Amer Sports can definitely count on growth at both its Arc’teryx and Salomon brands for 2026 and beyond.
“All three segments performed extremely well, led by exceptional Salomon footwear growth,” said Amer Sports CEO Jie Zheng to investors during conference call on Tuesday after the company posted third quarter results.
Amer’s three segments are technical apparel, led by its Arc’teryx brand; outdoor performance led by Salomon footwear, and ball and racquet, led by Wilson Tennis 360.
He said that for the Arc’teryx brand, footwear continues to be a key growth driver with 35 percent growth. Looking ahead, “Arc’teryx has an exciting pipeline of shoe launches for next year, and we continue to believe footwear will be a large and profitable growth avenue for Arc’teryx. Footwear will represent approximately 8 percent of global brand sales this year, and we expect it to reach 13 percent by 2030,” Zheng said.
The CEO also said the technical brand continues to grow its women’s apparel category, focusing on clinical design and performance.
As for Salomon, Zheng said the brand’s “footwear momentum continues across all regions, especially Asia with strong demand for both sports style and the performance products. In addition to sneakers, bags and socks are also growing strongly across regions.”
Zheng also told investors that Salomon footwear is well positioned for “significant profitable growth” next year due to several factors that includes the continuation of global sports style momentum and its connection with younger consumers, especially women. He said Salomon also is gaining traction in the run specialty channel in North America, EMEA (Europe, Middle East and Africa) and even China, where the CEO said “we operate the most productive and profitable sneaker shops in the industry.”
He also noted surging demand for the Salomon brand in Korea and Japan. In Europe, the brand’s home market, Zheng said strong demand from consumers is driving strong re-orders, preorders and sell-through for both sports style and performance.
The CEO also said the shoe brand continues to ramp up its North America direct-to-consumer footprint and wholesale expansion with key strategic partners.
“By channel, the group continues to be driven by direct-to-consumer, which grew 51 percent led by Solomon in Greater China and APAC. Wholesale grew 18 percent at the group level, also led by Solomon,” said Andrew Page, the company’s CFO, who also spoke during the conference call.
By segment, technical apparel revenue rose 31 percent to $683 million, led by Arc’teryx. The brand opened 12 net new stores to date, as the company continues to plan for about 25 net new Arc’teryx stores for the full year, with the largest number slated for North America. Page said the company closed on its purchase of Nelson Sports, converting 46 partner stores in Korea into the Arc’Teryx brand’s own store fleet that included a number of small format shop-in-shops.
In the outdoor performance segment, revenues rose 36 percent to $724 million, driven by “very strong performance” in Salomon footwear, apparel, bags and socks. He said direct-to-consumer continues to be a critical growth channel for the brand in Asia, and that the brand opened 19 net new Salomon shops in Greater China during the quarter. The current total store count, both company owned and partner stores, total 253 and will reach 290 in Greater China by year-end.
In North America, the CFO said Salomon’s first New York store — it was initially a pop-up but is now a permanent location —continues to show “incredible traction with consumers and we are on track to operate four stores in [the New York area] by the end of the first quarter. A second New York store in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, will open later this week. The company also opened its first Los Angeles store last month.
“We will continue to focus on epicenters in 2026 and beyond, including New York, Los Angeles, Miami and San Francisco, and we are planning to open seven to ten new stores next year in the U.S.,” Page said. “Looking at U.S. wholesale, Salomon is seeing growing demand across a variety of high-quality retail partners, including REI, Nordstrom and run specialty shops.”
In EMEA, the brand’s store fleet continues to expand, including a second store in Milan, with a third one later in the fourth quarter. A second London store is also slated to open during the balance of the fourth quarter. Other locations planned for 2026 include Spain, Germany and several key U.K. cities.
Shares of Amer Sports rose nearly 8.5 percent on Tuesday to close at $33.36 in Big Board trading.
