LONDON — Attention, American shoppers — it’s time to stock up on charms, pearls, chains and bangles because if U.S. import tariffs rise this summer, mid-price jewelry is going to get more expensive.
“The reality is, I don’t see a scenario where, if there is a 40 percent tariff imposed, people would not raise their prices,” said Pandora’s president and chief executive officer Alexander Lacik in an interview following the first-quarter results.
“Some companies would go bankrupt if they did not raise prices. I think everybody is going to move [on prices] ultimately, and there will be a major, major hike for the U.S. customer,” he added.
With a third of its sales in the U.S. and its manufacturing base in Thailand, Pandora is in the eye of the storm — as are so many other contemporary jewelry companies that manufacture in Asia and sell in the U.S.
“India, Vietnam, Thailand and China are all places where jewelers like us, in the mid-price segment, source pretty much all of their jewelry,” he said.
He believes that tariffs will impact the U.S. consumer more than the jewelry companies themselves.
“If we imagine a situation where [U.S. President Donald Trump] is going to go through with these high tariffs, then the whole sea level rises. You could argue that the relative position between the jewelry brands will be maintained,” he said.
Pandora CEO Alexander Lacik
Courtesy WJI2023
In its latest results statement on Tuesday, Pandora said it was making contingency plans in the face of all the uncertainty, and would provide the markets with an update “as the potential impact on the 2025 guidance and 2026 targets becomes clearer.”
Pandora added that it has accelerated certain cost measures, and is preparing to switch some sources of supply. As of early 2026, it will be ready to ship jewelry directly to Canada and Latin America rather than through Pandora’s Baltimore, Md., distribution center.
Lacik said Pandora’s size, geographic reach and healthy gross margin will give it flexibility if tariffs do come into effect.
“One of the strengths we have is that our gross margin is already operating at a very high level, higher than most of our competitors. That means I have more [scope] to rejig my value equation,” said Lacik, adding that Pandora’s size — it operates in more than 70 countries, and had revenue of 31 billion Danish kroner, or $4.31 billion, in 2024 — was an advantage.
In the first three months of 2025, sales rose 7 percent to 7.35 billion Danish kroner, or $1.12 billion. Underlying growth was 6 percent, while new store openings bolstered sales by 4 percent.
Pandora’s blue eternity charm.
The company also downgraded in guidance for the 2025 EBIT margin. It is now expecting EBIT, or earnings before interest and taxes, to be “around 24 percent” rather than “around 24.5 percent,” reflecting the latest foreign exchange headwinds.
The downgrade excludes the impact of U.S. tariffs that could come into effect following Trump’s 90-day pause.
Lacik said that because Pandora is a global company, it has options. It can hike prices in the U.S. only, or raise them by smaller amounts in various markets across the world. “I think we have to wait and see where these tariffs land, and we’ll take it from there,” he said.
Pandora offered up the details of two scenarios in its first-quarter statement.
If tariffs remain at their current level, 10 percent on Thailand and 145 percent on China, Pandora will see an impact of 250 million Danish kroner, or $38 million, in 2025, and annualized impact of 300 million Danish kroner, or $46 million, from then on.
If the U.S. chooses to impose the new regime, tariffs will rise to 37 percent on imports from Thailand and remain at 145 percent for China. That would lead to a 500 million kroner, or $76 million, impact in 2025, and an annualized impact thereafter of 900 million kroner, or $137 million.
Pandora said that in both scenarios, it would consider further price increases. It already increased prices by 4 percent in April.
Charm bracelets from Pandora’s anniversary collaboration with Disney.
The company remains upbeat despite the uncertainty.
Pandora said that gifting, which represents around 60 percent of its business, “has historically proven resilient during periods of economic uncertainty. In challenging times, consumers tend to gravitate toward trusted, established brands — further reinforcing Pandora’s position as a leader in accessible luxury.”
The company also sought to reassure the markets, adding that “stress testing confirms that even in severe economic scenarios, Pandora will remain highly profitable and continue to generate excess cash which will be returned to shareholders. Pandora remains well-positioned to deliver sustainable value through a potentially volatile period.”
For his part, Lacik said planning for tariff changes is all in a day’s work. “This isn’t the worst we’ve been through. I think that turning around Pandora was more challenging because we were trying to take one of the largest startups in the world and make it into a bit more mature enterprise. That was a much bigger task.”
He added that the tariff drama is “unwelcome noise, but we can deal with it.”
Pandora’s shares closed up 1.7 percent at 998.80 kroner, or $152.
