On August 18, Amer Sports (NYSE:AS) reported second-quarter results for the period ended June 30, 2026, that blew past its own guidance, with revenue climbing 32.1% to $1.63 billion and adjusted operating margin more than doubling from 5.5% a year earlier. Direct-to-consumer sales jumped 39.9% and now make up more than half the business. Management liked what it saw enough to raise full-year 2026 revenue and earnings guidance, twice over.
The Growth Engines Are Humming
Arc’teryx and Salomon are doing most of the heavy lifting. Technical Apparel revenue rose to $674.2 million as Arc’teryx delivered a 17% omni-comp and a 34.1% jump in DTC sales, with women’s apparel growing faster than any other category in the segment. Brand awareness for Arc’teryx in the United States climbed roughly 50% versus last fall, and the brand is now testing shop-in-shop formats inside 15 DICK’S Sporting Goods House of Sports locations for the fall and winter season.
Salomon told a similar story. Outdoor Performance revenue increased 37.4% to $568.5 million, powered by footwear demand across sportstyle and performance lines alike. The brand opened its first North American flagship on Fifth Avenue in New York’s Flatiron District and added 13 net new shops in Greater China, where it now counts 353 owned retail stores.
Geographically, Asia Pacific revenue jumped 60.3%, and Greater China grew 35.5% for the quarter, both outpacing the rest of the business. That strength, combined with a Ball & Racquet segment where Padel became a top five revenue driver and the new Blade V10 racquet posted one of the brand’s strongest launches, gave management enough confidence to raise full-year revenue guidance to approximately 24% growth and adjusted earnings-per-share guidance to $1.27 to $1.30.
The Margin Boost Won’t Repeat
Not all of the margin story is repeatable. A one-time $64.3 million tariff refund added 390 basis points to gross margin and roughly $0.08 to earnings per share in the quarter, meaning the underlying gross margin gain was closer to 300 basis points rather than the reported 710. Adjusted operating margin excluding that refund expanded 340 basis points, a healthy number but far short of the 730 basis points shown on paper.
Management also flagged that Ball & Racquet’s 24.3% growth leaned on a heavy slate of product launches and related sell-in, and said plainly not to expect that pace going forward. Costs are creeping up elsewhere too. Net finance costs came in above guidance at $21 million because of higher hedging costs and currency losses, pushing the full-year finance cost estimate to $85 million from $70 million. Corporate expenses reached $68 million in the quarter, up from $45 million a year earlier, and the full-year corporate expense guidance rose to $240 million from $220 million on higher IT spending. Europe remains the softest region, growing 20.3% amid what management called a challenging macro environment, the slowest pace among the company’s four geographies.
What The Market Is Pricing In
Hedge fund ownership fell from 69 funds to 59 in the most recent quarter, a pullback that runs counter to the guidance raises. Short interest sits at 7.29% of float, a level that points to a real but not overwhelming bear camp. As of August 26, the stock trades at a forward P/E of 22.83, a premium that assumes the growth in Arc’teryx and Salomon keeps compounding. That combination leaves little room for the kind of margin normalization management itself is signaling.
The Case Still Being Written
Amer Sports heads into the back half of 2026 with real momentum behind Arc’teryx and Salomon, and a guidance raise that leaves less room for error than before. Brands that were barely present in North America a few years ago are now opening flagship stores and gaining share on both coasts. But a chunk of this quarter’s margin story came from a refund that will not repeat, and management already warned that Ball & Racquet’s growth is set to cool from its launch-driven high.
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