In Ferrari seemingly unscathed by the crisis, we highlighted that the car manufacturer continues to post insolent economic success in an otherwise devastated automotive sector, while all its peers in the upmarket segment were bearing the full brunt of a difficult economic climate.

It is true that Ferrari can legitimately be viewed as an authentic luxury player rather than a car manufacturer per se. Upon closer inspection, the Prancing Horse brand is more reminiscent of Hermès than any of its automotive peers.

The news at the time did not prevent us from pointing out that a valuation of 50x earnings seemed demanding and would certainly not forgive any setbacks. For this very reason, a few weeks earlier we welcomed the common-sense arbitrage by Exor, which decided to sell 4% of its highly valued stake in Ferrari to buy back its own shares, which were conversely trading at a heavy discount.

See also on this subject Exor bides its time, but the market lacks such patience, published a few days ago in these columns.

For several months now, Ferrari has been hit by both investors' mistrust of the luxury sector and acute analyst fears that its previously plump margins will contract as electric vehicles take up more space.

The Italian manufacturer has admittedly recently scaled back its electric ambitions, although still expects that 40% of its vehicles sold will have a hybrid powertrain by 2030 - and that 20% will be fully electric. However, margins in this category are lower than those for internal combustion engines.

Another current concern is, of course, the crisis in the Middle East, a sensitive - if not taboo - issue for Ferrari. Officially, vehicle deliveries in the region represent under 4% of volumes. But there are reasons to believe that it actually carries much more weight in the manufacturer's economy.

Indeed, Ferrari's clients in the Gulf do not necessarily buy their vehicles in their country of residence: they often do so via their holding companies domiciled in Europe or in various tax havens. In this respect, the flare-up in the region, on the brink of a widespread war, constitutes a major risk for the manufacturer.

Ferrari has more than doubled its revenue and, above all, quadrupled its profit over the last decade, up from €400m to €1.6bn, while the dividend - still rising sharply in 2025 - has increased sixfold over the period.

The Prancing Horse manufacturer boasts an immaculate balance sheet and faces a less extreme capital imperative than its peers, notably because its customers pay for their vehicles in advance, allowing Ferrari to operate with limited working capital requirements.

The group returned €1.3bn to its shareholders last year, representing almost all of its profit, over half of which was in the form of share buybacks. Against this, the company nevertheless commands a market valuation of €53bn, or a multiple of 33x its earnings.

It should be noted that the historical valuation floor for Ferrari shares is around 22x earnings. In comparison, another super-luxury name like Hermès has an historical valuation floor of 30x earnings.

It is remarkable that both groups show financial performances - both in terms of net margin and return on equity - that are quite similar.