Beiersdorf Earnings: Dermatological Brands and North America Rejuvenation Support Organic Growth

Narrow-moat Beiersdorf delivered organic sales growth of 6.5% for the first nine months of 2024 with 7.3% organic growth for the consumer segment. Despite persistent headwinds for the luxury brand La Prairie, stemming from a challenging market environment in China, we are encouraged by the strong performance in the third quarter in North America and for the dermatological brands at a global level, growing organic sales by 11% and 10%, respectively. Beiersdorf's strong innovation—particularly the recent Epicelline launch under the Eucerin brand—and higher marketing investments are helping accelerate growth in these challenging market segments. The Tesa business delivered slower organic growth at 3.1%, reflecting ongoing automotive market pressures. Management reconfirmed full-year 2024 guidance, expecting organic sales growth of 6%-8% for the group with slight EBIT margin expansion. We don’t anticipate a material change to our EUR 106 fair value estimate after incorporating the recent developments in our model. At current levels, the shares look overvalued.