Essilor Luxottica

Hello everybody, this is Giorgio Iannella from the IR team. Thank you for joining S0 Luxottica H1 2026 results management call. The group chairman and CEO Francesco Milleri, the deputy CEO Paul du Saillant, and the CFO Stefano Grassi will walk you through the business and financial highlights of the period. After their presentations, there will be a 30-minute Q&A session. If you want to make a question, please press star followed by 5. We kindly ask you to limit your questions to a maximum of 2. With that, I hand it over to Francesco.

Welcome back everyone and thank you for joining us today. I am pleased to reconnect with you to share the result of the first half of the year and give an update on the execution of our strategic vision as the group evolves at a speed that is completely new in our history. First of all I would like to say just a quick word on the financial performance of the first semester. Revenue growth at a constant currency remained extremely solid at 9.7%, fully aligned with our targets. This result was supported by the resilient performance of our core business of frame and lenses and by the exponential growth of our clinical platform and wearable category. Adjusted operating profit progressed even faster at 15% alongside our investments in R&D, AI and medical capabilities, together with the strong development of our industrial and commercial footprint. Cash generation confirmed its strong trend, exceeding 1 billion in the period. Move to our strategy, we are taking a precise and ambitious direction. Essilor Luxottica is leveraging its unique platform, vertically integrated, fully omnichannel, leading in size and global footprint to move towards the new frontier of oculomics. Based on eye-related biomarkers to offer medical services everywhere and at all levels. Entering as a main player in the whole healthcare market, bringing this new technology from laboratories to clinics and stores. To understand what this means in practice, let me start from LensCrafter opening of its first vision and high health surgery center in Philadelphia. A fully integrated platform that brings comprehensive high evaluations and surgical procedures under one roof, together with our unmatched portfolio of frames and lenses. This is the first step of a plan to build a system of surgical hubs based on our optical store network. A health care center like this will go far beyond high disease, A recent commentary that circulated widely in the US predicts that in five years the largest cardiovascular screening site in America will not be a hospital nor a primary clinic. It will be the lens crafter banner and broader optical practice network. This is not a speculative bet, since the concept of oculomics was established, more than 400 peer-reviewed studies have validated the eye as a primary and reliable window into systemic health, making it today a recognized and increasingly adopted diagnostic approach across the scientific and medical community. A single 15-minute exam at one location, either of the group or of its partners, powered by Heidelberg high-resolution OCT, complemented by Retin-AI's capability, will be able to detect a wide span of disease, like diabetes, cardiovascular issue and cognitive decline. This is where our vision is going, complementing and supporting primary care, delivering prevention, early detection and predictive medicine where people already go. Our short-term ambition is to create a new layer in the healthcare system that will more efficiently connect patients and hospitals. Complementary to that, in order to strengthen trust, governance and accountability of our developing business Mollen, we are building the foundation to manage data as a strategic asset, reliable, protected, compliant and usable across the group and geographies. To expand these new medical services from the physical practice directly on the face of billions of people through wearable, we need a specific MISIS piece of technology. In order to achieve that, we started a strategic partnership with Applied Material to jointly develop and manufacture the new generation of intelligent optical systems for AI and AR wearable. This partnership is aimed at shaping the future of optics, ranging from waveguides to adaptive and electroactive lenses, from prescription integration to advanced encapsulation, dimming and light modulation technologies. The lens category itself will be redefined and our capability to master this new stack industrially, at cost, at scale, with ability to personalize, will let us lead the future not only of smart glasses, but of the entire premium eyewear category. No other player in the world can combine comprehensive ophthalmic know-how and excellence with semiconductor-grade manufacturing capabilities. Our objective is to place Essilor Luxottica at the forefront of innovation in the next generation of lenses and the first products and pilot line are already being realized. Regarding our hearing aid glasses, Nuance Audio is progressing along its discovery path, building awareness and adoption. The second generation will hit the market in mid-September with improvements in battery life, audio amplification, new features and better design. A final word on wearable and our partnership with Meta. which continues to deliver exponential growth. In H1, we further enriched the portfolio with Ray-Ban Meta Optics, our first optical style, adjustable and perfectly fitting to be easily worn for the full day. Together with Meta, we also launched a new collection specifically designed to open the eyeglasses category to a broader, younger and price sensitive audience. Together with Ray-Ban and Oakley, as well as the display model, we now offer the most complete lineup of AI glasses in the market, and more is to come. The category is scaling across geographies, brands, price points, and consumer segments, with higher profitability already visible in our numbers. In conclusion, H1 2026 confirms that we are where we want to be, with sales and profits growing. We remain confident in our ability to deliver in our financial ambition and our strategic vision. In less than 10 years, we deeply transformed our group from the best in class in frame and lenses to the pioneer of the wearable category and now into the iMedTech and Oculomics healthcare leader. With that, I hand over to Paul.

