Amer Sports reported this week that sales in its Ball & Racquet Sports segment, which is predominantly comprised of the Wilson Sports business, but also includes the ATEC, DeMarini, EvoShield, and Louisville Slugger brands. Posted growth of 24 percent in the second quarter to reach $390 million. Growth was said to be driven by continued strength in Wilson Tennis 360, both Softgoods and Racquets, as well as improved growth in the Baseball, Golf and Inflatables categories.

Amer Sports CEO James Zheng said the Wilson brand’s Tennis 360 strategy continues to resonate very well with consumers, “from unique line of tennis apparel and footwear to high performance racquets.”

“We continue to see very strong momentum in tennis 360 globally,” noted company CFO Andrew Page.

Beyond tennis, the company said it saw a return to growth in baseball after slower sell in last quarter.

Wilson Softgoods
Segment growth for the second quarter was said to be led by Softgoods, which was up in very strong double-digits with continued momentum in all regions.

Zheng said Wilson Softgoods continued its “exceptional trajectory,” with very strong growth across all four major regions.

“Marta Kostyuk, one of our highest profile head-to-toe athletes, has been creating great buzz for the brand with her unique Wilson tennis outfits, reaching the semi-finals at both Roland Garros and Wimbledon,” he said.

Racquet Sports
Racquets growth was also reportedly strong “across the board,” driven by China, APAC and EMEA.

Performance racquets grew more than 50 percent for the quarter, driven by the very strong Blade V10 launch. Page said they are also seeing Padel gaining momentum and it became one of the Top 5 revenue drivers in Q2.

Wilson reported a couple of very big racquet launches this Spring, including the Q1 rollout of the latest version in theniconic Blade franchise.

“This has been one of the strongest launches in our history and also the racquet for world No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka,” commented Zheng. “We also recently launched a completely new racquet line, called the Defyer. This is our first ever power-spin racquet, which has been a growing segment of the racquet market.”

Zheng said the early results for Defyer sales are even exceeding the Blade V10 launch.

He said the brand continues to invest in new tour players, recently signing former world Top 5 player Holger Rune and 17-year-old rising star Moise Kouame, both playing the Defyer racquet.

Region Summary
All regions generated double digit growth for Ball & Racquet, led by Greater China, APAC and EMEA, followed by the Americas. The company opened 12 net new Wilson brand stores in Q2, with the majority split between Greater China and APAC.

Greater China
“We have extensive store opening plans for China given the performance of existing Wilson Tennis 360 shops there,” noted Page. “For the full year, we continue to plan to open approximately 40 net new Wilson Tennis 360 shops in China, between owned and partner doors.”

APAC
APAC reportedly continues to drive meaningful Wilson growth, driven by Wilson Softgoods in Korea, and Racquets in Japan.

Americas
In North America, the company apparently saw strong growth across channels, as Baseball and Inflatables rebounded.

“We have also continued to expand our Tennis 360 offering into more Dick’s Sporting Goods locations, including House of Sports, and are now in 450 Dick’s doors with our full head-to-toe-to-hand offering,” Page added.

Profitability 
Ball & Racquet segment adjusted operating profit margin increased 1,300 basis points to 17.2 percent of sales, including a 970 basis-point benefit from net tariff refunds. The underlying margin expansion was reportedly driven by favorable pricing, product, channel, and region mix. This was slightly offset by higher SG&A and the intentional decision to invest behind Wilson Softgoods, including tennis tour pros. 

Outlook
Amer Sports raised its full-year Ball & Racquet segment sales growth guidance to ~14 percent from a previous range of 10 percent to 12 percent year-over-year growth. 

“Looking ahead to the rest of the year, please keep in mind that Ball & Racquet’s tremendous 24 percent growth in Q2 benefited from some big product launches and the related sell-in, and we do not to expect this level of growth on an on-going basis,” Page cautioned. 

Image courtesy Wilson/Amer Sports