Ferrari again raises guidance as customers opt for high-priced, personalized sports cars

Ferrari on Thursday said that its third-quarter profit jumped 46% from a year ago as its wealthy customers continued to choose expensive “personalization” options for their new cars.

As it did last quarter, Ferrari again boosted its guidance for the full year following the results.

Ferrari now expects 2023 revenue of about 5.9 billion euros ($6.3 billion) and per-share profit of at least 6.55 euros, with an adjusted EBIT (earnings before interest and tax) margin of at least 26.5%. In August, the luxury automaker guided investors to full-year revenue of about 5.8 billion euros and per-share profit between 6.25 euros and 6.40 euros, with an adjusted EBIT margin of at least 26%.

CEO Benedetto Vigna said in a statement that a richer product mix – meaning more sales of the company’s higher-end models — and “the continuing appeal of personalizations” led Ferrari to boost its outlook.

“The order book remains at highest levels reflecting strong demand across all geographies, covering the entire 2025,” Vigna said.

Ferrari in recent years has greatly extended its options lists, offering its customers a huge range of choices in paint finishes, interior materials and other details, which it calls “personalizations.” Those extended options can add hundreds of thousands of dollars to the price of a new Ferrari, considerably increasing the company’s profit per car sold.

Here are the key numbers from Ferrari’s third-quarter earnings report:

Earnings per share: 1.82 euros vs. 1.60 euros expected by Wall Street analysts polled by LSEG, formerly known as Refinitiv.
Revenue: 1.54 billion euros vs. 1.47 billion euros expected, per LSEG.

Ferrari reported a net profit of 332 million euros, or 1.82 euros per share, an increase of 46% over net profit of 228 million euros, or 1.23 euros per share, in the third quarter of 2022. Its EBIT margin rose to 27.4% in the third quarter of 2023 from 23.9% a year ago.

Revenue increased 24% year over year to 1.54 billion euros.

Ferrari shipped 3,459 vehicles in the third quarter, up 9% from a year ago. The company said that the increase was simply a function of its “geographic and product allocation plans by quarter” and emphasized that its order book remains very strong.

On a year-over-year basis, deliveries were up in Europe and North and South America, lower in China, and roughly flat in the rest of the Asia-Pacific region.

Ferrari said it continued ramping up production of its SUV-like Purosangue model during the quarter, and that allocations of its limited-run seven-figure Daytona SP3 sports car continued “as planned.”

Ferrari also noted that its four hybrid models – coupe and convertible versions of the six-cylinder 296 and eight-cylinder SF90 sports cars – accounted for 51% of its total shipments during the period.