The shares of Inditex, the largest listed company on the Spanish stock exchange, rose 1.85% on the morning of Friday, December 12, to €56.1 per share, surpassing the record high set a year ago, when they fell just short of €56.
Inditex headquarters – Inditex
According to market data compiled by Europa Press, the textile conglomerate is up more than 12% in 2025 and now has a market capitalisation of over €174 billion.
That said, Inditex’s share price had been anaemic- if not negative- over the course of the year, as from mid-March to early this month the stock traded below 2024 closing levels and touched an August low of €40.8.
The rally of the past two weeks- which has propelled the new highs- is attributable to the company’s latest quarterly results, which beat market expectations across the board.
Specifically, on December 3, the conglomerate reported a record third quarter (August to October), with profit up 9% to €1.831 billion and sales up 4.9% to €9.814 billion.
Thus, Inditex recorded net profit of €4.622 billion during the first nine months of its 2025–2026 financial year (between February 1 and October 31), an increase of 3.9% year on year.
Since the day before these latest results were announced, Inditex has gained 14% on the stock market.
Moreover, this particular milestone for Inditex has coincided with a broader one for the Spanish stock market, as its benchmark index, the Ibex 35, surpassed 17,000 points on Friday for the first time in its history.
Analysts’ assessment
“Clear path ahead,” Bank of America analysts concluded two weeks ago following Inditex’s results presentation, after a year of doubts about the outlook for the apparel sector.
“The acceleration of growth bodes well for the first half of 2027 […] and should pave the way for improvements in earnings per share,” they said. They therefore reiterated their buy recommendation while raising their price target from €54 to €60.
eToro market analyst Javier Molina noted that Inditex beat market expectations and is consolidating its transition towards a more premium positioning at a time when the consumer cycle is showing signs of moderating.
“The third quarter was particularly solid and clearly exceeded consensus forecasts,” he said, while, in his view, the shift to the luxury segment is reflected in investment in flagship stores, the renovation of strategic locations and projects such as the new Zara building in Arteixo, focused on product and technology.
The company, according to Molina, shows a “remarkable ability to adapt” to consumer preferences, consolidating collections with higher perceived value.
“But this progress comes at a demanding moment in the cycle, and the market will be watching whether the company is capable of maintaining the level it has set for itself,” he warned.
For his part, IG analyst Sergio Ávila argued that in the short term these figures support Inditex maintaining a premium to the sector, although he also warned that the bar for expectations is “very high.”
“If the company continues to defend margins and control inventories, I see a higher likelihood of consolidation at elevated levels than of a deep correction,” he said.
The most optimistic firm on the Galician group is Citi, which raised its price target from €54 to €63, while other firms such as Berenberg lifted theirs from €52 to €62 and Santander increased its from €55 to €58.40.
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There’s never a bad time to be the main choice as a fashion destination, but M&S has taken top-of-the-tree status this Christmas when it comes to AI gift inspiration. And in the Beauty category, Charlotte Tilbury has been mentioned more than any other cosmetics brand while Decathlon took top spot in the Sports category.
M&S
That’s all down to the ‘AI Christmas Nice List’ compiled by digital marketing and PR agency Tank, revealing which UK retailers AI favours for Christmas gifting by analysing hundreds of ChatGPT responses across 10 retail sectors, awarding a mention score based on how early products are recommended.
And of the top fashion searches, M&S achieved the highest mention score (21) in the category. And that was out of nearly 150 websites.
Following M&S, shoppers are more likely to see fashion picks from Next, Barbour and John Lewis, with mention scores of 20, 17 and 15, respectively.
Next, it has to be noted, also received three more total mentions than M&S, but “these were later in AI’s response and scored lower overall”, the report said.
High ratings for British heritage brand Barbour and John Lewis were helped by their annual Christmas ads bringing in press coverage and social media attention to drive holiday demand, with this year’s ad including Barbour’s retuned link-up with Shaun The Sheep.
Other big name fashion recommendations include Matalan at number five (14 mentions), followed by Sainsbury’s TU Clothing (11 mentions), Longchamp (10), accessories brand Fairfax & Favor and White Stuff (both 8 mentions).
John Lewis also showed up the most overall in ChatGPT, with 31 mentions across eight out of 10 sectors analysed including Home and Food & Drink categories.
Martin Harris, head of digital at Tank, commented on the research: “ChatGPT is used everyday for personal and commercial queries such as Christmas gift ideas, so if fashion brands aren’t appearing for the relevant results, they could be missing out on sales. AI search is important for retailers and while there is hesitancy around it, it is essential brands are discoverable where shoppers are searching for information.
