The Brand Beyond the CarNarrow moat

Ferrari (RACE) — moat facet

Ferrari is paid by rival Formula 1 teams to supply them with engines, which is a reasonable place to start when explaining how unusual this brand is.

Ferrari is paid by other Formula 1 teams to supply them with engines, which is a reasonable place to start when explaining how unusual this brand is.1

Two revenue lines, two growth rates (€ M)€5,119MCars & parts 2023€6,005MCars & parts 2025€572MBrand line 2023€820MBrand line 2025Cars +17.3% over two years; sponsorship, commercial and brand +43.4%.
The brand line has gone from 9.6% of revenue to 11.5% in two years, while shipments went nowhere.

The line is called sponsorship, commercial and brand, and it covers three things: sponsorship of Scuderia Ferrari and the endurance racing team, Ferrari's share of Formula 1's commercial revenues, and everything the brand earns without a car attached — lifestyle collections, merchandising, licensing and royalties.2 It was €820 million in 2025, up 22.4%, against 4.8% growth in cars.3 Two years earlier it was €572 million.

Formula 1 is the engine of it, in both senses. Scuderia Ferrari has claimed 16 Constructors' and 15 Drivers' world titles since the inaugural championship in 1950 — the most successful team in the sport's history — and its share of the commercial pot reflects that standing rather than recent results.4 That is an unusual asset: a marketing platform that generates revenue instead of consuming it, watched by hundreds of millions of people, in which the company's name is the team's name.

The lifestyle side is the part with the most room. Ferrari has been deliberately narrowing its licensing — fewer, better products rather than more royalties — and building owned retail and Tailor Made centres, with new ones announced for Tokyo and Los Angeles.5 The comparison in this collection is LVMH: a brand with pricing power monetised through categories that cost nothing to make.

The reason this is rated narrow rather than wide is that it is derivative. The brand is worth licensing because the cars are scarce and the racing history is real; if either weakened, the lifestyle business would not hold on its own. It is a claim on the moat, not a second one.

The number is that 22.4% growth rate against 4.8% for cars.6 The quarter it slows to the pace of the car business is the quarter this stopped being a separate story.

Moat trajectory: Widening

Sponsorship, commercial and brand revenue grew 22.4% to €820M against 4.8% for cars, taking it from 9.6% of revenue to 11.5% in two years. This is the fastest-widening part of the company.

The number that tests this moat
Reported
Sponsorship, commercial and brand revenue
€820M in 2025, up 22.4%

Against 4.8% for cars and spare parts — nearly five times faster. It is Formula 1 sponsorship, Ferrari's share of the championship's commercial distribution to teams, and the lifestyle, merchandising, licensing and royalty business. It carries no manufacturing cost and no volume constraint, which is why it is the part of Ferrari that most resembles a luxury house. Watch its growth rate through a poor racing season.

