $5.15; although Q1 was not great overall, the challenges appear to be rapidly improving and returning to solid growth.

IPAR’s stock has declined more than 18% over the previous year and has dipped over 21% in the current year as of June 18th, 2024, although it has outperformed the S&P 500’s 15% gain over the same period, suggesting investors might be bullish on this stock but have a high risk at the same time due to a significant decline of 21%. In addition, the stock has risen over 64% in the previous five years, indicating a growth in share price. That’s a positive sign for investors. It also illustrates IPAR’s growth as a business. The trailing PE ratio stands at 25.80, while the forward PE ratio is 21.74. EPS (TTM) is $4.34. Currently, the stock is trading at $111.23 per share.

Revenues increased by only 3.9% year on year, down from 21.3% in 2023, as Inter Parfums’ clients destocked inventory in the quarter, according to the report. Yet, the success of the US-based operations contributed to a rise in revenues. If we look at the bigger picture, the company has made its position stronger in the perfume market due to a constant increase in revenue year over year.

As we have mentioned above, the rise in sales and annual revenue is due to North America, the company’s largest market, demonstrating resilience despite a 3% dip in comparable quarter sales. This reduction is mostly due to the concentration of new releases in the early months of 2023. Western Europe’s sales increased by 10%, but Eastern Europe’s sales fell by 22% owing to supply delays in certain areas, forcing revenues to shift to the second quarter.

Asia-Pacific witnessed a 13% revenue increase, boosted by excellent results in Australia and India. Significant growth was also observed in Central and South America, where sales increased by 31% in the first quarter. However, sales in the Middle East and Africa fell by 5%, owing to economic and social disruptions caused by continuing hostilities in those regions, as well as phased product launches.

On the bright side, the company introduced several new perfumes in the first quarter of 2024, including additions to the long-running lines for Oscar de la Renta and Anna Sui. The Donna Karan Cashmere Collection, Rochas Orange Horizon, Kate Spade Bloom, Van Cleef & Arpels Encens Précieux, Karl Lagerfeld Rouge, Montblanc Legend Blue, and Lacoste L12.12 Blanc and L12.12 Rose all made their debuts in the first quarter. IPAR’s first-ever sales of existing Lacoste and Roberto Cavalli scents reaffirm its belief in these two new fragrance lines. Among its top brands, GUESS saw the biggest sales rise of 21% throughout the quarter. GUESS is IPAR’s fourth-largest brand. All signs for the brand are positive and suggest another great year, especially with a very strong innovation schedule for the rest of the year, as the company stated in its latest earnings report. To support company development throughout the year and make up for fewer new product releases than the previous year, IPAR raised advertising and promotional expenditures in the first quarter of this year. The business reveals that investing more this quarter and much more in the fourth quarter of 2023 is working in its favor because it enables it to drive sell-out ahead of sell-in. In addition, IPAR is continuing to create interesting content and execute omnichannel concepts with known scent lovers to broaden its reach and visibility in significant ways.

Looking forward, Mr Madar stated:

“We increased advertising and promotional investments in the first quarter to fuel business growth throughout the year and to compensate for lighter new product launches than in the prior year. Our decision to spend significantly more during the fourth quarter of 2023, combined with higher spending this quarter, is proving to be a winning strategy as it enables us to drive sell-out ahead of sell-in. Additionally, we are continuing to develop compelling content and implement omnichannel concepts with renowned fragrance enthusiasts to further expand our reach and exposure in meaningful ways.” Mr. Madar concluded, “The fragrance market is resilient, and we are determined to continue to gain market share by implementing our strategies effectively. We believe the favorable market conditions and prevailing tailwinds will far outweigh any challenges we may encounter.”

Meanwhile, investors are also piling money into this company. Consistent with the previous quarter’s 22 funds, 22 hedge funds reported owning shares in Inter Parfums, Inc. (NASDAQ:IPAR) in Q1 FY 2024. The company’s largest shareholder, Chuck Royce’s Royce & Associates, owns 489,283 shares valued at $68,75 million.

