Under Anta's leadership, Amer Sports has achieved high-speed performance growth, recently delivering an impressive financial report. For the 2025 fiscal year, Amer Sports' revenue increased by 27%, while net profit surged by over 400%, with growth recorded across multiple business segments. However, the swiftly advancing company is not without its concerns. The public relations crisis triggered by a marketing misstep from its brand Arc'teryx appears to serve as a warning. Balancing short-term traffic acquisition with the long-term upholding of brand value presents a significant test for Amer Sports on its rapid growth path.
Growth In 2025, Amer Sports reported revenue of $6.566 billion, a 27% year-on-year increase, or 26% growth on a constant currency basis. By business segment, technical outdoor apparel grew 30% for the full year 2025 to $2.856 billion; mountain sports apparel and equipment increased 31% to $2.404 billion; and ball and racquet sports equipment rose 13% to $1.307 billion. Regionally, Amer Sports demonstrated commendable performance. In 2025, Greater China revenue reached $1.862 billion, up 43.4% year-on-year; the Asia-Pacific region (excluding Greater China) revenue was $773 million, growing 50.7%; Americas revenue totaled $2.126 billion, increasing 14.3%; and the Europe, Middle East, and Africa (EMEA) region generated $1.806 billion in revenue, a 19.3% increase.
Regarding profitability, net profit attributable to shareholders in 2025 surged 489% to $427 million, with diluted earnings per share (EPS) of $0.76. Adjusted net profit grew 131% to $545 million, resulting in diluted EPS of $0.97.
Growth has been the key theme for Amer Sports over the past two years. According to financial data, in 2024, revenue increased 18% to $5.183 billion, and adjusted net profit grew by 329%. It was also the year the company returned to profitability. Previously, from 2021 to 2023, Amer Sports reported losses of $126 million, $253 million, and $209 million, respectively.
Industry experts point to the vast opportunities in China's outdoor market and Amer Sports' effective localization strategies post-Acquisition by Anta. Its alignment of brand, product, and channel strategies with Chinese market demands successfully caters to the middle class's desire for outdoor lifestyle apparel.
Specialists note that the global expansion of high-end sports and outdoor consumption, coupled with consumer upgrades and the popularization of healthy lifestyles, has opened greater growth potential for Amer Sports' portfolio of professional, premium brands. Simultaneously, core brands are still in a global channel expansion phase, with increased direct retail store density and deeper regional penetration driving rapid revenue growth through both store efficiency and scale. Strong brand power provides traffic and conversion advantages, while refined omnichannel operations and enhanced marketing efficiency contribute to robust, full-channel growth momentum.
Amer Sports' Global CEO attributed the strong performance to the flagship brand Arc'teryx and the sustained rapid growth of Salomon. Based on the past year's solid development, the company forecasts first-quarter 2026 revenue growth between 22% and 24%.
Marketing Behind Amer Sports' excellent performance lies marketing strategies primarily driven by Anta. In 2019, a consortium led by Anta, together with FountainVest Partners and Anamered Investments, completed the acquisition of Amer Sports for approximately 4.6 billion euros. Since then, Amer Sports has embarked on a path combining significant marketing investment with its turnaround.
Financial reports show that from 2021 to 2024, Amer Sports' selling and marketing expenses increased annually from $963 million to $1.7 billion. The 2025 interim report indicated that the ratio of selling, general, and administrative expenses to revenue had risen from 43% in 2021 to 49% in the first half of the year.
This substantial marketing investment has propelled its brands into the mainstream. Salomon, for instance, has been particularly active. In August 2025, it opened its first Chinese experiential flagship store on Shanghai's Anfu Road to attract young consumers. Product strategies include creating scarcity, such as releasing popular footwear via raffle systems and strict price control for regular lines, while leveraging celebrity and influencer marketing. Salomon has also actively pursued collaborations, partnering with labels like Comme des Garçons and MM6 Maison Margiela. Terms like "Salomon XT Quest" and "Salomon styling" became trending topics on Xiaohongshu, making the brand's products a staple for fashion influencers. Similarly, Arc'teryx gained追捧 status through marketing associated with middle-class and "old money" aesthetics.