Thank you, Francesco. It is a pleasure to be with you today. The first six months of 2026 have been, in many ways, a period of consistent acceleration for our group in terms of strategy execution and financial performance. Behind the numbers Stefano will walk you through shortly, what stands out to me is our team's unique ability to continuously execute across the board. Advancing the science, expanding the industrial footprint and staying close to our patients and consumers. None of this happens with chance. It rests on assets and capabilities we have been building over decades, made up of an integrated production and lab network, a supply chain designed for both agility and resilience, and a distribution model that spans wholesale, physical retail and e-commerce channels. These are the foundations that allow us to bring innovation to market at speed and scale, wherever our patients and consumers are worldwide. At the heart of this delivery is our core business of eye care and eyewear, which is a key driver of the group of resilient growth, both in revenue and profits. In ophthalmic lenses, our pipeline is rich. Over the recent quarters, we unveiled Crisal Natural Look, Varilux Immersia and Varius Shift, steps forward in the key fields of anti-reflective and progressive lenses to be rolled out across our trade channels. We also are having great product dynamics under Shamir and Nikon brands. On the eyewear side, the last six months confirmed the enduring strength of the Ray-Ban brand in traditional glasses, supported by the successful roll-out of the Ray-Ban Innovation Lab, new polarized ultra-lens technology, the launch of the transition color touch capsule, and continued momentum on the Wefairer models and Aviator shapes. Our new luxury eyewear collections were well received by our customers at the recent Essilor Luxottica Days, with Miu Miu and Chanel at the forefront. Beyond this solid base, I would like to focus on what I believe is the fil rouge of our story. Turning science into human impact at scale, through three deeply connected engines. Our portfolio of myopia management lens solution, our R&D capabilities and industrial platform, and the go-to-market global reach. Science, scale, and access. One single continuum. Let me start from myopia management, a field where we have further strengthened our leadership, keeping sales growth above 20% quarter after quarter, thanks to strong clinical evidence and a widening range of solutions across technologies, brands and price points. In the first half, we helped shape the next frontier of the field at flagship scientific events. At CCOI and APAO 2026 in Hong Kong, we broadened the conversation from slowing progression to prevention. And at ARVO 2026 in Denver, we presented the most comprehensive evidence-based ever built around myopia spectacle lens. including a seven-year Chinese follow-up confirming Stelest's sustained efficacy. In the US, Stelest has already reached 11,000 doors across channels, progressively bringing the eye doctor community on board to prescribe it. And in June, we launched Stelest in Japan, another high-prevalence market. While we continue to invest in R&D assets and capabilities in France and Italy, we complemented our global footprint with a new R&D hub in Lac-Crabon, Thailand, a state-of-the-art 5,000 square meter center located next to our major manufacturing facilities. This hub is bringing under one roof Advanced Material Research, Polymer Chemistry, Characterization and Industrialization for Next Generation Lenses, Wearables and MedTech. Another major decision we announced is the roll-out of wearable production in Italy, adding a new premium product category to the range assigned to our best-in-class Italian plant. This reinforces our leadership in AI glasses and paves the way for the launch of new made-in-Italy smart eyewear. Stefano will give you details on the excellent performance of our nearly 20,000 location retail network worldwide. I would just like to remind you that together with our leading wholesale presence, our brick-and-mortar global distribution platform is a key success factor in our omni-channel business model and a major driver of its evolution. As a part of that, in April, we took a major step acquiring a meaningful stake in Topsharan, Thailand's largest optical retail chain, with almost 2,000 stores across the country, an integrated eye care service model and a portfolio of well-known house and license banners. Founded in 1947, Topsharan brings us closer to consumers in one of Asia's most important markets, elevates vision care standards across the region and creates a natural runway to accelerate the wearable category in Southeast Asia. Together with our Thai manufacturing footprint and the new R&D hub, Thailand is emerging as a fully integrated ecosystem. Last word on sustainability, which is a fundamental pillar of Essilor Luxottica's journey. Our facilities are designed to the highest environmental standards, while our single-use plastic reduction efforts continue to progress well toward our 2030 targets, as mirrored by our improved ranking, like last year's CDP climate air rating and DGSI recognition. To conclude, Essilor Luxottica's progress in H1 is centered on a unique combination of clinical science, integrated industrial scale, and consumer reach. This is quite remarkable. As Francesco said, we are delivering on our long-term ambitions while redefining the boundaries of our industry. With that, I hand it over to Stefano. Thank you.

