The Anta brand leads high-quality growth, and the mid-term results of Anta Sports (02020) reached a new high

The pace of consumption recovery is slowing down, and the sporting goods industry has bid farewell to the era of general rise. The cycle is like a litmus test, reflecting the business undertone and strategic strength of leading companies.

According to data from the National Bureau of Statistics, in the first half of 2026, retail sales of consumer goods totaled 24.87 trillion yuan, a year-on-year increase of only 1.3%. The growth rate of clothing, shoes, hats, and knitwear fell from 9.3% in the first quarter to 6.7% in the first half of the year; retail sales of sports and entertainment products fell 2.2% year-on-year in the second quarter. Industry analysis points out that in 2026, the domestic sporting goods industry faced multiple pressures: consumer demand naturally declined after the Spring Festival, abnormal weather disrupted offline passenger flow, combined with the “618” promotion, and the overall performance of the industry declined markedly.

In a weak market environment, Anta Sports handed over an interim results questionnaire for high-quality growth. The Group achieved revenue of 43.51 billion yuan (RMB, same below) in the first half of the year, an increase of 12.9%; overall gross margin increased 0.5 percentage points to 63.9%; and operating profit margin increased 0.7 percentage points to 27%, a record high of nearly 7 years. Free cash inflows during the period exceeded 11.63 billion yuan, and net cash reached 39.1 billion yuan. The average number of inventory turnover days decreased by 6 days to 130 days over the same period last year.

The Zhitong Finance App notes that Anta Sports's revenue has been ranked first in the Chinese market for the fifth year in a row, further widening the gap with domestic and foreign peers. Referring to various first-half year performance estimates, Anta Sports's revenue scale is about 2.2 times that of Nike China and 2.7 times that of Adidas China, which is equivalent to 2.9 Li Ning, 6.4, and 7.1 361 degrees. The revenue gap with Nike Greater China has further widened to more than 23 billion yuan.

Anta's main brand grows with high quality, and the multi-brand matrix works together

Achieving steady growth on the basis of large volume, Anta Sports' growth resilience stems from the vision of “becoming the world's leading multi-brand sporting goods group”, continuously refining its unique “brand+retail” business model, building competitive barriers through the three core competencies of “multi-brand collaborative management capability”, “multi-brand retail operation ability” and “global operation and resource integration capability”, and running through the “multi-brand assets+excellent operation+global collaboration = high-quality growth” growth model.

In the first half of the year, the Anta brand, FILA Fila, and other brand segments all achieved semi-annual highs. The three major segments achieved revenue of 17.77 billion yuan, 15.05 billion yuan, and 10.69 billion yuan respectively, with year-on-year growth rates of 4.8%, 6.1%, and 44.2% respectively. It is worth mentioning that every sector is growing in high quality and healthy. Under the premise that the number of stores remains basically the same, the store efficiency of all brands is growing, and Anta's main brand has maintained the leading position among Chinese brands for 15 consecutive years.

Among them, the Anta brand explores innovative retail experiences and optimizes the retail channel layout. The brand continues to explore innovative retail spaces. Chengdu Anta Arena stores have entered the core business district, and “Anta Markets” have been set up in Shanghai and Shenyang to integrate sports experiences and community interaction into the offline scene. Online channels are also performing well. During the 2026 618 promotion period, the online ranking of the running shoe category, especially high-priced running shoes, increased dramatically. PG7 cushioned running shoes won the 2026 “Best Cost-Performance Running Shoe” by the international running media “Runner's World”, representing domestic running shoes that were recognized by the international professional evaluation system. The total sales volume of the four major running shoe families, including the C family and the Mach series, exceeded 5.6 million pairs in the first half of the year, and sales of popular clothing such as Storm Armor, which were enabled by self-developed technology without fluorine, exceeded 2 million units. Technological product strength is driving the Anta brand to consolidate its real value ratio mentality.

FILA focuses on the two major categories of tennis and golf, and iterates on its own product matrix. The dad shoe series, which consists of fern sandals and mushroom shoes, sold over 5 million pairs in the first half of the year, and was the most popular in the industry; the women's suit category represented by the newly popular Muse suit became a new growth point, selling more than 600,000 pieces; the POLO shirt category and thin-soled shoe category also performed well. At the terminal level, ICONA and BIELLA themed concept stores have been upgraded, and refined store operations have promoted the improvement of store efficiency.

The revenue scale for the first half of the year in which Descente and Kolon are located has already exceeded the level of the full year of 2024. The sector adheres to the strategy of prudently expanding stores and not blindly sinking channels. The number of stores increased by only 20 and 13, respectively, compared to the same period last year. The increase in revenue came from consumer recognition brought about by the improved efficiency of same-store stores and product strength. Descente is deeply involved in the three major tracks of skiing, golf, and triathlon, developed an AERO STREAM snowsuit based on the Milan Winter Olympics national team equipment, and launched the “Breaker PRO” cycling suit for the triathlon scene; D‑Fluid running shoes are at the top of the online platform's running shoe list of over 1,000 yuan, accounting for 14% of sales in the market segment, which is 3 percentage points higher than the second place. Advantageous categories such as Kolon shells and hiking shoes maintained a growth rate of more than 50%, and the brand simultaneously perfected the heavy hiking product system. Maya and Wolf Claw, on the other hand, have separate professional yoga and full-scene walking tracks to refine product and retail operation models, providing more room for imagination for future growth.