Source: Ferrari Form 20-F, FY2025 ↗
Aspects of the moat
DIG DEEPER 01
Formula 1, the Marketing That Pays
Every other carmaker's motorsport programme is a cost line. Ferrari's is a revenue line.
DIG DEEPER 02
Licensing, Deliberately Smaller
Ferrari has spent a decade making its licensing business smaller, which is the opposite of what a brand under pressure does.
DIG DEEPER 03
Seventy-Eight Years That Cannot Be Bought
Seventy-eight years of racing history is the one asset in this collection that no amount of capital can reproduce.
DIG DEEPER 04
The Board Ferrari Assembled
A board drawn from Saint Laurent, LVMH and Apple tells you Ferrari has decided it is not in the car industry.
⚠ Threats to the moat
⚠ THREAT 01
A Claim on the Moat, Not a Second One
The brand line does not create scarcity; it spends the scarcity the cars create.
⚠ THREAT 02
A Revenue Line Inside a Sport Ferrari Does Not Control
Ferrari's fastest-growing revenue line sits inside a sport whose commercial terms it negotiates alongside nine rivals.
References
  1. ReportedFerrari is paid by other Formula 1 teams to supply them with engines, which is a reasonable place to start when explaining how unusual this brand is. The line is called sponsorship, commercial and brand, and it covers three things: sponsorship of Scuderia Ferrari and the endurance racing team, Ferrari's share of Formula 1's commercial revenues, and everything the brand earns without a car attac...
    Ferrari N.V., Form 20-F for the year ended 31 December 2025 (SEC, CIK 1648416) — Item 4, Information on the Company. Ferrari sells in over 60 markets worldwide through a network of 181 authorized dealers operating 195 points of sale as of the end of 2025; the largest dealer accounted for approximately 3.0% of shipments and the fifteen largest for approximately 25%. Allocations are determined by geography and dealer on metrics including expected developments in the relevant market, the number of cars sold historically by the various dealers, dealers current order books and the average waiting time of the end client in the relevant market; an order reporting system collects and monitors end-client orders and assists in production planning, allocation and dealer management. Ferrari rewards loyal clients through driving events and other initiatives and, most importantly, offers its most loyal and active clients preferential access to its newest, most exclusive and highest value cars. It states that resilience of the car value after a period of ownership is an important competitive dimension because higher resilience decreases the total cost of ownership and promotes repeat purchases, which it believes is a strong competitive advantage. The company intends to continue pursuing its controlled volume and growth strategy in line with the business plan announced at its October 2025 Capital Markets Day and plans to launch an average of four new models per year over 2026 to 2030. Six new models were launched in 2025 — the 296 Speciale, 296 Speciale A, Amalfi, 849 Testarossa, 849 Testarossa Spider and the Ferrari Luce, its first full electric model. The first reveal phase of the Ferrari Luce took place in October 2025 with the presentation of its key technical components and product development strategy, followed in February 2026 by the unveiling of the interior design and the announcement of the model name; the current product portfolio includes cars presented in 2025 for which shipments will commence in future years. The portfolio comprises nine Range models, four Special Series models and one Supercar, the F80. Scuderia Ferrari is described as the most successful team in the sport history, having claimed 16 Constructors and 15 Drivers world titles since the inaugural World Championship in 1950, and Ferrari won the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 2023, 2024 and 2025. Personalization runs from the Atelier through the Tailor Made program, whose dedicated designers guide clients through exclusive materials, and the One-Off program; existing Tailor Made centers are in Maranello, New York and Shanghai, with new centers announced for Tokyo and Los Angeles by 2027. All production takes place in Maranello, Italy, where the e-Building, inaugurated in 2024, is used to produce and develop models with internal combustion, hybrid and full electric powertrains as well as strategic electrical components including high-voltage battery packs, e-axles, inverters and electric engines; construction of a new paint shop began in 2024, which will allow Ferrari to satisfy further personalizations in-house. The company had 5,718 employees. — FY2025 · publ. 2026-02 · source ↗
  2. Moat Explorer calcThe line is called sponsorship, commercial and brand, and it covers three things: sponsorship of Scuderia Ferrari and the endurance racing team, Ferrari's share of Formula 1's commercial revenues, and everything the brand earns without a car attached — lifestyle collections, merchandising, licensing and royalties. It was €820 million in 2025, up 22.4%, against 4.8% growth in cars.
