Amer Sports CEO James Zheng said Tuesday morning, February 24, that the 2025 fourth quarter was a great finish to a breakout year for Amer Sports, with growth led in part by what he called the “rising star Salomon.” Never mind that the brand surpassed $2 billion in sales for the first time in 2025, or the fact that the brand continues to outpace former Amer pace car Arc’teryx to lead growth percentages year-over-year, it was the repeated use of the word “Sportstyle” during a conversation about Outdoor Performance on a conference call with analysts on Tuesday morning that should have the competition and investors raising an eyebrow as they ponder where this brand will grow next.

Company CFO Andrew Page said the company had another strong performance in Q4 with healthy sales growth, gross margin expansion and EPS despite a decision to accelerate investment behind Salomon.

“The strong sales and profitability of the Amer portfolio allows us to accelerate resources behind the large Salomon sneaker opportunity, while still delivering great results at the Group level,” he explained. “I want to emphasize that we are seeing tangible benefits and high returns from our accelerating investments, including meaningful uplifts in Salomon’s brand awareness since 2023, which has increased 15 points globally, including +15 points in Paris and +10 points in London.”

Outdoor Performance Q4 Summary
Outdoor Performance segment revenues, which include the Salomon and Atomic brands, increased 29 percent (+23 percent cc) y/y to $764 million, said to be driven by “very strong performance” in Salomon Footwear, Apparel, Bags, and Socks, and also supported by strong double-digit growth in Winter Sports Equipment, which includes the Salomon, Atomic and Armada snow sports brands.

DTC Outpaces Wholesale Growth
Outdoor Performance DTC grew 55 percent in Q4, said to be led by new doors and higher productivity across markets, “especially in APAC and Greater China.” Outdoor Performance generated 28 percent omni-comp growth with strength in both stores and online. Wholesale revenue grew 17 percent y/y, driven especially by strong results in Greater China and EMEA.

Full-year 2025 was described as a “breakout year for the 79-year-old Salomon brand,” which grew 35 percent to more than $2 billion in revenue.

Salomon Footwear
Salomon footwear momentum reportedly continued across all regions in Q4, especially Asia, with very high demand for both Sportstyle and Performance offerings. Zheng said there are several ongoing factors that give the company confidence that Salomon Footwear is well-positioned for significant profitable growth in the years ahead.

“The popularity of Salomon footwear continues to increase globally, and we are doing everything we can to ensure we are well-positioned to fully develop this large opportunity over time,” articulated Page. “Salomon is positioned for significant growth in all three major consumer regions, and we are working hard to build the right team, operational, go-to-market, and brand-building functions to support our growth.”

Zheng said global Sportstyle momentum continues. “One of Salomon’s unique strengths as an outdoor brand is that we are connecting with women and younger consumers in a way traditional outdoor brands have not,” he noted. “Sportstyle is critical to Salomon’s position as the Modern Outdoor Sneaker Brand. And the success of XT-Whisper is the first example of how we can successfully expand Sportstyle beyond the XT-6 franchise.”

Salomon’s Performance and Running lines are also reportedly having great success. “We continue to believe our new GRVL franchise is helping to unlock the run category for Salomon like never before,” the CEO remarked. “Salomon is gaining traction in the Run Specialty channel in North America and EMEA. And even China, which has been a Sportstyle-centric market, is seeing strong traction in Performance products.”

Asia Driving Gains
The Outdoor Performance segment growth rate was led by APAC and Greater China, followed by EMEA and the Americas.

DTC continues to be the critical growth channel for Salomon, led by the Salomon “compact shop” format. Salomon opened 33 net new Salomon shops in Greater China in the quarter, including both owned stores and partner stores, bringing the total count at year-end to 286 doors, adding nearly 100 new doors in 2025. In 2026, Salomon expects to continue store expansion in Greater China, but at a more moderate rate, adding approximately 35 net stores to the fleet.

“In December, we reopened the Salomon Flagship store in Chengdu,” Page noted. “The store design is inspired by local Sichuan Mountain scenery, and it is the first flagship store combining winter sports and trail running. In APAC, we opened net eight new Salomon stores in Q4, including Japan, Australia and Korea.”

The CFO said the region finished the year with 113 Salomon stores, including partner stores, with 44 net new openings in 2025.

“Overall brand awareness and demand for Salomon footwear is rapidly growing across Asia,” he said.

Europe is Calling
Zheng said the strong pull demand they are seeing from consumers in Europe, Salomon’s home market, is driving strong reorders, preorders and sell-through.

“In EMEA, we continue to expand our store fleet in key epicenters, including a third brand store in Milan and a fourth in London. And we will further develop our European epicenters into Spain, Germany and other key UK cities in 2026,” Page summarized.

“Sportstyle continues to be the growth driver,” Zheng said, “but we have also seen a real inflection in GRVL in Europe, supported by marketing campaigns, in-store events, and running event activations.” He said they are seeing “especially strong performance” in European epicenters like Paris and London, with strong double-digit omni-comps.

