<img src="https://imageproxy.pbkrs.com/https://inews.gtimg.com/om_bt/O36c2EKngBTWT61EbDYrZYh5dO9IMQgWR2sYYbkciT5GsAA/1000?x-oss-process=image/auto-orient,1/interlace,1/resize,w_1440,h_1440/quality,q_95/format,jpg" alt="Image" original-src="https://imageproxy.pbkrs.com/https://inews.gtimg.com/om_bt/O36c2EKngBTWT61EbDYrZYh5dO9IMQgWR2sYYbkciT5GsAA/1000"/> Author | Liu Yichen Editor | Song He In 2025, ANTA SPORTS delivered a performance report that matched its leading position: annual revenue reached 80.219 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 13.3%, maintaining its position as the top player in China's sports footwear and apparel industry for the fourth consecutive year.
However, if we shift the perspective from &#34;scale&#34; to &#34;structure,&#34; the changes in growth momentum can no longer be ignored.
The main brand's revenue growth has slowed to 3.7%, while FILA grew by 6.9%, maintaining only low single-digit expansion at nearly 30 billion yuan, making it difficult to continue playing the role of the group's &#34;engine.&#34;
In recent years, the real driver of growth has been the &#34;other brands&#34; segment represented by Descente and Kelong—this part of the revenue surged by 59.2% year-on-year to 16.996 billion yuan, with Descente's revenue exceeding 10 billion yuan for the first time, becoming the group's third brand to reach the 10 billion level.
However, the response from the capital market has not been enthusiastic.
The market's concerns may stem from the 2026 performance guidance: low single-digit growth for the main brand, mid-single-digit growth for FILA, and a decline in the &#34;other brands&#34; growth rate from nearly 60% to over 20%.
In recent years, with the DTC transformation, the capitalization of Arc'teryx, and the explosion of Descente, ANTA had constructed a clear growth narrative: continuously incubating new growth curves through multi-brand acquisitions and refined operational capabilities.
But now, the growth engines that have taken turns over the past few years are simultaneously entering a downshift period.
High-growth sources are collectively slowing down, while new variables are still in the investment phase. For ANTA, growth is still ongoing, but the next chapter of the story is temporarily absent.
<img src="https://imageproxy.pbkrs.com/https://inews.gtimg.com/om_bt/OFFSkcTBa805E3JOb-eDNljAcVUcY1qy2Vezg90wWX9isAA/641?x-oss-process=image/auto-orient,1/interlace,1/resize,w_1440,h_1440/quality,q_95/format,jpg" alt="Image" original-src="https://imageproxy.pbkrs.com/https://inews.gtimg.com/om_bt/OFFSkcTBa805E3JOb-eDNljAcVUcY1qy2Vezg90wWX9isAA/641"/>
1
Expectations of Downshift
First, it needs to be clarified that this is not a disappointing financial report.
In 2025, ANTA's revenue scale surpassed 80 billion yuan, maintaining a relatively stable profit level driven by cost optimization, with the fundamentals still robust.
Some believe that the company's current conservative growth guidance is more about expectation management rather than a significant weakening of demand.
Puyin International analyst Lin Wenjia believes that ANTA's conservative guidance is more about &#34;expectation management.&#34; Although facing high base pressure in the first quarter of 2026, as the base lowers in the second quarter, as long as industry demand remains stable, the possibility of a sharp decline in revenue growth is not high.
Based on this, he judges that both the main brand and other brands are likely to outperform the cautious targets set by the company.
However, precisely because &#34;the fundamentals have not shown significant deterioration,&#34; the market is paying more attention to changes at the structural level.
The first is the &#34;scissors gap&#34; in the profit structure
In 2025, Anta's overall gross profit margin slightly declined by 0.2 percentage points to 62%.
Among them, FILA's gross profit margin decreased by 1.4 percentage points to 66.4% in order to strengthen professional perception and enhance product functionality and quality; the main brand was dragged down by the increased proportion of e-commerce revenue affecting gross profit levels.
More significantly, the marginal weakening of profitability is noteworthy.
In the second half of 2025, the operating profit margin of the main brand dropped to 18.3%, falling below the long-maintained range of about 20%. Against the backdrop of a still sluggish consumer market for footwear and apparel, intensified competition, and increased investment, the profit margin in the mass price segment is being compressed.
These changes further translate into channel strategies.
Although the main brand's gross profit margin of 53.6% is still higher than that of similar competitors, in recent years, as professional products have been shifted to the mass price segment, market expectations for the improvement of its gross profit space are limited.
In 2025, the main brand's stores only net increased by 68 to 7,203, while the guidance for 2026 indicates a store range of 7,000-7,100, entering a net reduction phase. The focus has shifted to high store efficiency models like &#34;Super Anta&#34; and &#34;Anta Hall&#34; to enhance single-store output rather than pure scale expansion.
The main brand and FILA, which together contribute over 70% of operating profit, have their &#34;steady growth&#34; serving as both support and constraint; they determine the performance base but are difficult to provide flexibility.
The &#34;other brands&#34; segment, which has surged in the past two years, is actively shifting gears.
Although Descente delivered an impressive performance in 2025 with revenue exceeding 10 billion and an average monthly store efficiency of over 2.7 million, its expansion pace for 2026 has clearly contracted, with net new store guidance dropping sharply from 30 last year to 4-14.
Kailong is set to become the fastest-growing scale brand within the group: its revenue in 2025 surpassed 6 billion, a nearly 70% year-on-year increase, and its store efficiency has also reached the 2 million mark.
However, unlike Descente, the company has not set a clear timeline for reaching a &#34;10 billion scale&#34; for Kailong.
This reflects a degree of restraint from the management: against the backdrop of diminishing outdoor dividends, Anta prefers to control the pace rather than rapidly increase volume.
In contrast, the new variables &#34;Wolf Claw&#34; and &#34;PUMA&#34; are still in earlier stages.