Thank you Paul and hello everyone. Welcome to our 2026 H1 results. We're wrapping up a strong first semester for Astro Luxottica. With revenue, they are up 9.7% at constant currency and 5.7% at current exchange rate. The second quarter landed at 8.7% at constant and 7.2% at current exchange rate. Clearly both second quarter and first half very much aligned with our medium term guidance of solid revenue growth at constant currency. If we take a bit closer look to our second quarter, we see that North America, EMEA, Latin America, they all deliver high single digit, while Asia Pacific posted a double digit Q2 at constant currency. Our core business, that just as a reminder, represent the entire Astro Luxottica perimeter, excluding wearables, it's up mid single digit during the course of Q2. Now, last comment before we move into the geographies. As you might have seen, the gap between constant and current change results is reduced to 1.5 percentage point during the course of Q2, as the US dollar devaluated against euro approximately 2.5% during the second quarter. So... I'm knocking on the wood here, but at those currency level, you might finally expect some currency tailwinds during the second half of this year. But now, as usual, let's move across the four regions and let's begin with the largest one, North America. North America recorded during the course of a second quarter a top line that was up 7.2% at constant currency. In professional solution, we deliver a low single digit revenue growth. And in the direct-to-consumer side, we deliver a double digit Q2. When we look at our B2B, the independent ECP delivered a good quarter in acceleration versus Q1 with the vision source partnerships that was up mid-single digit. While our key accounts experienced a slowdown in Q2, but as usually, I remind everyone to really look at our B2B over a longer period of time, typically six months. And when you look at that, we have our key accounts that deliver a high single digit for the first semester. Moving to price mix and volume, price mix was very much the main driver of our growth in the lens business and also in our frame business. Wearables recorded another outstanding quarter with the two new models of Ray-Ban meta prescription that were up for an excellent start during the course of a second quarter. Our luxury portfolio, luxury deliver a high single-digit quarter, I would say on the spotlight here, Miu Miu, Chanel and Jimmy Choo. And now a last touch on Stellast. Stellast is now ramping up with a distribution that is now available in about 11,000 doors in the United States. And I would say we have very encouraging results during this first year of a very promising journey. But now let's switch the other side of our distribution in North America. Let's move to direct-to-consumer. We're clearly happy about the second quarter. Lance Crafter delivered high single-digit comp sales, recording the 14th consecutive quarter of positive comp sales with traffic, conversion, volume, and price mix that all continue to trend in the proper and the right direction. I would also add this quarter the subscription plan. We're rolling that out in about 830 stores in Lance Crafter in North America, and I believe this could be another important asset during the remainder part of this year and the future years. Under some parts, Saint-Gloucester delivers comp sales above 7%, with Reba Meta that represents a strong driver, and we coupled that with a higher second-pair penetration and, I would say, a more diligent store execution, especially on discounts. Both our Saint-Gloucester locations, the international, more exposed to international touristic traffic, and the non-international Saint-Gloucester locations, deliver high single-digit comp sales. Giorgio Iannella, Marco Catalani, Stefano Grassi, Giorgio Iannella, Marco Catalani I would say dire to consumer, double digit pace, professional solution, low single digit quarter. Italy, Turkey, Eastern Europe, they were all up double digit. UK and Scandinavia deliver a high single digit Q2, while France was flat in this quarter. When we look at our B2B, I mentioned during the first quarter, but I think it's important to be mentioned again, the Switch event that was held in April in Monaco. It was the second event that we had this year for our B2B clients. It was an excellent opportunity to showcase to our wholesale partners the innovation applied to vision care, artificial intelligence, medtech, and wearable technology. A great success. In professional solution, we had a strong price mix. I would say that price mix was strong on both lenses and frames. On the frame side of our business, we posted a strong quarter in Ray-Ban Sun and prescription. And the growth in this part of the business was very much driven by volume due to a strong demand across our distribution channels. The other key brands, Oakley, was up double digit, while when I look at the licensing portfolio, luxury and premium fashion experienced a negative quarter in Q2. On the land side now, a low single digit quarter. Here we have a good traction, in particular on Eisen, in Varlux and in Shamir. Now let's move to the other side, direct-to-consumer. Our comp sales in direct-to-consumer were slightly below 10%, with a material acceleration compared to the mid-single-digit comp sales that you might remember delivering Q1. When we look at our Optica retail side of a business, Vision Express was up double-digit, Salmoreghi Viganò was up high single-digit, while when we moved to Germany, Apollo delivered a mid-single-digit quarter. I would say that in Optica retail price mix was stronger than volume and that was true for both lenses and frames. It's worth to mention that now the subscription model that as I mentioned before we're ramping up in LensCrafter and it's well established in the EMEA region is now close to 30% in terms of penetration and revenue and that is approximately six percentage point higher than the same period of last year. Let me close the journey in the region with the outstanding performance now of Sun Retail that very much deliver a double-digit comp sales on top of a double-digit sales in Q2 last year. On the spotlight, Turkey and Italy that deliver a double-digit. Our Iberia business was high single-digit while UK and France deliver a mid-single-digit quarter. Outstanding. and I would say a strong retail execution were very much the two main factors of those outstanding results. Now, the third country is the best performer for the second quarter and that is Asia-Pacific. 