“While some small retailers could struggle with being found in AI during peak seasons like Christmas, it presents an opportunity to improve visibility in their niche. Consumers can also use AI to find niche brands and products. That’s why it’s even more important retailers know what their customers want and have a strategy to appear in the relevant results.”
If you want to know how consumers are paying for their purchases, the BRC has just released its latest survey, saying that they swapped credit for debit cards and cash was used in just a fifth of transactions.
Barclays Payments
The BRC’s annual Payment Survey, based on data from last year, reveals a “significant decline” in the use of credit cards, from 14.2% of transactions to 12.6% as consumers turned to debit cards where usage increased from 62% to 64% of transactions.
However, despite their declining popularity, for larger transactions, consumers still preferred using credit cards overall, which offer additional protections for shoppers. Cards also beat cash, which accounted for just 19.2% of transactions.
“As the cost of living crisis eased, some customers returned to old habits. The weekly shop showed signs of a comeback with consumers making fewer but larger transactions”, the report highlighted, with the total number of transactions falling from 20.9 billion to 20.4 billion. Average transaction value rose across all payment types.
More shoppers have also been exploring less traditional payment methods than ever before, particularly for larger transactions. This included the use of gift vouchers, PayPal, and Buy Now Pay Later (BNPL), although no figures were given.
Chris Owen, Payments Policy Advisor at the British Retail Consortium said: “As interest rates peaked in 2024, the use of credit cards fell as customers switched to lower interest forms of payment. However, with cards still accounting for the vast majority of transactions and card fees now more than double the level they were six years ago, only a long-term cap on card fees would bring much needed relief to retailers.
He added: “Looking ahead, as the PSR transitions into the Financial Conduct Authority next year, it is vital that the FCA carries this work forward, delivering fairness and transparency in a market long hampered by competition issues and unjustified fee increases.”
The principle has been agreed, but the practical details have yet to be worked out. From July 1, a three-euro tax will be applied to small non-EU parcels entering the European Union, marking the end of the tax exemption for parcels under 150 euros, in a bid to rein in Shein and Temu.
Shutterstock
Some 4.6 billion consignments worth less than 150 euros entered the European market in 2024, at a rate of more than 145 every second. Of this total, 91% came from China. A month ago, EU finance ministers approved scrapping, from next year, the duty-free status enjoyed by these parcels.
While this measure is intended to apply to parcels from all countries outside the EU, it is primarily aimed at stemming the flood of low-priced Chinese products into Europe, which often fail to comply with European standards, and are purchased on Asian platforms such as Shein, Temu, or AliExpress.
This influx of imported parcels with no customs duty has increasingly been denounced by European producers and retailers as a form of unfair competition.
Moreover, the volume of parcels arriving at European airports and ports is so great that customs officers are frequently unable to check whether they comply. In these circumstances, it is difficult to intercept dangerous or counterfeit products before they reach consumers.
“Four years ago, there were one billion parcels arriving from China. Today, it’s more than four billion,” noted French Economy Minister Roland Lescure. “Today, these parcels represent unfair competition for city-centre businesses which pay taxes, so it’s essential to act and act fast, otherwise we will act too late,” he told AFP.
A Herculean task
France, in the midst of a stand-off with Chinese e-commerce giant Shein following the scandal over the sale of childlike sex dolls and Category A weapons, has led this battle in Brussels to scrap the exemption from customs duties on these low-value shipments.
The measure had in fact already been planned as part of the reform of the Customs Union (the European customs system), but it is not due to apply until 2028. In November, the 27 member states agreed to implement it “as soon as possible” in 2026.
But that means finding a “simple and temporary” solution for taxing these billions of parcels, until the customs data platform provided for in the reform, which should greatly facilitate the collection of customs duties, becomes operational.
According to some members of parliament, applying the usual customs duties to small parcels from 2026 onwards- with rates varying according to product category or sub-category and the country of import- would be a Herculean task, risking clogging up already overburdened customs services even further.
Roland Lescure made it clear on Thursday that he would defend “a flat-rate tax, because we want the measures taken in Europe to have an impact,” rather than “proportional taxation,” which he believes would not be a sufficient deterrent.
A first step
However, setting up a transitional system “is not easy, because we have to do it with our existing resources,” said a European diplomat, who on Thursday declined to give an exact date for the entry into force of the provisional system.
The taxation of small parcels is just the first step in the EU’s offensive against the avalanche of Chinese products entering its territory: from November 2026, it is due to be accompanied by the introduction of handling fees on these same parcels valued at less than 150 euros. In May, Brussels proposed setting them at two euros per parcel.
This sum will help finance the development of controls and, according to the EU, together with the collection of customs duties, will help level the playing field between European products and competition “made in China.”
FashionNetwork.com with AFP
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Politics8 years ago