Wolf Claw has just established its brand positioning as &#34;all-scenario professional hiking&#34; and has opened stores in places like Beijing, Shanghai, Chongqing, and Hefei's MixC, undergoing image transformation and channel upgrades, with plans to gradually advance store expansion attempts in 2026. Due to being in the early stages of brand reshaping, short-term losses may further widen.
Regarding PUMA, Anta's rights are mainly concentrated in distribution and operation in the Chinese market rather than a full acquisition, which means its autonomy in brand reshaping is relatively limited. The market assesses that Anta's acquisition of PUMA is more of a defensive layout in the international sports fashion track.
From a temporal perspective, both Wolf Claw and PUMA are still in the &#34;capability building phase,&#34; making it difficult to contribute significant performance increments in the short term.
This also results in a relatively rare state for Anta in 2026: the old engines are slowing down, the star engines are restrained, and the new engines have yet to take over
Growth continues, but a narrative gap has already occurred.
II
Gearing Up for the Next Phase
The narrative entering a phase of vacuum does not mean that ANTA is entering a &#34;dormant period.&#34;
On the contrary, during a phase where the growth logic needs to be reconstructed, the company needs to simultaneously advance multiple paths to seek new sources of certainty.
Firstly, there is a return in the outdoor segment from &#34;fashion-driven&#34; to &#34;performance-driven.&#34;
In recent years, the rapid growth of mid-to-high-end brands like Descente and KAILAS has benefited significantly from the &#34;outdoor fashion&#34; (Gorpcore) trend—functional products have been amplified by everyday and fashionable consumption.
However, as this dividend gradually fades, the focus of consumption has begun to return to product performance and the professional scenarios themselves.
Against this backdrop, Descente continues to increase its investment in professional sports such as skiing, golf, and triathlon, strengthening its technical barriers in the high-performance sports field, and sponsoring the Chinese National Alpine Ski Team and the Triathlon National Team.
KAILAS, on the other hand, is establishing brand recognition for &#34;professional outdoor&#34; by binding itself to niche scenarios like trail running and climbing, not only becoming the official sponsor of the Chinese National Climbing Team but also deeply participating in the Ninghai Trail Challenge (a UTMB qualifying event).
Secondly, in the context of intensified competition in the mass sports segment, the main brand also needs to continuously strengthen its professional sports narrative, answering the consumer question of &#34;why choose ANTA.&#34;
In 2025, ANTA's R&amp;D investment is expected to be around 2.5 billion yuan, with the R&amp;D expense ratio increasing to 3.1%, and plans to maintain double-digit growth in 2026, focusing on cutting-edge areas such as &#34;carbon-neutral fabrics&#34; and &#34;smart wearables.&#34;
In 2025, ANTA is also pushing for the gradual implementation of globalization—not only through acquisitions of international brands but also by actively &#34;going out.&#34;
In its 2025 annual report, ANTA disclosed overseas market revenue for the first time: revenue exceeded 850 million yuan, a year-on-year increase of about 70%, with the Southeast Asian market contributing over 60%.
In Singapore, Thailand, Malaysia, and other regions, the company is promoting channel implementation through a &#34;joint venture + regional general agent&#34; model, having opened over 100 stores and establishing initial brand recognition in core business districts.
Industry insiders in the sports footwear and apparel sector pointed out to Xinfeng that, unlike the domestic channel expansion path, ANTA emphasizes connecting with the local sports ecosystem overseas, establishing an interactive relationship between the brand and the local ecosystem through sponsorship of sports organizations, events, and athletes.
For example, in early 2026, ANTA became a partner of the Singapore Olympic Council and provided equipment support for its winter sports delegation; it had previously sponsored the Singapore Basketball Association and participated in the local sports talent training system.
ANTA is also simultaneously trying more diversified outbound channel strategies.
In August 2025, ANTA entered the Cambodian market in cooperation with China Duty Free Group, with the latter fully operating local stores. This marks ANTA's first attempt at &#34;light asset outbound&#34; leveraging a mature retail system.
From a regional layout perspective, Southeast Asia remains the current stronghold, with the company deeply cultivating the region through its &#34;thousand-store plan&#34; while extending into the Middle East and African markets
In the European and American markets, Anta collaborates with channels such as Foot Locker and JD Sports; in September 2025, the Anta brand will open a flagship store in Beverly Hills, Los Angeles, further integrating into the global mainstream sports consumption system.
Overall, what Anta can do now is not to quickly replicate &#34;the next Descente,&#34; but to steadily advance through three paths:
Returning to professional capabilities on the product side, rebuilding sports mindset at the main brand level, and promoting globalization at the regional level.
These paths may not bring explosive growth in the short term, but they determine whether the company can navigate the current narrative gap and accumulate a new growth foundation for the next stage

02020

ANTA SPORTS achieved revenue of 80.219 billion yuan in 2025, a year-on-year increase of 13.3%, maintaining its position as the leader in China's sports footwear and apparel industry. However, the growth rate of the main brand's revenue slowed to 3.7%, while FILA grew by 6.9%, and "other brands" such as Descente and KOLON saw a significant increase of 59.2%. The market holds a cautious attitude towards the performance guidance for 2026, expecting the growth rates of the main brand and FILA to slow down. Nevertheless, ANTA's fundamentals remain robust, and analysts believe that its conservative guidance is more about expectation management rather than a significant weakening of demand

ANTA's Growth Narrative "Vacuum Period"