    Ferrari N.V., Form 20-F FY2025 — Item 5, Operating and Financial Review. Total shipments of 13,640 cars against 13,752 in 2024 and 13,663 in 2023; shipment figures exclude strictly limited racing cars such as those in the XX Programme and the 499P Modificata, as well as one-off, pre-owned and other special sales. Net revenues of EUR7,146M, up 7.0%. Net revenues from cars and spare parts were EUR6,005M, an increase of EUR277M or 4.8% on EUR5,728M in 2024 and EUR5,119M in 2023, attributed primarily to a richer product and country mix as well as a higher contribution from personalization, more than offsetting the lower contribution from the Daytona SP3 whose limited series deliveries concluded in the third quarter of 2025; foreign currency effects including hedging were negative. Sponsorship, commercial and brand revenues were EUR820M, up 22.4% from EUR670M and EUR572M in the two prior years, comprising sponsorship of Scuderia Ferrari, Ferrari share of the Formula 1 World Championship commercial revenues distributed to teams, and lifestyle, merchandising, licensing and royalty income; other net revenues were EUR321M, up EUR42M. Selling, general and administrative costs were EUR642M in 2025, an increase of EUR81M or 14.5% on EUR561M, and 9.0% of net revenues against 8.4%, attributed primarily to racing expenses and brand investments as well as organizational development. Net revenues by year run EUR3,105M (2016), EUR3,417M, EUR3,420M, EUR3,766M, EUR3,460M (2020), EUR4,271M, EUR5,095M, EUR5,970M, EUR6,677M and EUR7,146M (2025). — FY2025 · publ. 2026-02 · source ↗
  3. Moat Explorer calcIt was €820 million in 2025, up 22.4%, against 4.8% growth in cars. Two years earlier it was €572 million.
    Ferrari N.V., Form 20-F FY2025 — Item 5, Operating and Financial Review. Total shipments of 13,640 cars against 13,752 in 2024 and 13,663 in 2023; shipment figures exclude strictly limited racing cars such as those in the XX Programme and the 499P Modificata, as well as one-off, pre-owned and other special sales. Net revenues of EUR7,146M, up 7.0%. Net revenues from cars and spare parts were EUR6,005M, an increase of EUR277M or 4.8% on EUR5,728M in 2024 and EUR5,119M in 2023, attributed primarily to a richer product and country mix as well as a higher contribution from personalization, more than offsetting the lower contribution from the Daytona SP3 whose limited series deliveries concluded in the third quarter of 2025; foreign currency effects including hedging were negative. Sponsorship, commercial and brand revenues were EUR820M, up 22.4% from EUR670M and EUR572M in the two prior years, comprising sponsorship of Scuderia Ferrari, Ferrari share of the Formula 1 World Championship commercial revenues distributed to teams, and lifestyle, merchandising, licensing and royalty income; other net revenues were EUR321M, up EUR42M. Selling, general and administrative costs were EUR642M in 2025, an increase of EUR81M or 14.5% on EUR561M, and 9.0% of net revenues against 8.4%, attributed primarily to racing expenses and brand investments as well as organizational development. Net revenues by year run EUR3,105M (2016), EUR3,417M, EUR3,420M, EUR3,766M, EUR3,460M (2020), EUR4,271M, EUR5,095M, EUR5,970M, EUR6,677M and EUR7,146M (2025). — FY2025 · publ. 2026-02 · source ↗
  4. ReportedScuderia Ferrari has claimed 16 Constructors' and 15 Drivers' world titles since the inaugural championship in 1950 — the most successful team in the sport's history — and its share of the commercial pot reflects that standing rather than recent results. That is an unusual asset: a marketing platform that generates revenue instead of consuming it, watched by hundreds of millions of people, in w...
    Ferrari N.V., Form 20-F for the year ended 31 December 2025 (SEC, CIK 1648416) — Item 4, Information on the Company. Ferrari sells in over 60 markets worldwide through a network of 181 authorized dealers operating 195 points of sale as of the end of 2025; the largest dealer accounted for approximately 3.0% of shipments and the fifteen largest for approximately 25%. Allocations are determined by geography and dealer on metrics including expected developments in the relevant market, the number of cars sold historically by the various dealers, dealers current order books and the average waiting time of the end client in the relevant market; an order reporting system collects and monitors end-client orders and assists in production planning, allocation and dealer management. Ferrari rewards loyal clients through driving events and other initiatives and, most importantly, offers its most loyal and active clients preferential access to its newest, most exclusive and highest value cars. It states that resilience of the car value after a period of ownership is an important competitive dimension because higher resilience decreases the total cost of ownership and promotes repeat