17% a constant currency. The second quarter in Asia-Pacific was an outstanding quarter for the region that posted this double-digit, also including the impact of Top Sharan in Thailand that was consolidated at the beginning of the second quarter. About 2,000 stores added in our store footprint in the region. But even excluding that, you would be looking at Asia-Pacific delivering a double-digit quarter. We were double digit in India. We were double digit in Japan. We were double digit in China, in Southeast Asia and Korea. Australia posted a mid single digit quarter. So definitely many reason to be happy about the performance in our Q2 in the Asia-Pacific region. We now deep dive a bit more in some of the key countries, the largest one in China. In China, professional solution, one of the main growth drivers was the lens business that was up double digit, driven again by a strong quarter of myopia lenses. In particular, we continue to observe a strong demand, in particular on the DOT technology, while on the frame side, I would probably mention a luxury portfolio that overall was up double digit in Q2. Now, I lost touch on the direct-to-consumer segment. Optical comps were up mid-single digit with a good delivery of OPSM in Australia. When you look at our sum business, AI glasses continue to see a great appreciation from consumers. In particular, in the markets, they were recently opened like Singapore and Japan. While sunglasses in Australia was really the only country that recorded negative comp sales in a quarter that, as you know, is in a low seasonality. The last region in the pipeline is Latin America. Latin America delivers 6.7%, a very consistent pace between Q1 and Q2. In Q1, we recorded 6.7% constant currency. In the region, we had a double-digit growth on direct-to-consumer and a low single-digit quarter in our professional solution. When we look at our different countries in the region, Brazil, Mexico and Argentina, they were up mid-single digit, while Colombia and the rest of the Hispanic-Latam countries were up on the double-digit pace. When you look at our B2B side, FRAME delivered a high single-digit quarter, Very much driven by optical and wearable, and we continue to see a strong demand, in particular on the two new countries that were recently opened, Brazil and Mexico, while consumers seem to really appreciate our Meta Oakley and Reba Meta glasses. Closing on the direct-to-consumer, our Sun business delivered a double-digit quarter in acceleration versus Q1, very much driven by our Brazilian Sun business that was up double-digit, thanks to the Oakley and Ray-Ban wearables, while the 1,600 optical retail stores that we have in the region posted a high single-digit comp sales, and as usual, the GV banners, in particular the one that we have in Mexico and in Andes, delivered an outstanding second quarter. But now this is the end of our journey through the four key geography for Russell Luxottica. And let's now start a new chapter. And that is the profits and loss. I would say on the profits and loss that we deliver an outstanding first semester. The gross margin accretion was very important and we deliver it. We had a double-digit growth on the operating and net profit at constant currency. So let me share here a few highlights for this first semester profit and loss. As I mentioned, gross profit up 10 basis points, both at constant and current exchange. And that is a material improvement compared to the 400 plus basis point dilution that we reported, if you remember, in the second half of last year. We had a strong price mix, for sure that was an important help and we also have the net positive impact year-on-year from tariffs in the US and those were really the two main drivers of the gross profit accretion. Our operating expenses as a percentage of revenues improved 80 basis points despite the investment that we continue to sustain to develop our MedTech platform and promote our innovation across the different brands. Bottom line, our operating profit was up 80 basis points at constant effects and 50 basis points at current exchange rate. When you look at our net profit, we recorded 50 business points improvement at constant and 20 business points improvement at current exchange rate, despite a higher cost of debt and a higher tax rate by 70 business points, still delivering a double-digit growth at constant currency. And let's now move to the last chapter of our journey here, and that is the free cash flow generation. Our free cash flow can be summarized in one number. 1,067,000,000 free cash flow generation for the first half of 2026, the strongest one in the last five years for us at Luxottica, over 100 million better than the free cash flow generation that we had last year. Now, before we hand it over to the operator, let me just close saying that we enter in the second half of the year with a strong motivation and commitment to continue to deliver profitable growth. While we're fully aware that the comparison base in the second half is quite demanding, we're also confident that our innovation pipeline and the continued productivity improvements will support our momentum during the last six months of this year. But now let me hand it over to the operator for the usual Q&A session.

