Here's what CEOs and top execs are saying about how the Iran war is affecting business
Here's what CEOs and top execs are saying about how the Iran war is affecting business
Roya Shahidi,Lara O'Reilly,Mary Hanbury,Tom Carter,Alex Nicoll,Alice Tecotzky,Cheryl Teh... See moreFri, April 24, 2026 at 4:03 AM UTC
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LVMH, which owns Louis Vuitton, has said that lower footfall in Middle East malls has affected business.Kaveh Kazemi/Getty Images -
The Iran war has affected businesses across sectors, from retail to advertising.
Its impacts are starting to show up in earnings calls.
Here's what top CEOs and execs are saying about the impact of the Iran war on the business world.
More than six weeks have passed since the Iran war began, and the impact of the conflict on businesses is becoming more evident.
The impacts of surging oil prices, supply chain issues, and lower demand from the Middle East are starting to show up in Q1 earnings.
In some sectors, such as investment banking, executives say business activity is in good shape overall.
However, for industries such as luxury goods, which have a strong retail presence in the Middle East, there are concerns about how the ongoing conflict will affect business.
David Solomon, CEO of Goldman Sachs
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David Solomon, CEO of Goldman Sachs, said in the company's first-quarter earnings call on April 13 that "the environment for investment banking activity continues to be incredibly robust, particularly M&A activity."
Solomon said that while leaders are "watching what's going on geopolitically," they are also looking at the opportunities that artificial intelligence could bring.
"They are focused on that, and that candidly trumps some of the geopolitical risk," Solomon added.
Arthur Sadoun, CEO of Publicis Groupe
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The French advertising giant said on its first-quarter earnings call on April 14 that the conflict in the Middle East had led some clients to delay "large transformation capex projects" due to uncertainty over how the situation might unfold.
CEO Arthur Sadoun said on the call that clients had become resilient in navigating uncertainty, after other major events, including COVID, the war in Ukraine, tariffs, and inflation. Publicis said it hadn't seen brands making significant reductions in their marketing budgets in the first quarter.
"They know that if they cut marketing spend, they will lose market share," Sadoun said. "That will be very expensive and very difficult to win back."
Publicis' Middle East and Africa business posted a 5.1% decline in organic revenue in the quarter, with the United Arab Emirates and Israel most affected, the company said.
Cécile Cabanis, CFO of LVMH
THIBAUD MORITZ/AFP via Getty Images
LVMH said in its earnings call on April 13 that its first-quarter performance was negatively affected by the war in Iran.
Cécile Cabanis, CFO of the French luxury conglomerate, said that "demand is very much down" in the Middle East, particularly citing lower foot traffic to malls.
Cabanis said Sephora, one of LVMH's companies, has been able to resist this downward trend better because of its large presence in Saudi Arabia, which she said has been "more resilient" during the conflict.
"What we have not seen yet is repatriation. And what we know is that the wealth has not evaporated," Cabanis said.
She added that if the conflict persists and wealthy people leave the region, they will ensure that they are "there to serve the clients."
Bernard Arnault, CEO of LVMH
Bernard Arnault, CEO of LVMH.Ludovic Marin/ AFP via Getty Images
Bernard Arnault, LVMH's CEO, said at an April meeting in Paris that there could be a "world catastrophe" if the Iran conflict continues.
The billionaire told shareholders at the company's annual general meeting that "the world is now in a pretty serious crisis in the Middle East" — one that affected demand for LVMH's products in the first quarter.
"Either it'll be a world catastrophe with very serious and very negative economic impact — in which case, who can say how 2026 will unfold," Arnault said. "Or it will be resolved more rapidly in some shape or form that we all hope for, even if it doesn't seem to be easy, in which case, business will recover and resume their normal course."
Armelle Poulou, CFO of Kering
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Gucci parent company Kering said during its first-quarter earnings call on April 14 that geopolitical tensions in the Middle East weighed on its traffic and performance.
"Since the end of February, the situation in the region has remained an area of heightened attention for the group," CFO Armelle Poulou said.
