Analysts say a luxury eyewear giant could be the next AI winner

Published Mon, Dec 15 20257:01 PM EST

Key Points

Smart glasses look to be the most important growth pillar for EssilorLuxottica in the medium term, Citi analysts said as they reiterated their buy rating.
Luxottica is developing smart glasses with Meta that can play music, take photos, and translate, using a neural wristband to interact with the device through hand gestures.
The Paris-listed company reported a nearly 12% growth year on year in the third quarter, with more than four percentage points attributable to its wearables, the company said.

Citi analysts have reiterated their buy rating for Ray-Ban maker EssilorLuxottica , saying AI glasses are "the next fast-growing edge device." Luxottica is developing smart glasses with Meta that can play music, take photos, and translate, and they are emerging as a key growth driver for the luxury eyewear giant, as awareness among richer and tech-savvy customers grows fast. The newest version includes a built-in display that allow users to read messages, view photo previews, and read live captions while having a conversation with someone, using a neural wristband to interact with the device through hand gestures. Citi analysts said that smart glasses look to be the most important growth pillar for the company in the medium term. Reiterating their buy rating on Monday, they added that they expect the AI glasses market to grow more than 100% annually until 2030, thanks to increased social acceptance, growing technological capabilities, and an increasing number of use cases. Citi expects the market to surpass 110 million units by 2030, with revenue closing in at about $40 billion at the retail level. Meanwhile, UBS models the market at 110 billion euros ($129 billion) by 2040. "Against this backdrop, we expect EL-Meta to retain market leadership, given first mover advantage and unparalleled brand and distribution footprint," Citi analysts wrote in their Monday note. They expect EssilorLuxottica to hold about 30% market share by the start of the next decade. Despite their $799 price tag, the glasses' popularity is already showing up in Luxottica's accounts. The Paris-listed company reported a nearly 12% growth year on year in the third quarter , with more than four percentage points attributable to its wearables, including its smart glasses Meta partnership, Luxottica said. The stock has gained 20% in 2025, outperforming the Stoxx 600 which is up 15% over the same period. EL-FR .STOXX YTD line EssilorLuxottica shares have outperformed the Stoxx 600 in 2025. Luxottica also oversees brands like Vogue Eyewear and Persol, and has licensing deals with luxury brands Giorgio Armani, Chanel, Prada, among others. Meta and Luxottica are also planning to release versions of their AI-powered glasses under the Oakley and Prada brands, CNBC has previously reported. Next year will see several more names launching AI smart glasses. Google plans to release audio-only ones that will allow users to speak with the Gemini AI assistant, the company said in a blog post in December. Snap , Samsung, Tencent , Pico, and Apple also have launches coming up in the next year. UBS analysts said more companies selling AI smart glasses could help overcome the main barrier to their adoption: limited consumer awareness of the product's functionality. Survey results suggest competition will not negatively impact Luxottica as consumers are far more likely to purchase from familiar brands, UBS added. – Jonathan Vanian and Salvador Rodriguez contributed to this report

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