Ladies and gentlemen, we will now start the Q&A session. Our first question comes from Oriana Cardani in Dessa San Paolo. Please go ahead.

Yes, good evening. Thank you for taking my two questions. The first one regards the profitability of the smart glasses in the first half of this year. You stated that wearable products improved their gross margin in the first half. Could you comment on the factors driving this increase and the extent of that expansion of gross margin for this category? And my second question is on cost trends. How do you expect operating expenses to evolve in the second half of the year? Are you seeing any inflationary pressure? Thank you very much.

Good afternoon Oriana and welcome to our call here. So let me take both your questions. First one on smart glasses. Well, when I look at our smart glasses, I should say that all the KPIs with respect to smart glasses whether you're looking at top line, revenues and costs are actually improving year over year. We're seeing an improvement in the average price. We're seeing an improvement in the higher penetration of our lenses, so the prescription part of our business. We're seeing an improvement in the penetration of transition. We're seeing an improvement in penetration of polarization lenses. and also from a cost point of view, we do see a better productivity in our smart glasses, AI glasses in general. So very pleased with the result that we've seen and clearly all of that is result in what you see on the gross margin. The second question regarding the inflation. No, I should say there's nothing that concerns me at this stage. I think everything is pretty much under control and I think it would be like this also during the second half of this year.

Our next question comes from Julian Dumas, Jefferies. Please go ahead.

Hi, good evening gentlemen. Thanks for taking my questions. I will limit myself to two. The first one is whether you guys could elaborate on the partnership with Meta. We have obviously seen the Meta launching, Meta Glasses, and starting with a different price point than what you have been advocating so far in your category. So just curious as to how we think about potentially diverging pathways between Meta and yourself in terms of the positioning of the glasses. and whether that could possibly open up the floor to more partners going forward and you starting to work with other players in the tech industry. And the second question relates to smart glasses. You indicated that the sales of smart glasses nearly doubled in the second quarter. and I think that probably means around four percentage points contribution to Q2 growth so if we do the math here and because that was a five percentage point contribution in Q1 that would probably indicate that in absolute sales Q2 sales of smart glasses were slightly lower than Q1 sales so just curious how we should think about the phasing here especially also in the context of a very tough conference on that side in the back half. Thank you very much.