Amer Sports revealed that over the past year, Salomon's footwear and apparel gained sustained popularity across all regions, especially in Asia, with both its outdoor fashion and professional performance series showing strong demand. The company stated that Salomon's outdoor fashion series continues its strong growth momentum globally, with a unique advantage in building deep connections with young consumers and female customers, which is key to establishing its position as a "modern outdoor footwear brand."
Salomon's annual sales exceeded $2 billion for the first time, becoming a crucial growth pillar for Amer Sports.
The operational strategy for these outdoor brands under Anta's umbrella involves expanding beyond core outdoor enthusiasts to the broader public. Through marketing that emphasizes high-end fashion and a "performance luxury" positioning, brands like Arc'teryx, Salomon, and DESCENTE have transitioned from being strictly professional outdoor labels to sought-after fashion brands. Apart from DESCENTE, both Arc'teryx and Salomon have been regarded as essentials for the middle class. Interestingly, DESCENTE China noted that overseas returnees, finance and investment banking professionals, and entrepreneurs form its primary consumer base. Amer Sports also mentioned in its IPO prospectus that Arc'teryx has established strong connections with both pure outdoor adventurers and luxury consumers in Greater China.
Experts observe that the Amer Sports team is highly skilled at extending professional brands into fashion and casual lifestyle segments, a competence honed through FILA's success in China. While this lifestyle and category extension indeed facilitates rapid revenue growth and meets market demand for traffic, transforming niche professional brands into mainstream favorites through collaborations or IP links carries risks. Such marketing strategies act as a short-term growth stimulant but may potentially dilute the brand's niche and professional value over the long term. For a multi-brand sports operator focused on professional outdoors, balancing short-term gains with medium to long-term brand value is a critical challenge.
Concerns The rapidly advancing Amer Sports does face underlying concerns. In September 2025, its brand Arc'teryx encountered a public relations crisis due to a marketing incident. Arc'teryx originated as a climbing equipment brand, and in international markets, its core positioning is "professional outdoor gear." On its official website, the brand story emphasizes its roots in the mountains, long-term design focus, commitment to responsible manufacturing, community involvement, and sustainable development, stating the need to consider both the immediate goal of creating excellent products and their impact on people and the planet.
In the Greater China market, alongside its outdoor positioning, Arc'teryx has cultivated a high-end fashion image to break through demographic barriers. Brands like Salomon have largely followed a similar development path. Some opinions suggest that the high-end fashion or even "performance luxury" positioning of brands like Arc'teryx is more deeply ingrained among consumers than their professional outdoor credentials. The recent marketing misstep by Arc'teryx is viewed by some as a consequence of the brand struggling to reconcile the pursuit of short-term marketing traffic with the preservation of long-term brand value.
The Arc'teryx incident serves as a profound warning for Amer Sports. It highlights that while pursuing marketing reach and commercial value, brands must adhere to social responsibility, environmental principles, and public sentiment底线, genuinely integrating ESG and values into practice. This necessitates that Amer Sports establishes more rigorous processes for major marketing campaigns, brand storytelling, and crisis management to balance commercial messaging with societal trust, thereby solidifying the foundation for long-term reputation.
Experts added that short-term traffic-driven marketing indeed harbors long-term risks: excessive pursuit of trendy labels can dilute professional outdoor DNA and blur core brand positioning; frequent cross-boundary expansions might weaken professional perception and alienate core users; and mainstream popularity can erode high-end exclusivity and brand premium. In the long run, brands must safeguard their professional foundation, root growth in product strength, and carefully balance audience expansion with the preservation of brand character to achieve sustainable growth.