The business performance of the multi-brand sector confirms Anta Sports' business idea of “never overdraft the future of the brand for short-term profit”. The Group does not require every brand to pursue the fastest growth at every stage, but rather respects the development rules of each brand, continues to invest and operate patiently, so that every brand has room for healthy growth. Only when brands maintain healthy growth can the Group achieve long-term, high-quality and sustainable development.

Technological innovation and digitalization to reinforce the bottom support of operations

Judging from brand operation results, the differentiated development results of various brands under Anta Sports have achieved outstanding results. They have built a stable and diversified competitive advantage in the market and strengthened their market voice in different segments. Behind this, it reflects the importance that Anta Sports attaches to research and development, and takes “heavy research and development” as the first principle of continuing to create “good products” to achieve sustainable development.

In the first half of the year, Anta Sports invested about 1.11 billion yuan in R&D, accounting for 2.5% of R&D, and the scale of investment was leading in the industry. Over the past ten years, the Group's total investment related to innovation has reached 20 billion yuan, and plans to invest another 20 billion yuan for independent innovation and research over the next five years. The Group has established multiple R&D and design centers in China, the US, Japan, South Korea and Europe, linking more than 70 university research institutions, more than 250 industry experts and more than 800 suppliers to carry out research on various technical projects.

Anta Sports took the lead in establishing the industry's first innovation consortium in 2024, and is also the first company in the industry in the world to obtain international innovation ISO certification. The consortium uses a “unveiling the lead” mechanism and plans to achieve 3-5 key technological breakthroughs every year. Two major technology platforms were launched in 2026: cooperating with Oxford University and Jilin University to create a bionic platform to launch ANTA FOLD origami technology; the titanium alloy technology platform developed in conjunction with the Institute of Metals of the Chinese Academy of Sciences was born out of the Beijing Winter Olympics steel-framed snowmobile shoe technology to export technical capabilities to various types of sports equipment.

In addition to the iteration of hard-core technology, Anta Sports uses the “AI 365” strategy to open up efficiency barriers in the entire industry chain. Based on our own R&D and data accumulation, we will build a digital closed loop of the entire R&D - supply chain - marketing - retail chain. The self-developed “Linglong” AI model drastically reduced the product design cycle; AI trend prediction combined with the small single quick reverse model to improve inventory levels; wear the big model “Ling Xi” to achieve consumer side functions such as virtual fitting, and the supporting AI tools cover customer service and terminal scenarios. Research and development and superposition digital two-wheel drive to promote the efficient transformation of technological achievements into high-quality products, and build a management moat that is difficult to replicate.

Globalization is progressing steadily, and the output is replicable commercial systems

As Anta Sports' brands and products are increasingly favored by global consumers, the Group's “globalization” strategy has once again achieved a breakthrough. In the first half of 2026, the Group has laid out various regions such as Southeast Asia, the Middle East, Africa, North America, and Europe to complete the establishment and implementation of business entities in Europe and Africa, and the organizational structure is adapted to overseas business expansion needs. The Group's overseas business follows a “global mindset and localized management”, formulates differentiated strategies for different regions, and reaches local consumers through multiple channels such as direct stores, joint ventures, consignment sales, and the brand's official website.

As of June 30, 2026, Anta Sports had a total of about 500 overseas single-brand stores. As a key development region, Southeast Asia uses a combined model of store expansion combined with e-commerce expansion; the Middle East and Africa market, with outlets in the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Egypt, and Kenya; mature markets in North America and Europe, and cooperation with mainstream channels such as Foot Locker, DSG, and Amazon; the Indian market has reached strategic cooperation with local retail company Brandman Retail to gradually lay out a network of stores in key cities. The Group is simultaneously iterating the global supply chain and logistics system, and relies on five major guarantee projects in the middle and back office to ensure the smooth operation of overseas business.

Unlike simple product exports or capital mergers and acquisitions, Anta Sports' globalization exports not only products, but also a complete management, operation and brand empowerment system embedded in Chinese market practices. Relying on the management model of “strong planning, strong management, strong authorization and strong empowerment”, the Group adapts to local markets, steadily expands overseas business, and explores the growth potential brought about by globalization. This set of practices has also witnessed the transformation of China's sports industry, and Anta is gradually participating in the rewriting of the global industry landscape.

Conclusions

Looking at the point where the industry cycle fluctuates, the core value of Anta Sports' mid-term results is not limited to a new high in revenue scale. Against the backdrop of an uncertain consumer environment, the Group actively abandons the extensive scale expansion model and deepens store efficiency, product strength and profit quality. This is the core business idea for high-quality growth through the industry cycle.

Looking forward to the future, with the full implementation of the “Fifteenth Five-Year Plan for Building a Strong Sports Nation”, the national fitness public service system will be improved at an accelerated pace, and residents' participation in sports is expected to increase further. With a mature operating layout accumulated over many years of intensive cultivation of the sports scene, Anta Sports has established a first-mover competitive advantage to accept policy dividends. As the Group continues to deepen its multi-brand collaborative growth strategy and give full play to the advantages of group operations, it is expected to continue to lead the growth of the industry.