Hello, Julian. I'll try to answer to the first question. As usual, we look to manage a large portfolio that goes from luxury to mid-low price of our eyewear. That is, it would be also the case of the AI glasses. We started with our Iconics brands, Oakley and Ray-Ban. We will launch in the future other brands also in the high hand of our pyramid. But at the same time, really, we look to expand Our market targeting a new consumer that have less more sensitivity to the price and maybe are younger. More interesting in having something technology, so it was a great idea to support the Metaglasses, so a tech brand that can easily targeting a segment of population that is so far not completely included on our offer. also on lower price I'm not so I don't agree completely because if you look at the best selling that is the oval one supported by famous ladies that is quite at a mid high price and is going very well So I believe that the Meta partnership is growing is working very well is also now go behind the tech partnership and is helping us really to create a more differentiate portfolio with some brands more tech for electronic consumer targeting that can help the grow and establish more strong presence into the market about more partners so far really is is the the our capability are totally on the meta partnership we are launching every few months new product new feature so we we are so far very very fine and happy about this partnership

And I'll take the second part of the second questions, Julien, with respect to the top line growth profile. I think in a way it's very simple. So you're looking really at the core traditional business trending on the upper part of the mid single digit range, and that includes the bolt-on M&A. and the complement of that to the 8.7 top line growth that we recorded in Q2 is very much represented by smart Iowa growth during Q2.

Our next question comes from Hugo Solvay, BNP Paribas. Please go ahead.

Hi, hello. Thank you for taking my questions. I have two, please. First, Wondering if you guys are actively pursuing partnership or lengthy supply agreement with other smart glasses manufacturers. That would be my first question. And second, just clarification, did you receive any tariff refund in H1? And can you quantify that, please? Thank you.

Hi Hugo, thanks for the questions. I take the first and I consider a question about our partnership with Applied Material. The partnership with Applied Material is really a strategic one and is in the more wide concept that we have in the way we look at the market. As you know, we are a manufacturer producer we are also suppliers of all others players in the optical market and also we are the big customers of almost all brands that operate in in our market this is a complex position but is what is really make our company completely unique in the market so now we when we understood that the future of the smart eyewear would be projection we believe especially for our focus on the medical part Projection will be really a key feature that will allow us to really play a main role on the future of health care. So we started this partnership with Applied Materials to come out with a new class of lenses that are combining the capability to project monocular and binocular, the capability to really intercept through sensor many information from the light outside and many other markers that we will have. So that is another piece of our strategy, not just sell complete pair or frame of wearable, but also become a strategic supplier of a key component that any other manufacturer, producer or brands in the eyewear have to buy from us. Thank you.

and I will compliment Francesco's answer with the answer of your second question, Ugo. Good afternoon. So, tariffs. Let me just frame the context here on what you have for the first half of this year compared to last year. So you have two effects coming into play. The first effect is the tariff payment and charge to the P&L that we have in the first quarter The second effect is represented by the tariffs refunds that got into the first half of 2026. The net impact of those two things is a net positive impact, which accounts 60 basis points in your profit and loss. And clearly, all of that effect is loaded on the gross margin side.

Our next question comes from Grace Smalley. Morgan Stanley, please go ahead.

Hi, good evening. Thank you very much for taking my questions. The first one would just be a quick clarification there, Stefano, on your comment on tariffs. Understood on the net 60 basis points positive impact and H1 taking into account those two factors. Could you just help us clarify then what we should be expecting in terms of the impact from tariffs in the second half, and whether you got the full refund in H1 and there's no further refund to come, or just how we should think about that as we try to model the tariff impact, if any, in the second half of the year. And then my second question, please, which is beyond the top line, understood your comments at the end of Q&A that, yes, you have a tougher comparison base, but then that you're also very competent in your product pipeline. So just as we're thinking about the second half revenue growth, how should we think about maybe professional solutions versus DTC as I think professional solutions flows a little bit in Q2. So if you could help us with any outlook on professional solutions in the second half, whereas DTC remained very strong in Q2 and whether or not we should see that continuing and whether that's what you've seen in July already. Thank you very much.

