Driven by the strength of its Arc’teryx brand, Amer Sports reported a strong end to its fiscal year with sales up in the double digits and a return to profitability. But the company warned that exchange rates are expected to impact business this year, prompting it to reduce its revenue growth outlook to 13 to 15 percent, weaker than analyst expectations, and below the 18 percent gain it posted in 2024.
In the fourth quarter, Amer Sports reported net income of $15 million, or 3 cents a share, reversing a loss of $93 million in the fourth quarter of the prior year, on a 23 percent gain in sales to $1.64 million. Adjusted net income was $236 million, or 47 cents a share.
By segment, technical apparel sales, which include its Arc’teryx and Peak Performance brands, rose 33 percent to $745 million, outdoor performance product — encompassing its Salomon, Atomic and Armada brands — rose 13 percent to $594 million, and ball and racquet sports revenue, led by Wilson, rose 22 percent to $56.2 percent.
Regionally, Greater China and the Asia-Pacific region continued to deliver strong growth, the company said, while North America and the Europe, Middle East and Africa region are also gaining steam.
“Fourth quarter was a great finish to a historic year for Amer Sports Group, with strong performance across all segments and geographies,” said James Zheng, chief executive officer. “Led by Arc’teryx, our unique portfolio of premium technical brands continues to create white space and take market share with long growth runways still ahead. Given the strong sports and outdoor trend globally and our still underpenetrated brands, I am confident that our talented management team is well positioned to deliver strong results in 2025 and beyond.”
In a call with analysts on Tuesday morning, Zheng singled out Arc’teryx as a “breakout growth story with great growth and profitability for the outdoor industry driven by its disruptive direct-to-consumer model and a unique competitive position. The brand is still very underpenetrated globally with a tremendous long-term growth path ahead.”
In 2024, Arc’teryx managed to post sales of more than $2 billion and in the fourth quarter delivered strong growth across all regions, channels and categories, he said, especially in footwear and womenswear, which grew faster than the brand overall, he said. Ski and snow products were especially strong with women in both the U.S. and Europe, Zheng added. Womenswear now accounts for nearly 40 percent of the company’s sales and Arc’teryx is hoping it will continue to grow until it reaches parity with the men’s.
He said Arc’teryx’s stores “continue to be at the heart” of the brand’s growth strategy. The company opened 33 stores last year, including eight units in the fourth quarter. This year, he said the plan is to open another 25 to 30 stores with an ultimate goal of having 200 stores in North America, 75 to 100 in Europe and the APAC region outside of China, and some 150 to 200 in mainland China.
By product category, Zheng said footwear was Arc’teryx’s fastest growing category in the fourth quarter and he expects that to continue. “We believe that it will become a sizable and profitable growth avenue for Arc’teryx, both in own retail and certain brand-relevant wholesale accounts.” But outerwear, which continues to be the core of the brand’s business, also continues to do well.
Turning to Salomon, Zheng said Salomon sneakers and apparel now represent two-thirds of the total volume within the outdoor performance segment, up from 54 percent in 2022. He noted that Salomon sneakers “have a unique performance position and design within the global sneakers market, but still very low market share and a growth potential ahead, especially at this time when consumers are open to trying new sneaker brands.”
He said Salomon sneakers exceeded $1 billion in sales last year, but the figure is “still tiny relative to the $180 billion global sneaker market. We believe Salomon sneakers have an authentic and unique market position with technical features designed for the long term, but also great for everyday use. Our unique style and technical attributes are resonating with consumers at a time when they are more receptive than ever to wearing new sneakers brands. Long term, we expect Salomon [sneakers] to grow double digits annually.”
But it’s not just footwear that is performing for Salomon, he said. Apparel, bags and socks are also “experiencing great momentum,” he said, especially in Europe. And the brand’s 196 owned or franchised stores in Greater China are performing well and the plan is to open about 100 new shops in the region this year.
In the ball and racquet division, Wilson and the company’s winter sports equipment brands are “authentic heritage, premium position, high-performance products [with] leading market positions,” he said, and as a result, are expected to “deliver lower long-term growth in their core equipment business, but they still have large soft goods potential, especially the Wilson Tennis 360.” That category includes hard goods as well as apparel and footwear.
Zheng said last year, Wilson recaptured the number-one position in performance racquets in the U.S., thanks in part to the Roger Federer racquet launch, and sales within its apparel category doubled in 2024. In China, six shops opened in the fourth quarter and the plan is to open about 50 Wilson Tennis 360 shops there this year.
Overall, for 2024, Amer Sports reported net income was $73 million, or 14 cents a share, compared with a loss of $208.6 million in the prior year. Sales were up 18 percent to $5.2 billion. By category, technical apparel sales were up 36 percent in the year to $2.2 billion, outdoor performance rose 9.6 percent to $1.8 billion, and ball and racquet sports sales increased 3.7 percent to $1.2 billion.
Looking ahead, the company expects revenue gains of 14 to 16 percent and fully diluted earnings per share of 14 to 15 cents in the first quarter with assumes a 300 basis point drag from unfavorable currency exchange rates. For the year, technical apparel sales are expected to grow by 20 percent, while outdoor performance product is seen increasing in the low-double digits and ball and racquet sales in the low- to midsingle digits, the company projected.
Andrew Page, chief financial officer, said, “With over 20 percent revenue growth, healthy margin expansion, significant free cash flow generated by the transformation of our capital structure, the fourth quarter of 2024 marked a financial turning point in Amer Sports’ journey. Although foreign currency exchange headwinds will weigh slightly on our 2025 financial results, continued strong momentum from our highest-margin Arc’teryx franchise and accelerating momentum in Salomon footwear, plus strong and stable positions from our market-leading hard goods franchises, gives me confidence that Amer Sports is well positioned to deliver another year of strong and profitable growth in 2025.”
