Ray-Ban Maker Shares Set Highest Record, Investors Believe Meta AI Glasses Will Explode In The Market

EssilorLuxottica shares, the manufacturer of Ray-Ban glasses, jumped nearly 14% (photo: x @EssiLux)

JAKARTA - EssilorLuxottica's stake, a manufacturer of Ray-Ban glasses, jumped nearly 14% on Friday 17 October, hitting an all-time high and adding nearly $20 billion to its market value. This surge comes as investor optimism for selling AI Ray-Ban Meta-powered smart glasses, which is becoming a global trend.

The Paris-listed company and founded by its late Italian businessman Leonardo Del Vecchio reported a third-quarter sales growth of 11.7% compared to the previous year, to 6.9 billion euros (about $8.1 billion). This figure surpassed analyst expectations and marked the best quarterly performance in the company's history, driven by strong demand for wearable products such as smart glasses from collaboration with Meta Platforms Inc. since before the pandemic.

Although the smart glasses business still accounts for a small part of EssilorLuxottica's total revenue, this segment is now the center of attention of investors and analysts because it is considered a motor of future growth.

According to Barclays analysts, smart glasses have the potential to be the most disruptive innovation since mobile phones, with projected global sales reaching 60 million units by 2035.

The company's Chief Financial Officer, Stefano Grassi, said that the AI Ray-Ban Meta glasses accounted for more than four percentage points against sales growth this quarter, and high demand has prompted the company to accelerate its production expansion plan ahead of schedule.

"The exponential growth of wearable devices provides an additional boost to revenue performance," the company said in a statement Thursday, October 16.

The 13.8% increase in Friday's trading marked the biggest daily spike since 2008, lifting EssilorLuxottica's market cap to 126.5 billion euros. This movement also helped the Stox Europe Luxury 10 index jump more than 7% in a week, its best performance since January.

Throughout 2025, EssilorLuxottica's shares have outperformed Europe's luxury index, as global demand for glasses increases and optimism for the company's digital transformation towards smart glasses.

Ray-Ban Meta's latest model, at prices between 379 to 799 US dollars, is now on sale limited to a number of physical stores. Expansion of sales to Canada, France, Italy, and the UK is scheduled for early 2026.

Meta's success with its Ray-Ban has revived the computer glasses market, which used to die after Google and Microsoft left a similar project. Now, Meta has managed to attract the interest of technology giants Google and Samsung are developing Android XR-based glasses, while Apple is reportedly participating in preparing similar products.

JP Morgan analysts say Ray-Ban Meta's smart glasses are now a driving force for material growth for EssilorLuxottica, while its conventional glasses core business remains strong.

Research institute Equita even raised the annual revenue projection of wearable products, estimating its contribution to around 1 billion euros this year.

"The third-quarter revenue acceleration and the company's confidence in the fourth-quarter outlook are strong indicators of the success of their business strategy," Equita wrote in his research record.

With Meta increasingly expanding AI technology into the world of fashion, Ray-Ban is now not just an accessory but a new window towards a future where artificial intelligence sticks directly to the face of its users