Updated 3:33 p.m. ET on Oct. 30
BERLIN— German sportswear brand Puma reported a further slump in third-quarter sales and narrowed its forecast for full-year operating profit downward. However, neither the company's executives nor the market seemed fazed by the results and the change in guidance.
More from WWD
-
Where to Watch the 2026 New York City Marathon Online Without Cable
-
Jimmy Choo Momentum Grows as Shoes Reclaim the Fashion Spotlight
Third-quarter sales fell 5 percent to 1.78 billion euros in the three months to Sept. 30. This represented a 6.3 percent drop in currency adjusted terms.
Market analysts suggested investors were cautiously optimistic about chief executive officer Arthur Hoeld's promises to bring Puma back to growth by 2027, with shares closing Friday up 5.59 percent.
Hoeld took the top job at a moribund Puma in July 2025, with plans to clean up the brand's inventory and stop over-discounting at mass merchants. That meant 2026 was to be a year of transition and the brand should return to growth in 2027, he said.
"Overall, our [third-quarter] results reflect the progress we are making in this year of transition," Hoeld told journalists at an online press conference in Germany on Friday morning. "That is against the backdrop of a challenging market environment, specifically in Europe and North America. We do remain on track to achieve our plans for this year," he said. "At the same time, we do expect the recovery will be gradual."
Another reason for optimism about Puma was the conclusion of a deal in October that sees Anta Sports, the third-largest sportswear firm in China, become the brand's largest shareholder . Anta replaced France's billionaire Pinault family after acquiring their stake for $1.8 billion.
"This marks the beginning of a really new and exciting chapter for us as a company," Hoeld said. "We're confident that Anta's [Chinese] industry experience, global experience and long-term perspective will support our continued growth and our transformation."
While business was good in Asia — Puma's sales there rose 7.5 percent in the third quarter to 394.6 million euros — executives confirmed that momentum in China was a little slower because of their new relationship with Anta.
Anta's preference is for a direct-to-consumer model and this has seen Puma's partners and distributors in China react cautiously ever since the deal was announced. But analysts say the Anta deal could also drive Puma's growth next year; China is generally seen as one of the markets with the greatest potential for growth in the sports sector.
"We have now engaged with Anta as our partner to define the future operating model in China," Hoeld told journalists. "But to date, there's nothing that we can share apart from a confirmation of intense conversations with our new partner."
And for the time being, no immediate change was expected in the fourth quarter regarding wholesale in China, he noted.
Meanwhile sales in Puma's home market — also its biggest — of Europe plus the Middle East and Africa fell 12 percent to 801.2 million euros.
"This mainly reflected the reduction of undesirable business and subdued demand in Europe due to spillover effects from the ongoing conflict in the Middle East," chief financial officer Mark Langer told journalists.
Puma's reset in Europe was also well underway, the executives stated.
During the second quarter, Puma firmed up its new operating model in Europe, Hoeld explained. This revolved around more centralized control of the brand and its offerings and included new leadership, the consolidation of warehouses and management clusters (the latter went from seven to three), as well as the creation of a more unified collection of Puma products especially for Europe.
"So in the future, you'll see a much more holistic, much more centrally guided business in Europe," Hoeld told WWD and FN.
In Puma's second-largest market, the Americas, sales slid 2 percent to 580.4 million euros. In North America, sales fell more than in Latin America, where the brand just managed to hang onto growth.
In North America, this was "mainly due to weaker consumer demand and the continued reduction of undesirable wholesale business with mass merchants," Langer explained. This sales territory has been one of the most problematic for Puma when it comes to off-price business.
Turning Puma around in the U.S. is a priority, Hoeld said, even though the brand was also dealing with weaker consumer sentiment there due to rising prices.
"It is not just about the continued rightsizing of our mass merchant business [in the U.S.], where we're actively taking business out of unhealthy channels," he said. "It's also about our desire to grow — specifically with wholesale customers — with our [focus] categories of running, training and sports style."
However Hoeld and Langer would not be drawn on what, if anything, Anta will have to do with Puma's business outside of China.
Dennis Tao, a director at Anta who is responsible for mergers and acquisitions, was appointed as chairman of Puma's supervisory board in late October and another senior executive, Jeanne Huang, who's been working in a joint venture with Anta, also joined as a board member.
As with many companies in Germany, Puma has two boards — one, the management board, with five members including Hoeld and Langer, is responsible for the day-to-day running of the company, while the other, the supervisory board, with seven members, is responsible for monitoring their work.
"Europe, China and North America will be three focal markets for us in the future," Hoeld confirmed. "But just to be very clear…this will be a plan that will be driven, and continue to be driven, by the Puma management board, [and] supported by the newly composed supervisory board. We expect the continuation of support for the Puma turnaround plans [from Anta]," the executive stated, noting that Ding Shizhong, Anta's chairman, had said exactly the same recently.
In terms of Puma's product categories in the third quarter, footwear sales dropped 3.3 percent to 1.01 billion euros. This was because of muted performance in certain core looks but was offset somewhat by growing momentum in the low profile looks and new running shoes, the company said.
The low-profile Speedcat franchise , footwear originally designed for motor racing in the 1990s, is continuing to do well, Hoeld said, and Puma is also pushing a campaign highlighting its classic retro Suede sneaker.
Puma apparel sales slumped 8.9 percent, while accessory sales declined 2.1 percent.
Over the third quarter, the brand's operating profit, or EBIT, also decreased, going from 16.2 million euros in the black over the same period last year to 11.4 million in the red this year. This was the result of one-off effects related to the company's cost efficiency program and came despite Puma getting a U.S. tariff refund of 29.8 million euros.
Given the results of the third quarter, Puma said it would be adjusting its outlook for the full year.
"We have seen a continuous improvement in the top line and we expect a further improvement in the fourth quarter, indicating that the company has turned a corner in terms of growth," Langer said. "But it's not a quick fix."
While Puma still expects sales to continue to decline in the low- to midsingle percentages, and only sequential improvement in sales in the fourth quarter, the German brand now forecasts EBIT will come in somewhere between minus 80 million euros and minus 130 million euros.
This was narrowed down from its previous forecast of minus 50 million euros to minus 150 million euros.
Puma's third-quarter results more or less met market expectations. Analysts had expected sales of 1.755 billion euros, a sales dip of 6.2 percent and EBIT around minus 10 million euros.
Market observers from the likes of J.P. Morgan, Jefferies, Deutsche Bank and the Royal Bank of Canada offered mixed reviews of Puma's third-quarter results. Some applauded the growth in Asia, the brand's decision to curb investments and its work on shrinking inventories, which Langer says will be normalized by the end of the year. But others expressed concern that a genuine turnaround that brings Puma back into public favor remains a complicated endeavor.
Best of WWD
Sign up for FN's Newsletter . For the latest news, follow us on Facebook , Twitter , and Instagram .
