On August 18, Amer Sports (NYSE:AS) reported second-quarter results that beat its own guidance and then raised the bar for the rest of the year. Revenue climbed 32% to $1.63 billion, adjusted operating profit nearly tripled, and every region and segment posted double-digit growth. Diluted earnings per share reached $0.18, up from a much smaller figure a year earlier. What stands out about August 18 is not just the size of the beat but how broad it was.
Every Brand Pulled Its Weight
Technical Apparel grew 32% to $674 million, led by Arc’teryx and backed by a 17% omni-comp gain across owned stores and e-commerce. Outdoor Performance grew even faster, up 37% to $569 million, driven by Salomon Softgoods. Ball & Racquet Sports rose 24% to $390 million on the strength of Wilson Tennis 360. CEO James Zheng pointed to strong double-digit growth across every segment, geography, and channel as the reason for confidence in the outlook.
That confidence showed up in the numbers: Amer Sports raised full-year 2026 guidance to roughly 24% reported revenue growth, a gross margin of 60.5% to 61.0%, an operating margin of 14.2% to 14.5%, and diluted EPS of $1.27 to $1.30. The balance sheet backs up the reinvestment CFO Andrew Page described, with $573 million in net cash and $720 million in cash and equivalents at quarter-end.
The Fine Print Behind The Beat
Some of the second quarter’s biggest numbers lean on a one-time tailwind. Gross margin expanded 710 basis points to 65.6%, but 390 of those points came from net tariff refunds. Operating margin’s 820 basis point jump included the same 390-point benefit. The effect is largest in Ball & Racquet Sports, where adjusted segment operating margin rose 1,300 basis points to 17.2%, yet 970 of those points came from tariff refunds alone. Selling, general and administrative expenses rose 30% to $909 million, and on an adjusted basis SG&A grew 33%, faster than revenue itself.
Inventories climbed 19% year over year to $1,897 million. The guidance for the next quarter also points to a slower pace: third quarter revenue growth is guided at 18% to 20%, well below the 32% just reported, with gross margin guided down to about 59.0% and net finance cost alone guided to $15 million to $20 million, against roughly $85 million for the entire year.
What The Market Is Pricing In
Hedge fund ownership slipped from 69 funds to 59 in the most recent quarter, a modest pullback rather than a rush for the exits. Short sellers have built a real position, with 7.57% of the float sold short. Despite the guidance raise, Amer Sports trades at a forward P/E of just 14.71 as of September 17, a modest multiple next to the double-digit growth still guided for the second half. Funds trimming, shorts building, and a muted multiple suggest the market has not fully embraced the momentum management is describing.
The Real Test Starts Now
Amer Sports just delivered one of its strongest quarters as a public company, but a meaningful share of the margin gain came from a refund that will not repeat every quarter. The guided deceleration into the third quarter, from 32% growth down to 18% to 20%, is the number that will decide whether this was a peak or a new normal. If Arc’teryx, Salomon Softgoods, and Wilson Tennis 360 keep growing at anything close to their current pace even as tariff refunds fade, the modest multiple looks hard to justify. If growth cools as sharply as the third quarter guidance implies, the cautious positioning already showing up in the short interest will look prescient.
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