Updated 1:21 p.m. ET July 31
Although German sportswear brand Puma reported a slip in sales in the second quarter, the company's bosses remain optimistic that their plan to bring the brand back to growth by 2027 is on the right track.
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Puma reported second-quarter revenues fell 9.7 percent to 1.69 billion euros, a 9.4 percent drop in currency-neutral terms.
Because of a slightly improved first quarter, that meant that over the first half of this year, Puma sales fell only 5.2 percent, currency adjusted, to 3.55 billion euros.
But Puma's new chief executive officer Arthur Hoeld said this was to be expected.
When Hoeld took over last July, he promised to clean up the brand's inventory and stop over-discounting at mass merchants. Last year was meant to be a reset, 2026 would be a year of transition and the brand would return to growth in 2027, he said.
During an online press conference held Friday morning in Germany, Hoeld went into further detail about how the brand would make that happen.
The second quarter has seen "progress, in line with our commitments for a transition year, as part of our three-year transformation journey," Hoeld said.
Improvements in distribution, in Puma's commercial operating model, changes in the management team and the ongoing brand transition meant the company was on track to achieve its plans for this year, he said.
Mark Langer, Puma's new chief financial officer, explained in more detail how that all those changes had affected the second quarter.
"The impact from the reset measures initiated in the third quarter of 2025 were more pronounced in [the second quarter] than in [the first]," said Langer, who took on the job in May and was previously financial boss at beauty company Douglas and CEO of menswear specialist, Hugo Boss, until 2020.
Those measures included reducing undesirable business, including sales at mass market discounters, and reduced promotional and marketing activity, Langer said.
Puma also had less inventory to clear in the second quarter so those clearance sales "only partially offset the stronger impact of reset measures," Langer said.
On top of that came ongoing economic and geopolitical uncertainty and inflation.
Asked for more details on how Puma planned to transition into a more profitable future, Hoeld pointed to key categories Puma saw as vital for future growth.
Running and training shoes, using Puma's Nitro technology, were the most important platforms, the CEO said.
"We see enormous potential for us in the two categories, not just around technology but also around how we are building communities," he said, referring to Puma's deal to provide sportswear for indoor fitness competition Hyrox until 2030 and the brand's foray into running clubs.
When it comes to lifestyle trends, Puma has finally started seeing more significant success with its low-profile looks from out of the Speedcat family, footwear originally designed for motor racing in the 1990s. This includes ballerina-style flats and a boot with a concealed wedge.
Puma has been pinning its hopes on the Speedcat family since at least 2023, when former CEO Arne Freundt first pushed the franchise as the next big thing. But it's really only recently that mainstream fashion has caught up enough for Speedcat to add significantly to Puma's sales.
The Speedcat has done very well in Asia and is now also seeing pickup in Europe and North America, Hoeld told FN.
"Most notable, in North America we are the fastest-growing brand, from a women's footwear perspective, in a couple of retailers," he pointed out, "something which Puma hasn't seen for quite some time actually."
This too is part of the company's plan to extract itself from discount-happy stores. The success of Speedcat in these higher-end retailers means Puma is getting more shelf space there, which the brand will then try to extend to other offerings, Hoeld said. Those will likely include trend-savvy running looks from Puma's archives as well as the brand's iconic Suede franchise.
Although the company is seeing ongoing success with Hyrox, running and low profile had not been enough to boost sales figures in the second quarter. Puma footwear sales slipped between April and June, sinking 11.7 percent to bring in 935.6 million euros.
Puma apparel sales also decreased by 4.3 percent and brought in 552.1 million euros while accessories declined by 12 percent.
Hoeld conceded that the recent World Cup tournament had not really added to Puma's top line in any substantial way. The brand wouldn't reveal how much it might have earned from the World Cup .
Hometown competitors Adidas — also Hoeld's former employer — said this week they likely made about 1.5 billion euros from the World Cup — but the much larger brand was also punished by shareholders for spending an extra 212 million euros on marketing at the World Cup, thereby reducing their profitability.
The cost inflation around the World Cup just isn't worth it for a brand like Puma, the CEO said.
Instead Puma focused on a "balanced marketing spend" and on its sponsored teams and players. Hoeld pronounced himself happy with the social media presence that generated for Puma as well as with sales of related clothing and accessories.
This meant Puma wasn't going to carry a significant financial burden into the first half 2027 because of its approach to the competition, he added.
Puma's home market of Europe, the Middle East and Africa, which is also its largest, saw sales decline by 12.9 percent to 674.1 million euros. Along with Puma's reset measures, the decline was driven by low demand in Europe as well as sluggish sales in the Middle East due to the ongoing conflict there, the company explained.
The brand saw the biggest drop in sales in North America, where they fell by 16.7 percent. It also saw a fall of 13.8 percent in Latin America.
Sales grew 8.6 percent in Asia-Pacific region though. Low-profile sneakers and the Speedcat family are in big demand in this region, Puma's statement noted.
A proposed deal with Chinese company Anta Sports — the third-largest sportswear firm in China — is having an impact in Greater China even though the deal, which would see Anta become Puma's largest shareholder, is not finalized yet.
Partners and distributors are being more cautious because Anta prefers a direct-to-consumer model, Hoeld said.
"But we are expecting very positive long-term effects from our partnership with Anta that will significantly outweigh any short-term volatility," he concluded.
Despite the second quarter's drop in sales, the company's various reset measures and financial discipline did improve its profit margin. Puma's earnings before interest and taxes, or EBIT, went from 109.1 million euros in the red over the second quarter of 2025 to a loss of only 53.1 million euros over the same period this year.
Executives said EBIT is expected to improve further in the third quarter. They believe sales development will also improve sequentially for the rest of the year, but say it will remain negative in the next quarter.
Puma also confirmed its guidance for the year. It still expects sales to continue to decline in the low- to midsingle digits over the whole year as the reset continues. The brand predicts EBIT will come in somewhere between minus 50 million and 150 million euros.
The second-quarter results were broadly in line with market expectations, with EBIT coming in slightly better than the consensus, although Puma shares tumbled 7 percent in morning trading. Analysts from the likes of the Metzler Bank in Frankfurt, Bloomberg and JP Morgan reasoned that shareholders could have been disappointed that Puma didn't adjust its guidance upward, as the company appeared to be on the right track with its reset.
The stock closed down 2.5 percent to 27.50 euros, in Frankfurt.
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