Watches of Switzerland numbers show ‘rare momentum’, says broker Proactive uses images sourced from Shutterstock
Shares in Watches of Switzerland Group PLC (LSE:WOSG) ticked 14% higher to 605p after a fourth-quarter update from the upmarket retailer.
Revenue for the year to 3 May is expected to come in at £1.83 billion, up 13% at constant currency, with underlying profit (EBITA) seen hitting somewhere between £152 million and £155 million, which would be ahead of previous guidance.
The update was “pleasing”, said broker Peel Hunt, with consensus forecasts likely to rise for the new 2027 financial year too.
Trading was “strong across the board” in the fourth quarter, the broker noted, with US sales growth in the 20% range, with New York, Florida, and Texas being hot spots; jewellery strong and the likes of Cartier and Omega solid on the watch front.
Over the year, US sales were up 24% and UK revenue 5%, but Q4 UK trading was deemed “solid”, with pre-owned sales, jewellery and online especially good.
“The outcome for FY26 will likely be a touch above forecast, and the guidance for FY27 suggests a slightly slower sales run-rate but a widening of the margin; thus, we should see upgrades to consensus,” Peel Hunt said.
Analysts at Jefferies said the implied 3-4% EBIT beat “confirms a strong shape of US demand so far in calendar 2026 and less subdued conditions in the UK [that] is expected to carry through to the new fiscal year given a mid-point of guidance, which implies a 7% upgrade to cons EBIT.”
The shares trade on roughly an 11x PE, which Peel Hunt said “is about right, in our view, but they do have forecast momentum, which is a rare thing”.
Jefferies agreed with a 2027 PE of circa 11 times pre-estimate revisions and today’s price move, which “reflects expectations of constructive US demand conditions to continue and to drive margin recovery in the year ahead. Both, of course, are being fully endorsed today.”