Luxury Sector Turns to Wealthy Americans to Boost Business

Luxury goods makers are reportedly hoping wealthy American shoppers can buoy their business in 2026.

This comes after a year in which sales in the sector flatlined, the Financial Times (FT) reported Sunday (Jan. 25). Now, analysts at Barclays and HSBC are forecasting organic growth of 5% to 6% and 6.5%, respectively, throughout the industry.

Businesses in the luxury space are due to report earnings next week, and Barclays analyst Carole Madjo expects the healthy performance of the U.S. stock market to translate into an uptick in spending on luxury goods this year.

“Luxury companies really feel like there is now a cleaner correlation between wealth effects and luxury spending,” she said, pointing a to disconnect last year caused partly by the disruptive impact of White House tariffs.

That disconnect is now waning, and the unpredictable political environment is “having less of an impact on the feel-good factor” among American shoppers, Madjo added.

The FT added that the Americas was the standout region for Richemont, owner of Cartier, in the closing quarter of 2025, with U.S. demand for its jewelry helping drive a 14% increase in sales for the region.

HSBC estimates that growth in luxury sales to American shoppers will climb to 8% in 2026, up from 2% the previous year.

The luxury retail sector is banking on a turnaround at the same time that Americans of all income levels are thinking about affordability, as PYMNTS CEO Karen Webster wrote last week.

“Even among consumers not living paycheck to paycheck, 87% cite rising everyday prices as a financial challenge,” that report said.

“Whether a consumer is making $40,000 or $150,000, they’re going to the same grocery stores, buying the same stuff, watching the prices climb. The difference is that at $150,000, the grocery bill going from $600 to $800 per month is irritating. At $40,000, it’s unmanageable.”

New research from PYMNTS Intelligence shows that, among households earning $100,000 to $150,000 per year, the share living paycheck-to-paycheck by necessity has doubled in the last twelve months, from less than 10% in early last year to 24% by December.

“These aren’t minimum-wage workers or people who got out over their skis with bad spending choices,” Webster added. “These are households that are solidly upper middle class. And nearly a quarter of them now report that they’re living paycheck to paycheck not by choice, but by necessity. Meaning that after paying for housing, healthcare, transportation, childcare and debt, there’s little left over.”