The Salomon brand set a new baseline in 2024, reporting over $1 billion in sneaker sales for the year, prompting Amer Sports CEO James Zheng to press forward with bigger goals for the burgeoning sportstyle footwear offering in the market.

“Global brand momentum behind Salomon sneakers is accelerating,” stated Zheng during his prepared comments on Amer Sports’ Q1 conference call with analysts. “Not only is the Salomon footwear franchise continuing to grow very well in China and APAC, it is also starting to inflect in both the U.S. and Europe.”

Zheng said brand awareness has doubled over the past couple of years, and the brand now sees strong momentum in Sportstyle and its Performance lines, emphasizing the “AND” in his statement.

The CEO rightly noted that the $1 billion mark Salomon set in 2024 remains 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 athletes on a variety of terrains, but also great for everyday use,” Zheng preached. “Our unique style and technical attributes are resonating with consumers at a time when they are more receptive than ever to wearing new sneaker brands.”

Amer Sports CFO Andrew Page reported that the company’s Outdoor Performance segment, which includes the Salomon brand on the Softgoods side, and Salomon, Atomic and Armada on the Winter Sports Equipment side, saw revenues increase 25 percent year-over-year (y/y) to $502 million in the first quarter, driven by “very strong performance” in Salomon Softgoods and “good results” in Winter Sports Equipment, following a slow start to the winter season.

Channel Summary
Direct-to-consumer (DTC) remained the fastest-growing channel for the Salomon brand. Outdoor Performance DTC grew 68 percent y/y, led by Greater China and APAC, and Wholesale grew 9 percent compared to the prior-year Q1 period. The Wholesale results were said to be driven by both Salomon Winter Sports Equipment and Salomon Softgoods.

“The DTC channel grew very healthy double digits driven by new store openings in Asia Pacific and Greater China as well as very solid comps from existing Salomon stores,” Page noted.

Regional Summary
Regionally, Salomon Softgoods continues to experience strong sell-through and solid order books in Europe for both Sportstyle and Performance. Footwear & Apparel continued its accelerated growth in Greater China and APAC, while the Americas saw increased growth, particularly in Footwear.

“Sell-through for retailers continues to be strong, which translates to healthy growth in our order books,” CEO Zheng offered.

Page said that Outdoor Performance growth was led by Greater China and APAC, followed by accelerating growth in EMEA. The Americas were said to be “roughly flat” but only because of the Enve divestiture in 2024.

“In Asia, DTC continues to be the critical growth channel for Salomon,” the CEO said. “Our Salomon ‘compact shop’ format developed in China works very well, and we believe these stores generate significantly higher sales per square foot versus the industry average and continue to improve.”

Zheng said the company continues expanding compact shops in Greater China, opening 22 net new Salomon shops in Q1, including owned and partner stores, bringing the total store count to 218. Zheng said the company is on track to reach nearly 300 Salomon shops in Greater China in 2025 and believes Salomon has the opportunity to grow to several hundred locations over time in just Tier 1 and Tier 2 cities from only eight stores four years ago.

The new Salomon flagship in Shanghai has reportedly continued to perform “very well” in the first few months. The company will open a second Shanghai flagship in August, located in the former French Concession district, known for its boutique shopping.

“Salomon Softgoods saw very good growth in the Americas,” Page stated.

In the U.S., the company “continues to lay the groundwork to support significant future growth.” Zheng said they see “more and more signals” that the brand is gaining momentum in the world’s largest sneaker market.

“Our first U.S. store in New York City continues to show incredible traction with consumers, and the brand is seeing strong buzz with key sneaker retailers across the city,” he detailed. “We plan to open three to four more Salomon shops in the greater New York area this year and continue to expand our presence in key wholesale accounts.

Beyond New York, Amer noted it is focusing its attention on San Francisco and Los Angeles as epicenter markets for Salomon sneakers.

Salomon was said to continue to experience great sell-through and solid order books in Europe, both for Sportstyle and Performance.  “Sell-through for retailers continues to be strong, which translates to healthy growth in our order books,” Zheng noted.

Salomon apparel, bags, and socks have also experienced accelerated momentum, Page added.

Footwear Product Highlights
Sportstyle offerings continued to lead footwear growth in the first quarter.

“A key brand highlight in Q1 was our first global footwear launch with the XT-Whisper, a new addition to our Sportstyle offering,” Zheng detailed. “This global synchronized launch has been a massive success, and was welcomed with excitement by customers around the globe.”

Zheng added that the company inked XTWhisper collaborations with Kith and Sandy Liang in the U.S. and has seen strong results from the “Whisper Girl” campaign in China.

In Performance Footwear, the CEO said the company has been “very pleased” with the launch of the road running shoe Aeroglide 3, which he said was “one of the best footwear launches in Salomon’s history.”

Aeroglide 3 uses OptiFoam Evo, which the brand believes represents a “disruptive, new-generation material, offering the runner a new level of rebound and comfort for running on road or trail.”

“We are also very excited by the Grvl launch this month, a new line that offers consumers a more versatile-than-ever running shoe that performs great on various types of terrain from pavement to parks and trails,” Zheng highlighted.

Winter Sports Equipment
Page reported that the company’s Winter Sports Equipment business “finished on a high note,” as good end-of-season snow helped boost retailer sell-through and reorders. Zheng added that the Winter Sports Equipment brands delivered a better-than-expected end of the ski season with strong sell-through at retail, leading to better at-once reorders.

“The Nordic, or cross-country, market remains more challenged, but we were able to move a significant amount of inventory at reasonable discounts, leaving us in a very clean position at the end of Winter,” Zheng said.

The CFO also noted that the company assumes that the Winter Sports Equipment market will grow in low single-digits in 2025 and over the long term.

“The ski and snowboard industry is healthy, and given advanced snow-making capabilities industry-wide as well as the growing attraction of winter mountain vacations, demand for ‘on-piste’ skiing is strong,” Zheng noted.

Still, Winter Sports Equipment represents just one-third of the company’s Outdoor Performance segment, and the share of the total brand business is shrinking as Salomon Softgoods grows and accelerates.

Segment Operating Profit
Outdoor Performance adjusted operating profit margin expanded 990 basis points from last year to 14.7 percent in Q1, driven by strong gross margin expansion due to channel, region and product mix, and favorable product cost. SG&A leverage on high growth also drove margin expansion.

Segment Outlook
For full-year 2025, the company expects Outdoor Performance segment revenue to increase at a mid-teens rate. Segment operating margin is expected at approximately 9.5 percent.

Page said the company expects Salomon Softgoods to grow at a strong double-digit rate annually in the long term.

“As James alluded to, the popularity of Salomon footwear is inflecting globally, and we are well-positioned to appropriately and fully develop this unique opportunity over time,” CFO Page concluded. “We believe we have very significant growth in all three major consumer regions, and have the right talent and team structures in place to take a more meaningful share of the global sneaker market over time.”

Image courtesy Amer Sports/Salomon/Kith

See below for additional SGB Executive coverage Q1 for Amer Sports, including tariff reactions and increased guidance:

EXEC: Amer Sports C-Suite Details Small Tariff Impact and FY Guidance Bump