Salomon recently opened its first office and showroom in Paris, which is reportedly designed to elevate its brand presence in the city, strengthen our connection with buyers and the community, and support top talent acquisition.

North America Fueled by Sportstyle
The region, which is said to be “still a much smaller sneaker market” for Salomon compared to Europe or Asia, saw growth accelerate in Q4, driven by Sportstyle.

“We remain focused on ramping up our North America DTC footprint and Wholesale expansion with the key strategic partners,” Zheng shared. “Early signs are positive as our North America order book is experiencing strong growth.”

In the Americas, Salomon softgoods growth accelerated further as the brand continues to lay the groundwork for significant future growth.

“We are excited to see very strong order books for both Spring/Summer and Fall/Winter 2026 with growing demand across a variety of high-quality retail partners, including REI, Nordstrom, JD Sports, run specialty shops, and other specialty retailers. We also have improved our inventory position to answer the growing demand,” noted Page.

“Our brand awareness continues to rise across the greater New York area as our shop in SoHo continues to show great traction with consumers, and we opened our second New York store in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, in Q4. The Williamsburg location strengthens our presence in the core New York Epicenter, performing very well out of the gate,” the CFO continued.

Globally and in North America, Page said Salomon will continue to focus on its epicenter strategy in 2026 and beyond, particularly New York, Los Angeles, and Miami, suggesting they will open 7—10 new Salomon shops in the U.S. this year.

Retail Energy
Salomon is said to have “amazing brand heat” in Greater China and Asia, where Zheng said they believe Amer operates the most productive and profitable sneaker shops in the industry. He said Salomon grew sales in “very strong double-digits” in Greater China in 2025, driven by both Sportstyle and Performance, as well as strong growth in Apparel. Beyond Greater China, Salomon is said to be “experiencing surging demand” in Korea and Japan, where its large sneaker markets are.

The epicenter strategy appears to be working, according to Zheng.

“Our strategy to open a handful of brand stores alongside strategic elevated wholesale distribution in key metro markets is critical to elevating Salomon’s presence and awareness globally,” Zheng noted. Epicenter cities include Paris, London, Shanghai, Beijing, New York, Los Angeles, and Milan – with more to come.

Winter Sports Equipment
The Winter Sports Equipment franchises reportedly had “a very strong Q4” despite challenging weather conditions, posting double-digit growth amid lower snowfall in the Alps and Rockies. Zheng said the market remains healthy despite low snowfall in certain regions, with bookings, participation and enthusiasm for skiing and snowboarding at record levels this winter.

“In addition to strong market share in our core ski, boot, and binding franchises, we continue to see incremental growth opportunities in areas such as snowboarding and protective equipment,” Page added.

While Nike ACG showed up big with the Team USA Ski & Snowboard Team, CEO Zheng also highlighted Salomon’s Olympics success.

“The recent Milano Cortina Winter Olympic Games were a big moment for Amer Sports Group, especially Salomon, which outfitted all 27,000 official staff and volunteers head to toe. Between Salomon, Arc’teryx, Peak Performance, Armada, and also Atomic — which is already one of the most successful Alpine ski racing brands in history — our brands sponsored more than 200 athletes at the Games, winning an incredible 59 medals, a dominant performance.”

Segment Margins & Expenses
Adjusted operating profit margin contracted 490 basis points y/y to 6.2 percent of segment revenue, as Salomon accelerated SG&A investments to support its significant growth opportunity in the global softgoods market.

Outdoor performance gross margin continued to expand, driven by positive mix shift across product, region, and channel. This was reportedly more than offset by higher SG&A in Q4, driven by key investments to fuel Salomon’s long-term global growth.

Page said the investments include impactful marketing campaigns to drive long-term brand awareness, including XT-Whisper and Gravel, and MiCo Olympics-related marketing. He said they also accelerated retail expansion, especially in China, where they opened 25 net new brand stores in Q4.

“Lastly, we increased investment in talent & operations, including higher incentive compensation given Salomon’s performance versus plan, new talent acquisition, such as our new creative director and his team, and opening Salomon’s new Paris hub,” he summarized.

Full Year Segment Summary
Outdoor Performance revenues increased 31 percent (+29 percent cc) to $2.40 billion. Segment operation margins increased 310 basis points to 12.5 percent of revenue.

Full-year 2025 was described as a “breakout year for the 79-year-old Salomon brand,” which grew 35 percent to more than $2 billion in revenue.

Segment Outlook
Amer Sports’ full-year sales forecast estimates revenue growth of 18 percent to 20 percent y/y and segment operating margin of 14.5 percent to 14.8 percent of segment revenue for the year ahead.

New Faces
Salomon is also making key investments in leadership, according to Zheng’s comments. In January, Salomon appointed its first creative director, Heikki Salonen, who joins the brand to lead both product design and brand creative direction following tenures at Diesel and, most recently, MM6.

Image courtesy Salomon