Coach and Kate Spade's Japan sales return to growth as Tapestry's quarter beats forecasts

Tapestry, Inc., the New York-listed group that owns Coach and Kate Spade, reported revenue of $1,894m for its fiscal first quarter ended September 26, up 11% from a year earlier, with operating income up 29% to $424m and net income up to $360m, according to the company's own results release, filed with the US Securities and Exchange Commission on November 5. Tapestry raised its full-year guidance on the back of the quarter, now targeting revenue of $8.5bn to $8.6bn, roughly 6-7% constant-currency growth, against a prior target of $8.4bn to $8.5bn.

Japan's first growth after a year of decline

Within that, Japan -- the one region Tapestry has flagged as weak for several quarters running -- posted $103m in sales, up 4% at constant currency but down 5% as reported, the company said. It is the first constant-currency gain for Japan since the business began shrinking: Tapestry's full fiscal 2026 (to last June) saw Japan sales fall 7% at constant currency and 10% as reported, and the fourth quarter alone fell 4% at constant currency and 11% as reported. Japan was also the only region, among those Tapestry names, to post a decline on a reported basis this quarter, even as North America grew 4%, Greater China 43% and Europe 20%.

The nine-point gap between Japan's reported and constant-currency figures is almost entirely the yen. The dollar bought an average of ¥156.42 in September 2026, against ¥147.86 a year earlier, according to Federal Reserve data -- a yen about 5.8% weaker over the year, by floortok's calculation -- which by itself accounts for most of the difference between a quarter that grew in yen terms and one that still reads as a decline once translated into dollars. For anyone running a Coach or Kate Spade concession in a Japanese department store or mall, that is the number that matters: the underlying business, not the headline dollar figure, is what turned.

Japan's consumer prices rose just 1.2% in September, according to Japan's Statistics Bureau, so a 4% constant-currency gain in handbags and accessories is not simply inflation passing through the till -- it points to more goods sold, or higher average prices set by the brands themselves, rather than the broader cost of living doing the work.

Coach carries the quarter; Stuart Weitzman's exit still shows in the base

Globally, Coach grew 16% to $1,661m, with handbag average selling prices up at a low-double-digit rate, while Kate Spade fell 10% to $233m -- figures reported at the brand level worldwide, not broken out by region. Tapestry's reported 11% total revenue growth trails its 12% pro forma growth because last year's quarter still included $15m of sales from Stuart Weitzman, which Tapestry sold on August 4, 2025 and which contributed nothing this quarter. Operating income of $424m is after $15m of distribution-network charges tied to moving fulfilment from an Ohio centre to a third-party site in Pennsylvania; excluding that, operating income was $439m, up 24%. Chief executive Joanne Crevoiserat said the quarter "marked a powerful start to the year, with revenue, margin, and earnings growth ahead of expectations."

Set against other foreign luxury and fashion groups' most recently disclosed Japan figures, Tapestry's return to growth looks modest, though the quarters don't line up exactly: Richemont's Japan sales rose 36% in the three months to June 2026, and Hermès's rose 11% in the first half to June, against Coach and Kate Spade's 4% for the quarter to September. Kering's Japan sales, over the same January-to-June period, rose just 2%. Whichever way the comparison is read, Japan remains the smallest of Tapestry's named regions -- about 5% of pro forma sales, by floortok's arithmetic, against Greater China's $385m and Other Asia's $114m -- so a swing back to constant-currency growth matters more as a signal than as a driver of the group's overall number.