It saw an 11% decline in retail revenue in the region during Q1, which dragged on the overall retail segment.
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The Middle East accounts for about 5% of the luxury conglomerate's retail revenue, with about 1,100 employees and 79 stores, the company said. Despite some recent disruptions, it said stores are fully open.
Kering is also feeling the impact of the Iran war on sales outside of the Middle East. Its sales were down 7% in Western Europe in Q1, where "trends remain challenging, particularly due to softer tourist flows, notably from Asia and Middle East," Poulou said.
Eric du Halgouët, CFO of Hermes
Moritz Scholz/Getty Images
Luxury brand Hermes said its sales in the Middle East fell 6% in the first quarter as the conflict in Iran kicked off.
The company also saw its sales in France take a hit, with a "strong decrease" in Middle East customers shopping for its products.
"The impact of the slowdown because of the Middle East is not significant on profitability," its CFO Eric du Halgouët said during the company's earnings call on April 15.
"It remains to be seen whether the events continue for a month or two, but if it's just two months, I think that we can absorb this impact without too many difficulties," he added.
Wendell Huang, CFO of TSMC
TSMC CFO Wendell Huang warned that the war in the Middle East could impact profitability.TSMC
Semiconductor powerhouse TSMC reported record profit for the first quarter — but warned that the war in Iran could affect its finances.
Speaking on TSMC's earnings call, CFO Wendell Huang told investors that the prices of certain chemicals and gases the Taiwanese company uses to make chips would likely increase due to the situation in the Middle East.
Huang said that the disruption could impact TSMC's profitability, but told investors the company had sufficient reserves of hydrogen and helium to ride out any shortages.
Helium plays a critical role in semiconductor production. Around one-third of the world's supply is produced by Qatar, and the Iran war has sparked a global shortage of the odorless gas.
Larry Fink, CEO of BlackRock
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Larry Fink, the CEO of BlackRock, the world's largest asset manager, said that his firm has "not seen any changes in behavior" in the investment appetite of massive Middle Eastern sovereign wealth funds. Fink, who said he was due to meet two finance ministers in the region this week, hasn't seen any withdrawals from its sovereign wealth funds, and the money keeps flowing. However, so do the questions.
"Our dialogues are probably a little more constant, a little more talking about how they should play all of this and what should they do?" Fink said.
He did warn that "prolonged" uncertainty or violence could change this, but for now, the firm was confident there were still "huge opportunities" and would continue to build out offices across the region.
Rising energy prices could even provide an opportunity for public-private infrastructure investments in parts of Europe and Asia most affected. Their deficits are likely to rise as governments absorb these costs, he said, presenting "bigger and better opportunities."
Jamie Dimon, CEO of JPMorgan
JPMorgan released its first-quarter earnings on Tuesday.Bloomberg / Contributor / Getty Images/Reuters
JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon said the economy is resilient but warned of an "increasingly complex set of risks," including geopolitical tensions, in a press release. On a call with analysts, CFO Jeremy Barnum said that war in the Middle East could negatively impact the deals pipeline, which has so far been "surprisingly resilient."
Dimon added that, if things in the region begin to get "derailed," he would expect to see an "impact on sentiment and on deal decision-making."
Elena Mariani, head of strategic planning and investor relations at Moncler
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Italian luxury fashion brand Moncler said its Middle East sales were down 50% in March.
However, Elena Mariani, head of strategic planning and investor relations at Moncler, said this drop did not have "a meaningful direct impact on the business" on the company's earnings call on April 21.
Moncler, best known for its down-filled puffa jackets, has less exposure to the Middle East than other luxury brands, with the region accounting for less than 2% of sales.
Overall, EMEA revenue was down 1% for the first quarter of 2026.
This dip "was more related to incoming tourism from overseas customers into Europe that was worse in March compared to the previous two months," Mariani said.
Luciano Santel, executive director of Moncler, said that "there was a significant decline in traffic coming from outside the region in Europe due to a decline in flights."
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Source: “AOL Money”
