Fashion

H&M soars in Stockholm after an above-expected third quarter

Analysts see good sales forecasts for September, while in the coming months the stock may be affected by the impact of US tariffs

25 September 2025

2' min read

(Il Sole 24 Ore Radiocor) - Milan, 25 Sep - The stock of the H&M brand soared on the Stock Exchange to over 9% in the first hours of the session in Stockholm, after exceeding market expectations with its quarterly accounts. Over the past six months, the brand's stock has gained more than 25%.

In the third quarter ended 31 August, the Swedish fashion group specialising in fast fashion in fact posted a net profit of SEK 3.2 billion (equivalent to EUR 292 million), up 40% from SEK 2.3 billion in the same period of 2024. Operating profit rose 40% to SEK 4.9 billion (around EUR 444 million), with the margin at 8.6% from 5.9% a year ago.

"H&M reported higher-than-expected third-quarter results, thanks to a gross margin that beat expectations," wrote Richard Chamberlain, an analyst at Rbc Capital Markets. "Operating expenses were also slightly below expectations," Chamberlain added.

Revenues fell by 3.4% to SEK 57 billion (EUR 5.1 billion), penalised by the exchange rate effect (-5%), but in local currency they increased by 2%. Operating cash flow rose to 9.985 billion from 8.215 billion, whilestocks werereduced by 9% to 37.9 billion kroner, or 16.4% of sales on a 12-month rolling basis.

"Thanks to a stronger customer offering, an improved gross margin, and good cost control, we have strengthened operating profit, while reducing stock," explained CEO Daniel Erver.

Autumn Forecast

The Group reported a good reception for the autumn collections and forecast sales in line with last year for September, pointing out that the comparison is with a month that was very strong in 2024.

"The company expects September sales growth to be in line with last year, a resilient performance compared to last year's 11% growth and slightly better than expected," Chamberlain notes. The forecast for the fourth quarter, however, according to the analyst, is 'more cautious than we expected, due to the likely impact of US tariffs'.

In the first nine months of the financial year, revenues in local currency increased by 2%, but dropped to 169.1 billion kronor from 172.3 billion a year ago due to exchange rate effects. Operating profit fell to 12 billion from 12.7 billion, with the margin at 7.1% from 7.4%, while net profit dropped to 7.8 billion from 8.6 billion.