What Remains After the First Scent
When people walk through a perfume store, they usually pay attention to the name on the bottle and rarely to who developed the fragrance behind it. Yet many perfumes, as well as many food flavors, come from the laboratories of a small group of specialists, including the Swiss company Givaudan. This year, its two business segments are performing differently: The fragrance business is doing well, and the flavor business is gradually recovering. This raises the question of how sustainable this trend is.
Perfume is the company's main source of revenue
In the third quarter, Givaudan grew organically by 8,6 percent, following growth of 2,8 percent in the first quarter and 4,3 percent in the second quarter. Analysts had expected an average of 4,7 percent, with individual estimates ranging from 1,7 to 6,7 percent (FuW, Oct. 13, 2026). The Fragrance & Beauty division develops fragrances for the perfume, cosmetics, and consumer goods industries and is currently Givaudan’s most important growth driver. In the third quarter, the division grew organically by 13,5 percent. Over the first nine months, the fine fragrance segment grew by 15,3 percent. This is remarkable, given that the comparison base was already high following several strong years. By contrast, the Beauty Care division’s active ingredients performed more weakly, declining by 2,5 percent (Premium Beauty News, 13.10.2026).
Part of this momentum is attributable to orders that were not booked until the third quarter. However, analysts view demand as robust even when this factor is set aside (AWP, 13.10.2026). To assess this trend, it is also crucial to consider the source of the growth. It was driven primarily by higher sales volumes, while price effects played a minor role. Price adjustments to offset rising costs were largely offset by refunds of U.S. tariffs (FuW, 13.10.2026).
In Swiss francs, the trend appears less spectacular. With revenue of 5.89 billion Swiss francs in the first nine months, organic growth amounted to 5,2 percent, while growth in the reporting currency was only 2,6 percent (Premium Beauty News, 13.10.2026).
Flavors: Recovery Takes Patience
The food and beverage flavors business is showing less dynamic growth. In the Taste & Wellbeing division, organic growth accelerated to 3,5 percent in the third quarter, after standing at just 0,5 percent in the first half of the year (blue News, 13.10.2026). Givaudan cites a quarter-over-quarter improvement that is in line with its own expectations. In Swiss francs, however, the picture remains subdued. Over the first nine months, revenue remained 2,8 percent below the prior-year figure (AWP, 13.10.2026).
Despite the progress, several challenges remain. In North America, the Health and Functional division continues to weigh on performance; this division has since been separated organizationally from the rest of the business, and various strategic options are being discussed for it (FuW, 13.10.2026). In Europe, too, performance has been subdued so far. The region’s flavor business grew by 2,6 percent in 2025, but by only 0,3 percent in the first half of 2026. Both issues are expected to be the focus of the Capital Markets Day in the Netherlands (Cash.ch, 12.10.2026).
Valuation Following the Price Spike
The stock market reacted positively to the quarterly results. On the day the report was released, the stock gained 6,7 percent in early trading and climbed to 3 723 francs. Since the beginning of the year, the stock has thus risen by about 12 percent. Over a five-year period, however, it remains 17 percent below its level at that time (AWP, 13.10.2026). The sector also benefited: Shares of DSM Firmenich, Symrise, and Novonesis rose between 1,6 and 3,1 percent in early trading (Reuters, 13.10.2026).
The key question now is valuation. In April, the stock was trading at a discount to its historical valuation level (Reuters, 14.04.2026). Following the recent rise in the share price, the future trend in valuation remains to be seen. Additional insights are likely to come from the annual results, which Givaudan plans to publish at the end of January 2027 (AWP, 13.10.2026).
Closely related to this is the question of the sustainability of growth. The benchmark is the Group’s target of achieving average organic growth of 4 to 6 percent over the five-year strategic period, a goal it reaffirmed with its quarterly results (Investing.com, 13.10.2026). Whether it can maintain this pace will likely depend primarily on whether the flavors business continues to recover and the fine fragrances segment maintains its momentum. If both succeed, there would be strong grounds for confirming the target; however, in the weaker segments, the proof still remains to be seen.
