The Limited SeriesWide moat

Ferrari (RACE) — moat facet

The most profitable Ferraris are the ones almost nobody is allowed to buy — and that is not an accident of demand, it is the design.

The most profitable Ferraris are the ones almost nobody is allowed to buy.

Margin, and what carries it (%)51.7%Gross margin12.9%R&D of revenue9.0%SG&Aof revenue29.5%EBIT margin22.4%Net margin€2,110M of operating profit on 13,640 cars, carried by the most expensive of them.
A 29.5% operating margin on fewer than fourteen thousand units is only possible because the limited series carry the mix.

The limited series — the F80, the Daytona SP3, the XX Programme cars, the one-offs — are built in the hundreds, priced in the millions, and allocated exclusively to clients with the right purchase history.1 They are excluded from the headline shipment figure entirely: Ferrari's shipments count is stated "Excluding strictly limited racing cars (such as the XX Programme and the 499P Modificata), one-off and pre-owned cars, and other special sales."2

That exclusion is worth noticing. The cars that generate the most revenue per unit and the most brand heat sit outside the number everybody tracks, and inside the revenue line everybody uses. A quarter with limited-series deliveries looks like margin expansion.

In the June 2026 quarter, "shipments of the F80 increased in line with plans," and the newly revealed 12Cilindri Manuale was described as a Special Series already fully allocated — sold out at reveal.3

The strategic function is larger than the revenue. Limited series are what the allocation system allocates; without them, loyalty has no reward and the queue has no prize at the end of it.

The signal is the cadence of special series, which Ferrari controls entirely and which is the clearest expression of how much of the queue it wants to spend.

Moat trajectory: Holding steady

The limited-series cadence is deliberately constant. More of them would defeat the mechanism, so this cannot widen by design.

The number that tests this moat
Reported
Operating margin
29.5% — €2,110M on €7,146M

Achieved on 13,640 units, which is only possible because the most expensive cars carry the mix. Limited series lift revenue per car and the margin with it, and they are lumpy — a year with a major series delivering looks structurally better than the year between. Watch the margin across a full multi-year cycle rather than year on year; the June 2026 quarter ran at 31.2%.

Source: Ferrari Form 20-F, FY2025 ↗
⚠ Threats to the moat
⚠ THREAT 01
A Limited Series Is, by Definition, Limited
The margin lever works because it is used sparingly, which means it cannot be used more often to grow.
References
  1. ReportedThe limited series — the F80, the Daytona SP3, the XX Programme cars, the one-offs — are built in the hundreds, priced in the millions, and allocated exclusively to clients with the right purchase history. They are excluded from the headline shipment figure entirely: Ferrari's shipments count "excludes strictly limited racing cars (such as the XX Programme and the 499P Modificata), one-off and...
    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 ↗
  2. ReportedThey are excluded from the headline shipment figure entirely: Ferrari's shipments count "excludes strictly limited racing cars (such as the XX Programme and the 499P Modificata), one-off and pre-owned cars, and other special sales." That exclusion is worth noticing.
    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. ReportedIn the June 2026 quarter, "shipments of the F80 increased in line with plans," and the newly revealed 12Cilindri Manuale was described as a Special Series already fully allocated — sold out at reveal. The strategic function is larger than the revenue.
    Ferrari N.V., second-quarter 2026 results press release (filed with the SEC as an exhibit to Form 6-K). Net revenues of EUR1,938M, up 8% and up 11% at constant currency; EBIT of EUR605M at a 31.2% margin, up 10% and up 16% at constant currency; EBITDA of EUR755M at a 39.0% margin; net profit of EUR463M; diluted earnings per share of EUR2.62; industrial free cash flow of EUR276M, up 39%. For the first half, net revenues of EUR3,786M (up 6%), EBIT of EUR1,153M at a 30.5% margin, net profit of EUR876M, diluted EPS of EUR4.95 and industrial free cash flow of EUR929M (up 14%). Second-quarter shipments totalled 3,366 cars against 3,494, with EMEA up 210 to 1,856, the Americas down 206 to 787, Greater China down 89 to 185 and the rest of Asia-Pacific down 43 to 538; first-half shipments were 6,802 against 7,087, with EMEA 3,314 (down 33), the Americas 1,817 (down 198), Greater China 440 (down 71) and the rest of Asia-Pacific 1,231 (up 17). Results were attributed to personalisations and mix, with deliveries of the 12Cilindri, 12Cilindri Spider, Purosangue and 296 Speciale families rising while the 296 GTS, Roma Spider and SF90 XX families phased out and the Amalfi and 849 Testarossa ramped; racing revenue rose on sponsorship and on the supply of power units to other Formula 1 teams. Full-year 2026 guidance was raised to net revenues of about EUR7.60bn from about EUR7.50bn, adjusted EBITDA of at least EUR2.97bn (at least 39.0% of revenue), adjusted EBIT of at least EUR2.26bn (at least 29.5%), adjusted diluted EPS of at least EUR9.68 and industrial free cash flow of at least EUR1.55bn, on stronger personalizations than initially expected and lower than anticipated currency headwinds, net of hedges. Chief executive Benedetto Vigna stated that the order book entirely covers 2027. More than EUR800M was returned during the quarter — a EUR599M dividend instalment and EUR209M of share repurchases — taking the company from net industrial cash of EUR388M at 31 March 2026 to net industrial debt of EUR131M at 30 June 2026. Trailing twelve-month figures to June 2026 are net revenues of EUR7,353M, net profit of EUR1,639M and diluted EPS of EUR9.23. — Q2 2026 · publ. 2026-07 · source ↗
Sources
Generated September 23, 2026