The Quiet Giant Behind Montblanc and Coach Cologne Raises Its Forecast

Most men who own a bottle of Montblanc Legend, Coach for Men or Jimmy Choo Man have never heard of the company that makes it. Interparfums, a fragrance specialist founded in 1982 and listed on Nasdaq, with a Paris-listed subsidiary, holds the licences for those names and many more. On 4 November it reported its third quarter and nudged up its forecast for the year.

The numbers in brief

Net sales held flat at $430 million in the quarter, according to the company’s results release on GlobeNewswire. Gross margin rose 3.6 points to 67.1%, operating income grew 9% to $118 million and diluted earnings per share reached $2.13, against $2.05 a year earlier. The 2026 sales outlook rises from $1.48 billion to $1.49 billion, while the earnings-per-share target stays at $4.85.

• Coach: up 15% so far in 2026, and up 23% in the third quarter alone, carried by its men’s and women’s lines.
• Montblanc: up 8% year to date, helped by Legend Elixir in the first quarter and the new men’s scent Explorer Infinite in the third.
• Jimmy Choo: up 5%; the Paris subsidiary names the Jimmy Choo Man franchise as a driver of growth in the US.
• Lacoste: down 9% for the year, but back to growth, up 4%, in the third quarter.
• Ferragamo: down 2%, hurt by weak conditions in Europe.

Where the curiosity lies

Two details stand out. First, a one-off refund of US tariffs, the so-called IEEPA duties, added $7.9 million to gross margin in the quarter, and management says it is reinvesting that money in marketing, mainly in the United States. Second, the war in the Middle East cost about 1% of sales in the quarter. Over nine months, sales in the Middle East and Africa fell 19%, while Asia-Pacific and Central and South America each grew 12%.

The brand on your cologne is printed on the bottle. The company that makes it rarely is.

What comes next: chairman and chief executive Jean Madar spoke of “a series of blockbuster releases” and said the group’s “extension-driven launch strategy is building momentum into 2027”. Debut fragrances are planned for Longchamp, Off-White and PUMA, whose worldwide licence the group signed in September. Initial 2027 guidance is due on 18 November. This is industry news, not investment advice: if you are weighing the shares, talk to a qualified adviser.