Morgan Stanley has released a research report maintaining its "Overweight" rating on LI NING (02331), with a target price of HK$22.5. While the company's retail sales recorded a high single-digit or more decline in July, trends improved in August, with offline channel declines narrowing, while online sales were supported by live-streaming events.

Overall retail sales in August remained relatively stable year-on-year. The company noted that it is still too early to comment on September trends, but it anticipates that the Mid-Autumn Festival holiday will support September performance. The report mentioned that due to industry competition and a higher proportion of outlet store sales, LI NING's offline retail discounts deepened between July and August. However, this was not driven by inventory clearance, as the company had previously reduced its second-half orders.