Ferrari seemingly unscathed by the crisis

In these troubled times, the entire automotive industry is slowing down. All of it? No! Standing alone amongst its peers, who are stalling one by one, Ferrari continues its ascent toward new records.

It will come as no surprise to anyone that Porsche, Aston Martin, Stellantis, BMW, Mercedes, and VW are being hit hard by the current economic downturn, especially since the car manufacturers' results are always discussed at length in our columns.

However, the fact that Ferrari has reported a 0.9% increase in new vehicle deliveries, a 13% increase in revenue and a 22.7% increase in operating profit compared to the same period last year—thanks, as we understand, to new price increases that have been well absorbed by customers—is certainly impressive.

Our team of analysts has already written pages and pages about how highly they think of the Prancing Horse manufacturer. See, for example, Ferrari N.V. : Fast and steady

There is no need to repeat the platitudes here. It is enough to say that Ferrari is maintaining its very optimistic forecasts for 2025, that its solvency ratios have never been better, and that, in light of its excellent results, the manufacturer will have no trouble refinancing the billion euros of debt—i.e., one-third of its total debt—that falls due this year.

Ten years after its IPO, Ferrari has only experienced five quarters of declining revenue: two were insignificant, and the other three date back to 2020, when the entire world was suddenly paralyzed by the Covid pandemic.

Over the period, its revenue doubled and its operating profit quadrupled. It should also be noted that the first quarter of 2025 marks a historic record, as the operating margin exceeded 30% for the first time. Better than LVMH!

If we were to look at the glass as half empty and calm the euphoria, we would point out that nearly half of Ferrari's sales come from the Europe-Middle East-Africa region. In other words, mainly from the Middle East. The prosperity of the Maranello-based manufacturer is therefore directly linked to that of the emirates and monarchies of the Persian Gulf, which some might consider a source of risk.

The manufacturer, controlled by the Agnelli family's holding company Exor, is still valued on the stock market at almost fifty times its profit, halfway between its ten-year average of forty times its profit and its highest value of sixty times its profit.

See also Aston Martin off the road at the next corner, published yesterday in this column.