On January 20, 2026, the retail data for the fourth quarter and full year of 2025 disclosed by ANTA SPORTS (02020) served as a stark illustration of the diverging landscape within the sporting goods industry. Against a backdrop of slowing macroeconomic consumption momentum, the warmest winter since 1961, and a later-than-usual Chinese New Year—all creating multiple headwinds—leading domestic and international brands generally faced pressure. However, according to industry information, the ANTA Group, leveraging its "single-focus, multi-brand, globalisation" strategy, delivered a robust performance with high-single-digit sales growth in Q4 and low-double-digit growth for the full year. The risk resilience and synergistic advantages of its multi-brand portfolio have forged a clear competitive moat during the industry's "cold winter."
The fourth quarter of 2025 saw core winter apparel categories facing pressure from weakened demand due to the叠加 of multiple adverse external factors, plunging the industry into a widespread predicament of a "peak season without peak performance" and further intensifying the divergence among leading brands. According to Li-Ning's operational update for Q4 2025, sales for the Li-Ning brand (excluding Li-Ning YOUNG) decreased by a low-single-digit percentage year-on-year across all channels; in the Chinese market, Li-Ning's sales points (excluding Li-Ning YOUNG) saw a net reduction of 41 stores sequentially. Nike's revenue for Greater China in its second fiscal quarter of 2026 (corresponding to September-November 2025) declined by approximately 17% year-on-year, with performance and gross margin dragged down by inventory buildup resulting from lower store traffic and reduced sell-through rates.
Against this challenging backdrop, the ANTA Group's steady growth stands out even more prominently. The Group not only achieved stable sales growth but also maintained key metrics such as retail discount rates and inventory health within benign ranges, demonstrating formidable product strength, brand power, and the strategic resolve not to sacrifice long-term value for short-term sales volume. Simultaneously, during the key e-commerce peak season of Q4 2025, the Group performed strongly in major platform events like "Double 11" and "Double 12," with its multiple brands ranking at the top of various sales charts. This effectively offset some of the offline traffic pressure and proved its omnichannel operational capabilities.
ANTA Group's counter-trend growth stems from the synergistic victory of its "mass-premium-professional" multi-brand matrix, where the three major segments perform their respective roles, complementing and enhancing each other to build a resilient structure. Specifically, for the full year 2025, the ANTA brand achieved low-single-digit positive growth in retail sales value. Although winter apparel sales were impacted in Q4 by the overall industry consumption environment and the unusually warm winter, core professional sports categories such as running, basketball, and training, along with high-tech product series, served as "ballast," with sales performance continuing to lead the industry. The ANTA brand steadfastly adhered to its core strategy of "mass positioning, professional breakthroughs, and brand elevation," continuously increasing investment in product innovation. Taking running shoes as an example, the ANTA brand continued to enrich its professional running shoe matrix; the PG7 series achieved breakthroughs in cushioning technology, while the C202 marathon running shoe built a strong reputation in professional race scenarios, precisely meeting the market's escalating demand for professional sports equipment.
Under the guidance of its new "ONE FILA" strategy, the FILA brand demonstrated considerable market resilience, achieving mid-single-digit positive growth for both the full year 2025 and the fourth quarter. Although the premium sportswear market where FILA operates was affected by the consumption environment, the brand maintained stable operations through product innovation and channel optimization. FILA strengthened its tennis focus, formally launching its tennis strategy and product plan, clearly outlining its plan to co-create China's tennis ecosystem. Core tennis-focused products, such as the Victory Jacket, Susan Skirt, and BB1 Polo, showed outstanding sell-through rates. FILA also created the "Breathable Shell"冲锋衣 (windbreaker), utilizing its self-developed OPTIMA-SHELL technological membrane to blend professional outdoor technology with comfortable everyday experience, showcasing dual success in product innovation and market responsiveness.
For the full year 2025, all other brands under the ANTA Group achieved rapid positive growth of 45-50% in retail sales value, with a strong increase of 35-40% also recorded in the fourth quarter. According to market information, DESCENTE's sales may have exceeded ten billion yuan, becoming another brand, following FILA and ANTA Kids, to surpass this milestone. Notably, it maintained high growth even on an expanding revenue base, demonstrating outstanding performance. These other brands have become the third engine driving the ANTA Group's growth, signifying that the Group's布局 in niche segments like premium outdoor and professional sports has entered a harvest period, fully validating the foresight and effectiveness of the multi-brand strategy.
In the view of Zhitong Finance APP, the success of ANTA Group's multi-brand portfolio hinges on the underlying logic of "resource sharing, complementary positioning, and risk hedging." In terms of brand positioning, a tiered布局 covering the entire price spectrum from hundreds to thousands of yuan comprehensively meets diverse consumer needs. This contrasts with the Group's main competitors, who may have weak premium布局 or insufficient penetration in the mass market. Operationally, synergies are achieved by sharing supply chains, channels, and digital capabilities, with R&D technologies providing horizontal empowerment across brands, reducing marginal costs—a stark contrast to the often "siloed" operations of multi-brand peers.
Based on disclosed data, the Group's profitability level is expected to remain stable, providing support for the continued expansion of the multi-brand strategy. Looking ahead to 2026, the industry still faces challenges such as uncertain consumption recovery and intensified competition, but ANTA Group's multi-brand advantages are poised to expand further. In the short term, demand deferred by the warm winter is expected to be released in the first quarter. Long-term, core drivers will include technological iteration of the main brand, FILA's market share gains, the high growth of emerging brands, and global expansion. As a key move in its globalisation strategy, ANTA Group is advancing its overseas expansion; the "Three-Year, Thousand Stores Plan" in Southeast Asia is being gradually implemented, creating a synergistic growth force of "internal-external coordination" with the domestic multi-brand matrix. The steady progress of this plan will also lay a solid foundation for achieving the Group's long-term overseas revenue target for its main brand.
During this critical period of industry transition from "scale expansion" to "quality improvement," ANTA's counter-trend growth provides a valuable case study. The multi-brand matrix acts both as a "cushion" against risk and a "growth engine." Looking forward, with the continued release of synergistic effects, increased R&D investment, and the deepening of globalisation, the ANTA Group is well-positioned to maintain its leadership in the industry, consolidate its leading global position, and write a new chapter in the high-quality development of Chinese sports brands.
Comments