Hello Grace, good afternoon. So let me take the answer to both of your questions. So tariffs, there might be something coming during the second half of this year. We'll keep you posted throughout the year on how things progress in that respect, but there's something more that might come in the second half. Now the second question regarding top line. I mentioned it before, right? We fully acknowledged that we have a demanding top line base in the second half of last year. But I also think there's a couple of things that we need to take into consideration. First of all, we started with a good month of July. We're happy about it. It's a nice entering into the third quarter. Secondly, I would say we have a lot of expectation, first of all from unexpected Thank you very much. I would say that we have a pretty good and strong pipeline of product innovation that will hit the market during the second half of this year. I can't be too much specific here, but obviously if you take, for example, some of our leading lens brands, for example, like Varilux, we'll have some exciting news that will come to the market during H2. are wearable, our AI glasses will have some interesting newness coming to the market in H2. Nuance, Nuance will have a second generation, as mentioned before, coming up in the second quarter where efficacy and all the key features will improve compared to the existing version. And last but not least, some of our key assets on the MedTech space have some exciting news that will look at the second half as a go-to-market impact. So we have a lot of good reason to look at the second quarter with a good degree of optimism.

The next question comes from Hassan Alwokil, Berkeley. Please go ahead.

Good evening. Thank you for taking my questions. Firstly, another question on the recent meta launch and how you see the mix transitioning over time. and the extent to which this is a further margin headwind given some of these are lower price points and also not manufactured by you and if you can confirm whether you're an exclusive lens manufacturer on these new launches. Secondly, following up on costs, thank you for the net tariff number. is the gross tailwind of 300 million euros in the right ballpark on the refund. And then Appreciate H2 may benefit from inventory and some hedging when it comes to cost inflation. But all else equal, how are you thinking about these as a headwind in 2027, given memory prices in particular and any mitigating actions that you're taking? Thank you.

Good evening, Hassan. About the evolving of the launch of Meta with Essilor Luxottica, I would like to remind. We are exclusive lens manufacturer for META of course, but also without that the partnership is so strong that is natural for us really support the META brand as it was an Essilor Luxottica home brand. So that is something that we are very happy about. Margin impacts for us are positive for many reasons. One, because we are selling that kind of product with a pretty good margin and also because the platform the technological platform that is almost the same with the bigger volume reduce its cost that is impact the margin. So I believe that is another reason why we still continue to be very happy with Meta, with the Meta brand that discover a new part of the market Thank you.

and just complementing this other answer, Hassan, good afternoon, with respect to cost dynamic. I don't see an issue here, honestly. I think we have our cost base well under control. Our planning, it's very accurate. and so I don't see, to be honest with you, headwinds that will impact our second half of this year in terms of costs. I still believe actually that we're going to see a pretty good margin progression also with respect to the second half of this year with respect to wearables. I think the trend that we've seen in the first half to improve productivity, the mixed trend that we've seen in the first half, I believe should continue also during the second half of this year. The addition of meta glasses to the portfolio products is an enlargement of our product offering. It's a result of a segmentation. and if you think about it now we have a wide price range that start from 299 if you remember that was the old pricing for the first generation of the partnership that we have and now we have this precise positioning for those new metal glasses in there but i believe again uh mixer will play in our favors Lenses are trending all in the right direction and July is confirming that trend. So again, don't see from where I sit right now any source of concern with respect to cost inflation.

The next question comes from Veronica Dubiova, Citi. Please go ahead.

Good afternoon, and thank you for taking my questions. I have two, please. One, I just want to touch back on the second quarter performance, and I think, Stefano, on the Q1 trading call, you talked about double-digit growth in April. Clearly, you've come below that for Q2. I'm just curious, where have you seen areas of slowdown, and are there any regions where you're particularly concerned about the health of the consumer. Don't get me wrong, the 9% in Q2 is still very, very, very impressive, but I'm just trying to understand how that kind of growth evolved through the quarter. And then my second question, I know we touched a lot on smart glasses, but I'd love to ask about myopia and how you feel in particular about the uptake in the US and what your views are on, or if you can give us an update, apologies, on what proportion of the Myopia Revenue Journal are coming from the US. Thank you.

Good afternoon, Veronica. I'll take the first question and then I'll pass Paul for the answer to the second one you just posed. So, I mean, when I look at the performance, I mean, the difference between Q1, Q2 is not that much here. I probably have to really point it out to something. We're seeing a softer trend on some of the Thank you very much. and between Celine and Celalto. And therefore, when you look at over a period of six months, you have a much cleaner view of what the performance should look like. And I think the performance in North America in that respect over a six-month period is extremely compelling. Paul, you might want to take the second one.

