Amer Sports, Inc. (AS) just gave Wall Street exactly what it wanted: a beat-and-raise quarter that has analysts scrambling to update their models.
The sporting goods company reported third-quarter adjusted earnings of 33 cents per share on Tuesday, handily beating the consensus estimate of 25 cents. Revenue came in at $1.756 billion, up 30% year over year and above the Street's $1.710 billion forecast. When you beat on both the top and bottom lines while growing at that clip, people tend to pay attention.
CEO James Zheng sounded pretty pleased with the results. "All three segments performed extremely well led by exceptional Salomon footwear growth, an Arc'teryx omni-comp reacceleration, and solid growth from Wilson Tennis 360 and our Winter Sports Equipment franchises," he said. That's a lot of brand names doing well simultaneously, which is exactly what you want to see from a multi-brand portfolio company.
The strong quarter gave management enough confidence to lift its full-year guidance substantially. Amer Sports now expects fiscal 2025 GAAP earnings between 88 cents and 92 cents per share, up from the previous range of 77 cents to 82 cents. That new midpoint sits comfortably above the 78-cent analyst consensus. The company also raised its sales outlook to $6.375 billion to $6.427 billion, up from $6.22 billion to $6.27 billion, compared with the $6.361 billion consensus.
Investors liked what they heard. Shares climbed 5% to $34.98 on Wednesday following the earnings release.
The analyst community responded predictably to the upbeat results. Evercore ISI Group analyst Michael Binetti maintained his Outperform rating while bumping his price target from $43 to $46. Meanwhile, UBS analyst Jay Sole kept his Buy rating and raised his target from $52 to $54. Both moves suggest analysts see the momentum continuing beyond just one strong quarter.
