Jinwu Financial News | According to the research report by浦银 International, after the market closes on January 8, ANTA SPORTS (02020) announced its 4Q24 operation data, showing overall revenue performance better than market expectations. The firm believes that Fila's 4Q24 revenue significantly improved quarter-on-quarter, which is expected to alleviate market concerns regarding Fila's slowing growth, thus stimulating a short-term rebound in the stock price. Based on a stable stock-to-sales ratio and solid discount levels, the firm believes that the company's performance for the entire year of 2024 is basically determined and in line with the firm's previous forecasts.
The firm continues to indicate that although the overall demand in China's sports apparel Industry still faces pressure in 2025, the ANTA brand remains one of the fastest-growing brands among domestic players. This is attributed to the management team's active renovation and upgrading of offline stores, as well as the strategic deployment in emerging e-commerce channels such as Douyin, significantly enhancing ANTA's brand power. Fila's short-term growth recovery (especially the substantial rebound of the fashion brand in 4Q24) has strengthened the firm's confidence in Fila's performance in 2025. Descente and Kolon are expected to maintain high-speed growth in 2025, injecting continuous growth momentum into the company amid significant demand uncertainty, and promoting a sustained increase in the group’s overall gross margin. Due to the lack of major events, the firm expects that the sales expense ratio in 2025 is likely to decline compared to 2024, while AmerSports' continuously improving profitability and the company's ongoing reduction in financing costs will further enhance the group's overall Net income in 2025. Finally, the firm believes that the market should pay more attention to potential acquisition and merger opportunities for ANTA in 2025.
The firm stated that despite the challenges still ahead in 2025, it believes ANTA is likely to achieve further enhancement of its brand power through ongoing store upgrades and product adjustments, recording revenue growth higher than its peers. The "Buy" rating for ANTA is maintained.
