Amer Sport's CFO Says Footwear Growth at Arc'teryx is ‘Growing Faster Than' the Brand Itself

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16 hours ago

Amer Sports is still in its early innings of a long growth spurt.
'Amer Sports strong momentum continued in the second quarter as our unique portfolio of premium technical brands continues to create white space and the picture in sports and outdoor markets around the world,' said company CEO James Zheng during a conference call on Tuesday. 'We remain confident in our ability to manage through higher tariffs and other near-term macro uncertainties. We are also ensuring that we develop each of our unique brands for higher-quality, long duration growth.'
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Zheng, who spoke during the call following Amer Sports' posting of second quarter results, cited acceleration of Salomon footwear, continued momentum at Arc'teryx and steady results at its equipment franchise led by the Wilson brand as examples pointing to strong performance in 2025 and beyond. In addition, pricing power, secular growth trends and a relatively low U.S. exposure provides multiple levers for growth over the near-, medium- and long-term outlook for the premium innovation-focused sports and outdoor company.
He also said that the company plans to open 25 net new Arc'teryx stores globally, although most of the new locations will be in North America, while footwear continues to be the fastest growing category for the brand. At Salomon, the brand recently opened its second flagship in Shanghai, and it opened five in Korea and five in Japan during the second quarter. The first U.S. store in the SoHo neighborhood of Manhattan in N.Y.C. continues to show traction with consumers, and there are three to four new doors planned in the same New York area later in 2025 or in early 2026. New locations for the fall include Woodbury Common and Williamsburg in Brooklyn, as well as in Chicago and West Hollywood this year, and San Francisco, Los Angeles and Miami in 2026.
For the second quarter ended June 30, net income was $18.2 million, or 3 cents a diluted share, on revenue of $1.24 billion. For the third quarter ending Sept. 30, the Finnish firm guided revenue expectations to an increase of 20 percent, with diluted earnings per share (EPS) at between 20 cents to 22 cents. And for the full year ending Dec. 31, revenue growth was projected at between 20 percent to 21 percent, with diluted EPS at between 77 cents and 82 cents.
'We're super excited about what we see in front of us,' Andrew Page, chief financial officer of Amer Sports, told FN in a telephone interview. He spoke about strong performance in Greater China, the rest of the APAC (Asia Pacific) region, EMEA (Europe, Middle East and Africa) and also in North America, with the Arc'teryx and Salomon brands growing double digits.
The Arc'teryx brand last year launched its in-house design division for footwear after leaning on the insights of sibling Salomon. Page said growth under the new dedicated footwear unit has rise from 6 percent to 10 percent 'almost overnight.' The brand is growing over 20 percent, while its footwear business is 'growing faster than Arc'teryx,' Page said, adding that 'we're still in the early stages.' The new unit is led by industry veteran Renée Augustine, who was elevated to general manager in April after serving as the brand's vice president of strategy and enterprise PMO.
In comparison, Salomon's trajectory has growth in its heritage hiking and trail shoe category, a 'sportstyle' shoe that resonates with the streetwear crowd, and a running platform that represents its newest addition to the outdoor performance category. The running platform includes gravel running shoes with treads designed for switching from asphalt to gravel and back, as well as road running shoes engineered for comfort.
'Both the gravel and the running platforms have been well received in North America and in Europe, and the sportstyle is the predominant franchise in Greater China and in APAC,' Page said, while describing the streetwear trend in Greater China as 'white hot.' The one connection between the three Salomon platforms is that all three have a technical performance focus, as does the Arc'teryx line of footwear, the CFO added, noting that factor as a key defining differentiator from the brands' competitors.
Because the businesses are still in the early growth stages in the U.S., there's less tariff exposure compared with competitors. 'Only about 26 percent of our revenue is in the U.S.,' Page said, noting that the bulk of that is from its equipment business — the ball and racquet division — led by the Wilson brand. The Wilson Tennis 360 strategy drives the brand's franchise in footwear, apparel and performance racquets.
Noting 'extremely strong relationships with our vendor partners' who can share in some of the costs, along with a low concentration of U.S.-based revenue and meaningful, untapped pricing power, Page is confident about the company's ability to navigate the higher tariff backdrop. 'We believe that we have a number of levers that we can pull to deal with a multitude of different tariff scenarios,' he said, adding that the company did not have price increases 'in any meaningful manner' as it relates to its Salomon and Arc'teryx brands.
With Salomon and Arc'teryx on pace for long-term growth, Page didn't exactly rule out the possibility of an acquisition to build out Amer's brand portfolio.
'We definitely look at opportunities as inbounds come to us,' the CFO acknowledged. The criteria includes an analysis of whether Amer Sports would be better owners of the brand and whether the company's core competencies would help accelerate its grow as it has been able to do with those already under its brand umbrella.
'But it's a high bar because we believe that the runway in front of us for Arc'teryx and Salomon and Wilson Tennis 360 is still pretty immense,' Page said.
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