Burberry beat expectations for sales growth in the key holiday quarter as its marketing push featuring British celebrities resonated with shoppers and helped attract more Gen-Z consumers in China, sending its shares up as much as 7 percent.
Joshua Schulman, who became CEO in July 2024 as sales were sliding, is leading a turnaround focused on trench coats, scarves and the brand’s British heritage, while cutting costs after reducing the workforce by 20 percent last year.
“Our customers responded to our immersive timeless british luxury campaigns and experiences, while the continued strength in our core outerwear category is now extending into accessories and ready-to-wear,” Schulman said in a statement on Wednesday.
The company’s shares, which gained about 29 percent in 2025, were up 4.7 percent at 1,272.5 pence at 0811 GMT.
China Recovery Led by Gen-Z Shoppers
Comparable store sales rose 3 percent in the three months to December 27, beating analysts’ expectation of 2 percent growth, according to a company-compiled consensus.
Sales in China rose 6 percent on a comparable basis, as the brand continued its recovery in the crucial luxury market, led by “double-digit” growth in sales to Gen-Z customers.
J.P. Morgan analysts said Burberry’s update could be received positively for the rest of the luxury sector too, “providing relief on the state of the luxury consumer, in China in particular.”
The company said its markdown period was shorter and “shallower” than last year, showing that customers are increasingly willing to pay full price.
Burberry has taken several steps to lure shoppers back, including tightening the link between design decisions and commercial teams, and holiday campaigns with celebrities such as British actor Olivia Colman, who starred as Queen Elizabeth II in “The Crown.”
Burberry said it expects full-year adjusted operating profit to be in line with the consensus forecast of £149 million ($200 million).
By Pushkala Aripaka, Helen Reid
Learn more:
Burberry’s CEO on Turning ‘Britishness’ Into a Global Language
Joshua Schulman reveals how he’s fuelling the brand’s turnaround with a more get-able take on British luxury and a new sense of urgency in the BoF-McKinsey State of Fashion 2026 report.
