Luxottica Group S.p.A. (ADR) (NYSE:LUX)

should i hang on to it or sell. bought at 35

It's almost summer--do you want some new sunglasses? If you do, you have to go through Luxottica. They own Ray-Ban, REVO, Oakley and 9 more brands. If you want to be more fashionable, they produce the sunglass lines of designers including Burberry, Chanel, and Tiffany. On top of all that, they own major distributiors like LensCrafters and Sunglass Hut. Plus, their gross and net margins is twice the industry average (industry? doesn't that imply they have competitors?)
Want more? They have a very solid price to book ratio and a reasonable dividend.
Two quick concerns: they have a lot of debt and don't seem to be as efficient as competitors. Overall, though, I like this company a lot.

Will benefit from the lower euro, stronger dollar

Millions of chinese will need to wear glasses and they seem to like to wear them!

If you had to be in a business selling widgets, what business would you like to be in?

I'd like to be in one with few mechanical barriers to entry, few technical requirements (besides ANSI, and whomever rates UV/coating efficacy), and very low COGS.

Look at LUX for all those reasons. Brand power is a 'soft' barrier to entry, not a mechanical one, and LUX already plays in the majors. There's nothing new under the sun about technical requirements--another check. Let's talk cost to produce a pair of sunglasses (outside of any licensing)...how much do you think 3 ounces of fancy resin costs to come by?

For these reasons alone you need to put this brand and fashion style powerhouse on your watchlist.

Many have already talked about the a.) strong brands and b.) the market dominance that those represent.

Market dominance.... bet on more sunglasses... watch the ozon layer, people are vain.... etc.

GOOD SUNGLASSES

good sunglasses co

If you are wearing glasses made in Italy--whether basic fashion frames like Polo or kicking back in your Ray-Bans or making the scene on Sunset Blvd. in Oliver Peoples you are wearing Luxottica. They have a near monopoly on eyeglasses for the masses. In these troubled economic times, what better--and cheaper--way is there to upgrade your look than getting a new pair of glasses, particularly if they are covered by your vision plan? I like this company and it's cheap right now.

Strong company, well-priced, will grow.

prescription frames and sunglasses

This isn't a recession; it's a hiccup. Kids want branded clothes. They grow up and what do they want: branded everything!

decent dividend, consistently profitable, low debt. good p/e to eps growth.

Love lux, monster moat. Major supplier for the world wether fashion, formal or plain. Not quite a monoply

Buy signal Stocksabroad

Buy this stock.

Let's see, in the last few years they have stolen premiere brands from their #1 competitor, Safilo. Burberry, Polo, and recently, Stella McCartney are all now Luxoticca names. They just picked up Oakley, which when compared to the Safilo-equivalent Smith Optics, simply does not even compare.

When we compare the drive and mindset behind the Safilo and Luxottica's two respective CEO/owners, Tabacchi and Del Vecchio, they are in different leagues. Basically, Safilo lacks the aggression that Del Vecchio and Luxottica are so well known for (ex: Del Vecchio actually fired his own son).

BOTTOM LINE: It's only a question of time before Luxottica BUYS Safilo, and in doing so, will represent about 90% of the premiere brand eye wear names. I'm confident that in about 3-6 years, this theory will become fact.

LUXO!!!

Undervalutated

Eye surgery will go down, eyeware up.