purchases, which it believes is a strong competitive advantage. The company intends to continue pursuing its controlled volume and growth strategy in line with the business plan announced at its October 2025 Capital Markets Day and plans to launch an average of four new models per year over 2026 to 2030. Six new models were launched in 2025 — the 296 Speciale, 296 Speciale A, Amalfi, 849 Testarossa, 849 Testarossa Spider and the Ferrari Luce, its first full electric model. The first reveal phase of the Ferrari Luce took place in October 2025 with the presentation of its key technical components and product development strategy, followed in February 2026 by the unveiling of the interior design and the announcement of the model name; the current product portfolio includes cars presented in 2025 for which shipments will commence in future years. The portfolio comprises nine Range models, four Special Series models and one Supercar, the F80. Scuderia Ferrari is described as the most successful team in the sport history, having claimed 16 Constructors and 15 Drivers world titles since the inaugural World Championship in 1950, and Ferrari won the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 2023, 2024 and 2025. Personalization runs from the Atelier through the Tailor Made program, whose dedicated designers guide clients through exclusive materials, and the One-Off program; existing Tailor Made centers are in Maranello, New York and Shanghai, with new centers announced for Tokyo and Los Angeles by 2027. All production takes place in Maranello, Italy, where the e-Building, inaugurated in 2024, is used to produce and develop models with internal combustion, hybrid and full electric powertrains as well as strategic electrical components including high-voltage battery packs, e-axles, inverters and electric engines; construction of a new paint shop began in 2024, which will allow Ferrari to satisfy further personalizations in-house. The company had 5,718 employees. — FY2025 · publ. 2026-02 · source ↗
  5. ReportedFerrari has been deliberately narrowing its licensing — fewer, better products rather than more royalties — and building owned retail and Tailor Made centres, with new ones announced for Tokyo and Los Angeles. The comparison in this collection is LVMH: a brand with pricing power monetised through categories that cost nothing to make.
    Ferrari N.V., Capital Markets Day 2030 Strategic Plan — business section, filed with the SEC as Exhibit 99.1 to a Form 6-K on 9 October 2025. An average of four new car launches per year is planned between 2026 and 2030. The Ferrari elettrica will be an addition to the range product offering. In 2030 the product line-up will be 40% ICE, 40% hybrid and 20% electric. Ferrari targets 90,000 active clients, a 20% increase compared to 2022. New Tailor Made centers will open in Tokyo and Los Angeles to get closer to clients, and two new flagship stores in London and New York. The audience is described as ranging from 180,000 Ferraristi to more than 400 million tifosi. Strategic electric components are designed, engineered and handcrafted in Maranello. — October 2025 · publ. 2025-10-09 · source ↗
  6. Moat Explorer calcThe number is that 22.4% growth rate against 4.8% for cars. The quarter it slows to the pace of the car business is the quarter this stopped being a separate story.
    Ferrari N.V., Form 20-F FY2025 — Item 5, Operating and Financial Review. Total shipments of 13,640 cars against 13,752 in 2024 and 13,663 in 2023; shipment figures exclude strictly limited racing cars such as those in the XX Programme and the 499P Modificata, as well as one-off, pre-owned and other special sales. Net revenues of EUR7,146M, up 7.0%. Net revenues from cars and spare parts were EUR6,005M, an increase of EUR277M or 4.8% on EUR5,728M in 2024 and EUR5,119M in 2023, attributed primarily to a richer product and country mix as well as a higher contribution from personalization, more than offsetting the lower contribution from the Daytona SP3 whose limited series deliveries concluded in the third quarter of 2025; foreign currency effects including hedging were negative. Sponsorship, commercial and brand revenues were EUR820M, up 22.4% from EUR670M and EUR572M in the two prior years, comprising sponsorship of Scuderia Ferrari, Ferrari share of the Formula 1 World Championship commercial revenues distributed to teams, and lifestyle, merchandising, licensing and royalty income; other net revenues were EUR321M, up EUR42M. Selling, general and administrative costs were EUR642M in 2025, an increase of EUR81M or 14.5% on EUR561M, and 9.0% of net revenues against 8.4%, attributed primarily to racing expenses and brand investments as well as organizational development. Net revenues by year run EUR3,105M (2016), EUR3,417M, EUR3,420M, EUR3,766M, EUR3,460M (2020), EUR4,271M, EUR5,095M, EUR5,970M, EUR6,677M and EUR7,146M (2025). — FY2025 · publ. 2026-02 · source ↗
Sources
Generated September 23, 2026