CICC has reiterated its "Outperform" rating on ANTA Sports (02020) and kept its target price unchanged at HK$110.91, which implies a price-to-earnings ratio of 17 times for both 2026 and 2027, representing roughly 55% upside from the current share price, according to a research report.

The ANTA group has completed its acquisition of a 29.06% stake in PUMA SE from Artemis SAS, the investment vehicle of the Pinault family, for 1.506 billion euros, becoming PUMA's largest shareholder.

The brokerage believes that with the ANTA group's support, PUMA is expected to accelerate the completion of its strategic transformation, while PUMA's extensive global influence will provide important assistance to the ANTA group's globalization strategy.

PUMA expected to lift profitability faster with ANTA's support

According to PUMA's management guidance, revenue in 2026 is expected to decline by a low-to-mid single-digit percentage, with EBIT projected to show a loss of 50 million to 150 million euros.

The deal consideration implies an enterprise value-to-sales (EV/Sales) multiple of approximately 0.8 times based on expected 2027 revenue.

The brokerage believes that with ANTA's support, PUMA is expected to accelerate its profitability improvement. Apart from PUMA, the world's top four sportswear brands have averaged a net profit margin of 7.3% over the past five years.

The brokerage believes that after ANTA's management support and improvement, PUMA is likewise expected to reach this level, which would imply a price-to-earnings ratio of approximately 10 times for this deal. Even if PUMA's net profit margin only recovers to 3.7%, the corresponding P/E ratio would be approximately 20 times, which the brokerage considers reasonable for a global brand like PUMA.

PUMA has a distinctive brand identity and global event resources

According to Euromonitor, PUMA remained the world's third-largest sportswear brand by market share in 2025, behind only Nike and Adidas.

PUMA holds globally leading influence and event resources in sports such as football and motorsport, giving it a clear differentiated advantage among global sports brands.

ANTA group has accumulated deep experience in global brand operations

Since acquiring Amer Sports in 2019, Amer Sports' revenue has grown from US$2.45 billion in 2020 to US$6.57 billion in 2025, with adjusted net profit turning positive to US$440 million in 2025.

Under the ANTA group's operations, Amer Sports successfully transitioned to DTC, and all of its brands performed strongly.

The brokerage believes this reflects the ANTA group's multi-brand operations and retail management capabilities.

The brokerage is confident that with the support of the ANTA group's strong brand operations and retail management capabilities, PUMA can complete its strategic transformation faster. At the same time, PUMA's extensive global influence will provide important assistance to the ANTA group's globalization strategy.

Risk warning

Fluctuations in the global retail environment, and acquisition integration results falling short of expectations.