Amer Sports CEO James Zheng reported on Tuesday morning, February 24, that the company’s 2025 fourth quarter was a great finish to a breakout year, with growth led by its flagship brand Arc’teryx and what he called “the rising star,” the Salomon brand.
Looking at the Technical Apparel segment, Zheng noted that it generated a 16 percent omni-comp in the fourth quarter, reportedly driven by strong full-price growth and healthy year-over-year segment margin expansion.
Technical Apparel segment revenues, which include Arc’teryx and Peak Performance, increased 34 percent (+34 percent cc) year-over-year (y/y) to $1.0o billion, representing the highest percentage growth quarter of the year. Omni-comp growth, which reflects year-over-year revenue growth from owned retail stores and e-commerce sites that have been open at least 13 months, was 16 percent for the quarter. The omni-comp gain was led by full-price selling, as Arc’teryx intentionally pulled back from participation in key promotional events, including Black Friday and Double Eleven (in China).
Segment growth, which was driven by the Arc’teryx brand, was said to be fueled by 37 percent Wholesale channel growth and 34 percent direct-to-consumer (DTC) expansion. Technical Apparel generated a strong 16 percent omni-comp.
Regionally, the segment growth rate was led by Asia Pacific, Greater China, the Americas, and EMEA. All regions grew at strong double-digit rates. The fourth quarter was reportedly the first full quarter post-the Korea distributor acquisition, which contributed a low- to mid-single-digit percentage to the segment’s growth rate.
Arc’teryx
Zheng said Arc’teryx delivered another excellent quarter of broad-based strength across regions, channels, and categories, especially footwear and women’s.
“We continue to envision Arc’teryx as a truly global brand with significant runway in all major markets, and we are encouraged that the brand is generating double-digit omni-comps across all four regions,” Zheng shared.
The women’s business was said to be Arc’teryx’s fastest-growing category in Q4, with over 40 percent year-over-year growth.
“We continue to enjoy rising brand awareness with women across regions, as we improve fit, style, color, function, and newness,” the Amer CEO added. “We created a significant amount of newness in Women’s this past fall, which drove notable incremental growth in key product categories.” He said the company saw strong momentum in ski and insulation with the Cerium and Atom SV. Zheng also called out the new Andessa Down Jacket, shown right, a waterproof ski jacket at a pinnacle price point. Zheng said women’s bottoms remain popular following the successful launches of the Clarkia, Leutia, and Nia pants in 2025.
Arc’teryx footwear, which grew nearly 40 percent y/y, was said to be driven by strong growth in all markets.
“Top performing models were the Norvan LD 4 trail shoe, shown lead photo, our most successful launch to date, followed by the Kopec Gore-Tex hiking shoe.” Zheng noted. “Looking forward, Arc’teryx has an exciting pipeline of shoe launches for 2026, as we continue to believe footwear will be a large and profitable growth avenue for Arc’teryx.”
Stores
Arc’teryx opened 15 net new stores in the fourth quarter, with 21 openings offset by the closure of six legacy locations as part of an ongoing strategy to optimize the quality and productivity of the brand’s store fleet. New store openings included the Arc’teryx Alpha Store in Rockefeller Center, NYC, and mountain-town stores in Aspen, CO, and Park City, UT, which were said to be “off to great starts.” Arc’teryx also opened stores in Canada, Japan, Australia, and China in the quarter.
Amer CFO Andrew Page highlighted the second New York City Alpha store, which opened in October on Fifth Avenue at Rockefeller Center. “This store is the most pinnacle expression of the brand in the U.S., and we are encouraged by the strong sales this winter.”
“We saw our largest retail opening across North America with our 5th Avenue Alpha Store, while Mountain Town openings in Banff and Aspen allowed us to connect at a deeper level with our core and pro communities, showing up for our guests in the moments that matter,” said Delaney Schweitzer, general manager North America, Arc’teryx.
For the full year, Arc’teryx opened 24 net new stores, excluding the Korea acquisition, and plans to open 25 to 30 net new Arc’teryx stores in 2026, with the largest number coming in North America and China.
“Our store opening plan incorporates a similar level of gross new stores as in 2025, partially offset by the continued closure of certain outlets and other sub-optimal locations,” offered Page.
“In Greater China, as planned, we had slight net store closures in 2025, which include partner stores,” Page continued. “However, we still grew our owned store count and overall square footage in China by opening larger format, higher quality, more productive locations.”
Veilance
The Veilance sub-brand was described as “still small,” but grew in the double digits in Q4, sparking excitement about its future.
“Veilance stirred a lot of interest at Paris Fashion Week, with showroom appointments tripling from last year,” Zheng said. “We expect strong double-digit growth from Veilance in 2026 as we further develop our collections and expand distribution.”
Sustainability
Discussing sustainability bonafides, Zheng noted that, “circularity and ReBird continue to be at the heart of our [Arc’teryx] brand. We opened eight new ReBird [resale] centers in Q4, bringing the total to 43. In Q4, we increased the credit that guests receive when they trade in used Arc’teryx products to 30 percent from 20 percent previously, which has driven a notable jump in trade-in activity.”
New Faces
Zheng also called out a few key recent appointments for the Arc’teryx brand:
- Avery Baker recently joined the brand from Tommy Hilfiger as the company’s first chief brand officer. “Avery is stepping into a newly created enterprise-wide role that will bring together global marketing, strategy, as well as a consumer experience, insights & analytics team,” Zheng explained.
- Tobia Prevedello was appointed the brand’s new head of EMEA. Tobia reportedly brings over 20 years of international leadership experience across EMEA and APAC, most recently at Celine and Gucci.
Peak Performance
Peak Performance, another brand element in the Technical Apparel segment, was said to have delivered “solid growth” in Q4, with sales increasing across all regions and channels.”
“The brand also continued to improve profitability driven by concentrated efforts to reduce promotions and increase full-price selling,” Zheng added.
Operating Margin
Zheng said the company was “very pleased” by Technical Apparel’s strong operating margin expansion in the fourth quarter.
Adjusted operating margin expanded 160 basis points to 25.9 percent of revenue, driven by “strong flow through of the revenue upside in the form of SG&A leverage.”
Zheng said, “This is a strong proof point of our confidence in the scalability of the highly productive store model for Arc’teryx, as stores comp positively over time.”
Full Year Segment Summary
Technical Apparel revenue increased 30 percent (+31 percent cc) to $2.86 billion for the year, reflecting an omni-comp growth of 19 percent year-over-year. Segment operating margin increased 60 basis points y/y to 21.6 percent of segment revenues.
Inventory
The higher inventories at year-end were said to be primarily related to four factors:
- Earlier receipt of seasonal Arc’teryx merchandise to improve the brand’s in-stock position.
- Higher Arc’teryx goods-in-transit resulting from greater use of ocean shipping vs. air freight.
- FX translation from the weaker U.S. dollar in 2025.
- The addition of the Arc’teryx Korea inventory following the recent acquisition.
CFO Page said the company expects inventory growth rates to normalize beginning in the 2026 second half, when the company starts to cycle improved in-stock positions and higher use of ocean freight.
Segment Outlook
Amer Sports’ full-year sales forecast anticipates 18 percent to 20 percent y/y growth in Technical Apparel. The company expects an adjusted operating margin of approximately 22.0 percent of revenue for the year ahead.
Images courtesy Arc’teryx
