Purchases on Essilux in Paris. Meta aims to double smart glasses production

(Il Sole 24 Ore Radiocor)- Purchases on Essilorluxottica in Paris, on rumours of a possible upward revision of production targets for smart glasses produced with Meta. The stock in Paris is the best on the list. An article by Bloomberg reported that Meta and EssilorLuxottica are considering doubling the production capacity of their artificial intelligence-powered smart glasses to 20 million units per year by the end of 2026. The potential increase, driven by strong demand, could take production capacity even beyond 30 million units, should market conditions warrant it, according to sources familiar with the matter. The European group behind Ray-Ban eyewear and Meta's production partner is already close to its current production target of 10 million pairs by the end of 2026. The eyewear giant had said in October that it would accelerate the increase in production capacity for the fast-growing smart glasses business.

According to analysts at Equita, 'recent messages of strong demand for even the most innovative models such as the Ray-Ban Meta Display make it credible that the two companies are evaluating new production requirements and that the medium-term target (but no precise timing is given in the article) could be significantly higher than the current one'. Equita - which has abuy with a target price of EUR 330 - has 'a sales profile that sees 7 million units sold in 2026, rising to 10 million and 13 million in 2027-28'. The analysts, assuming 20 million units sold to 2028 and keeping other variables unchanged, calculate an additional sales contribution of EUR 2 billion, or 6% of group revenues. "The messages on sales and capacity development seem to us to be very supportive of the group's growth trajectory, an element that we see as more important today than profit margin maximisation," the analysts conclude.