Headwaters Capital Management echoed this sentiment in its fourth quarter 2023 investor letter, emphasizing the appeal of Inter Parfums, Inc. (NASDAQ:IPAR):

Buys: Inter Parfums, Inc. (NASDAQ:IPAR): Inter Parfums is a leading fragrance house that partners with prestige brands to develop, manufacture, market and distribute perfumes globally under licensing agreements. IPAR was founded in 1982 by Jean Madar and Phillipe Benacin, who collectively own 44% of the company. Both founders are still actively involved in the company with Mr. Madar serving as the CEO of IPAR’s US operations while Mr. Benacin is CEO of the European business, Inter Parfums SA (publicly traded European subsidiary that is 72% owned by IPAR). IPAR focuses on licensing agreements with prestige brands that already have a devoted brand following in categories outside of fragrances. IPAR typically targets brands with fragrances that have either been under-managed or are relatively nascent but have large growth potential via a dedicated fragrance strategy. IPAR’s top fragrance brands include Montblanc, Jimmy Choo, Coach, and Guess. Over the last 2 years, IPAR has added fragrance licenses with Ferragamo, DKNY, Lacoste and Roberto Cavalli, all of which should meaningfully contribute to revenue growth for the company going forward.

The fragrance market is a niche category that requires scale and expertise that is better outsourced to a third party than managed internally by leading brands. The cost to design, market and distribute a fragrance line is too expensive relative to the potential revenue from the product. While top fragrance brands can generate revenue of $1-2 billion, most successful fragrance brands generate revenue in the $10-200mm range. Despite the small size, category extension into fragrances can still be a lucrative business for brands and serves to enhance the value of the brand if managed correctly. As a result, prestige brands often enter into licensing agreements with dedicated fragrance houses such as IPAR to manage their fragrance category. IPAR leverages their internal expertise that is required to design, manufacture, market and distribute a single fragrance over many brands…” (Click here to read the full text)

Conclusion: 

The growth narrative of Inter Parfums is still gaining strength even after a weak first quarter. The fact that IPAR’s US-based activities are successful suggests that its market is robust. Interparfums has expanded effectively since the business was able to get a rich portfolio of licenses. I believe IPAR will continue to expand as a result of new product releases and developments. TipRanks reports that 3 Wall Street analysts with a consensus “Strong Buy” recommendation have offered IPAR 12-month price goals during the past three months. According to these experts, IPAR has an upside potential of more than 45% based on its average price target of $161.50.

While we acknowledge the potential of IPAR as an investment, our conviction lies in the belief that AI stocks hold greater promise for delivering higher returns, and doing so within a shorter timeframe. If you are looking for an Al stock that is as promising as IPAR but that trades at less than 5 times its earnings, check out our report about the cheapest AI stock. 

With that said, here is the Top Home Luxury Scent of 2024.  

Methodology:

To pick out the Top Home Luxury Scent of 2024, we searched the internet for the top luxury home scents and ranked them based on their number of appearances in our sources, so each appearance got one score. Then we ranked the list based on the aggregated scores. We have also included each scent’s price and quantity in our list, using the price as a tie-breaker in case two or more scents had the same score. The prices that we have mentioned are for particular products with varying capacities, mostly relying on Sephora and Nordstrom for the data. Please note, however, that we can’t guarantee the accuracy of these prices, since they can vary from region to region.

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1.  Le Labo Santal 33 

Insider Monkey Score: 12

Price: $322 for 3.4 o.z  

The top home luxury scent of 2024 is Santal 33, a woody aromatic scent offered by Le Labo, a high-end fragrance brand. Le Labo’s Santal 33 combines cardamom notes with notes of violet and iris. The scent comes from the addition of spicy, leathery, and musky elements to the smoking wood alloy, composed of Australian sandalwood and cedarwood.

Click to see the entire list of the Top 25 Home Luxury Scents of 2024. 

If you are looking for an AI stock that is as promising as Microsoft but that trades at less than 5 times its earnings, check out our report about the cheapest AI stock.

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Disclosure: None.Top 25 Home Luxury Scents of 2024 is originally published on Insider Monkey. We focus on uncovering the best investment ideas of hedge funds and insiders. Please subscribe to our free daily e-newsletter to get the latest investment ideas from hedge funds’ investor letters by entering your email address below.