Yeah, thank you very much. So on Mariupia, Mariupia in the U.S. First, let me give you... Just two data points. In 2025, we had 22% growth of our myopia solution altogether worldwide, with 80% of it coming from China. In the first half, we have 25% growth coming from myopia solution, and China is 75% of it. So it means that We see an acceleration in two key geographies. One is Europe, which we started to go to market in Europe five years ago, and where we have now some important position for this solution. And we have started the US, as you know, following the FDA approval in September last year, where progressively, embark the doctor, the high doctor community. We have, as it was said by us, established in 11,000 doors in the U.S. in the first half this new prescription capability. We have had very important events to embark the eye doctor community, like Vision Source Exchange, early May. We have had 40 roadshows with doctors, city by city. Really, the first thing was to, after getting the FDA, to embark the eye doctor community, because this is where all starts. that they understand what it is about and they start to prescribe. So we are in this phase and we see more and more traction coming in our own retail and also in key independent practice or key account. So we will support that now also with some media in the second half. Like Stefano was saying, really the second half, we will see the acceleration in the US starting to really build up and we will stimulate the awareness with the parents, with the children, so when they go for their prescription eyeglasses for their children. They know about it, and then now the whole prescription acceleration will start to take place. So this is really what we are doing. And you see, it's a fantastic journey that we are methodically country by country building. And that is, as it was said, quarter after quarter growing north of 20%, which is quite now significant considering the size of it. So that would be my comment on your question, Veronica.

The next question comes from Thierry Cota, Bank of America. Please go ahead.

Yes, thank you. Good afternoon, everyone. I have two questions, please, which are pretty much follow-ups. First, on the tariffs, you highlighted that you may get some more reforms in second half. I was wondering, now the tariffs are lower altogether, so maybe more structurally, what kind of benefit do you expect from lower tariffs starting in H2 and more visible next year at the gross margin level? And secondly, You mentioned that on the cost side, while we are short about H2, I was wondering what memory costs and the commitments for purchase next year, whether you would think that memory price inflation could have a negative impact on the gross margin of wearables. Would that offset the benefit from scale, or do you think that this would be largely overwhelmed by growing scale, and so that the margin of wearables next year should still be going up versus this year? Thank you.

Good afternoon, Thierry. Let me take both of your questions. Second half tariffs, this year compared to last year, yeah, they are slightly lower, but I don't think it's materially lower this year than compared to last year. Cost, I think... The dynamic on cost, it's going to be a combination of a couple of things. Continuous efficiency on the supply chain. There is a scale effect. And those two things coming together and couple that with a better mix in terms of average pricing will make the improvement in margin that I described with you before and that we expect to see for the second half of this year.

The last question comes from Domenico Ghilotti, Equita. Please go ahead.

Good afternoon. Two questions. The first is a follow-up on applied materials. Particularly I would like to understand if the intellectual property will be yours, will be shared with applied, and if you can give us a sense of the time required before hitting the market with some new products. Second, sorry, still on the profitability. So I'm trying to understand if it's fair to say, because you have mentioned several tailwinds, so it's fair to say that excluding the tariff refund, we still see, so we'll see a recovery in profitability and gross profit in the second half. So it's fair to assume this kind of trajectory.

Hello, Domenico. On the applied material, of course, the patents that we will use on developing new lenses will be shared. We believe that this partnership could evolve in much more than just a partnership for a project. It will become really structural. JV to really face the new demand that will be very strong and see us in a real unique position combine the microprocessor capability and material treatment of AMET and the Optical know-how and capability of logistics and distribution of Essilor Luxottica. Products are very advanced, prototypes are already and we believe in a short and also some production line is already in place so we will hope to have already at the beginning of the next year something to sell on the market.

and the answer to the second question, Domenico, I think there are good reasons to see a good trajectory on gross margin also for the second half. As you know, I don't like to guide on quarters on the half, but I think the constituents that we see will continue to move, in my view, also in the right direction for the second half of the year. So I think when you look at our gross margin, there are good reasons to see it on a positive trend also for H2.

Okay, thank you. I believe we are at the end of our call. I want to thank you all to follow us with this passion and attention. Also, I hope that in the next call at the end of the year or the beginning of the next, we will really start to talk about the new frontier of oculomics surgery and the new vision that we have for the entire healthcare world that they will contribute a lot in the future to the revenues and profit of our company. Thank you very much.