The Sportswear Scoreboard: 15 Brands by the Numbers

Fifteen companies, one scoreboard

Sportswear is dominated by a small number of listed companies that publish detailed accounts, which makes it possible to compare them on hard numbers rather than on brand surveys or market-size estimates. This report takes fifteen of the largest and most watched: Nike, adidas, Puma, Anta Sports, Amer Sports, lululemon, VF Corporation, Deckers Brands, On, Asics, Skechers, New Balance, Li Ning, Under Armour and Columbia Sportswear. Together they reported about 166 billion dollars of revenue in their latest full years.

All figures come from the companies themselves. Where a company reports in euros, yuan, yen or Swiss francs, BusinessStats converted the total to dollars at the Federal Reserve average rate for 2025, so the dollar ranking reflects business size rather than exchange rate swings during the year. Growth rates are quoted as each company reported them, usually in its own currency. The euro and dollar relationship behind those conversions is tracked in our euro to dollar exchange rate history.

The focus here is the brands as companies: how big they are, how fast they are growing, how much they earn and where they sell. The size of the US sporting goods retail market and sports participation are covered in our separate report on the sporting goods industry.

The largest sportswear companies by revenue

Nike leads by a wide margin. Its 46.4 billion dollars in fiscal 2026 is 1.65 times the dollar value of adidas, the second largest company, and more than four times the size of Anta Sports in third place. Behind them the field is tightly bunched: nine companies, from lululemon to Under Armour, reported between 5 and 11.1 billion dollars.

One giant, then a crowd: Nike alone is larger than adidas and Anta combined, while the other thirteen companies sit between 3.4 and 11.2 billion dollars.

Two rankings in the middle depend on the exchange rate. Anta and lululemon are almost level at about 11.1 to 11.2 billion dollars, and Puma, converted from 7.3 billion euros, comes in just below Skechers, whose figure is now more than a year old. The table gives the local-currency totals so readers can apply a different rate.

Revenue is only one way to measure size. The stock market values several of these companies very differently from their sales, and the largest listed companies across all industries are compared in our ranking of the biggest companies by market value.

Who is growing and who is shrinking

The latest full year split the industry in two. Five companies grew by double digits, led by On and Amer Sports, while the two largest groups barely moved: Nike rose 0.2 percent in dollars, and adidas 4.8 percent in euros, although currency moves hid a 10 percent currency-neutral gain at adidas. At the bottom, Puma lost 13.1 percent of its reported sales during a strategic reset, and Under Armour fell 3.8 percent.

A two-speed industry: challengers grew 19 to 30 percent while the two largest brands grew less than 5 percent in reported terms.

Currency is the main reason the reported and underlying pictures differ. The euro strengthened against the dollar in 2025, so a European company like adidas earned less when it translated dollar-area sales back into euros; adidas said the translation effect cut more than 1 billion euros from 2025 revenue. On, which reports in Swiss francs, faced the same effect: 30.0 percent reported growth became 35.6 percent at constant exchange rates.

The Nike reset: wholesale back, China down

Nike revenue peaked at 51.4 billion dollars in fiscal 2024. It fell 10 percent to 46.3 billion dollars in fiscal 2025, as the company cleared inventory and cut back on older franchises, and then held flat at 46.4 billion dollars in fiscal 2026. Gross margin edged up 0.2 points to 42.9 percent, and net income fell 3 percent to 3.1 billion dollars. The long-run revenue series is covered in our report on Nike sales since 2005; this section looks only at the current turnaround.

The geography of fiscal 2026 explains the flat total. North America, by far the largest region, grew 4.8 percent to 20.5 billion dollars and lifted its operating profit (EBIT) 14 percent to 5.4 billion dollars. Greater China fell 11 percent to 5.8 billion dollars with EBIT down 20 percent, and Converse lost 31 percent of its revenue. EMEA rose 2.6 percent in dollars and Asia Pacific and Latin America was flat.

North America up, China and Converse down: a 939 million dollar gain at home was cancelled out by a 739 million dollar fall in Greater China and a 518 million dollar fall at Converse.

The sales channel story reversed. Over the previous decade Nike had pushed sales toward its own stores and apps. In fiscal 2026 wholesale revenue rose 6 percent to 27.5 billion dollars while NIKE Direct fell 6 percent to 17.7 billion dollars, so wholesale partners now account for about 61 percent of NIKE Brand revenue. The company is rebuilding accounts it had cut back and relying less on discounting in its own digital channels.

The first quarter of fiscal 2027, to 31 August 2026, showed the reset is not finished. Revenue fell 4 percent to 11.2 billion dollars, NIKE Direct dropped 8 percent with digital sales down 13 percent, and Greater China fell 22 percent to 1.18 billion dollars. North America grew 2 percent. Chief executive Elliott Hill said the performance business was improving but that there was more work to do in Sportswear, Jordan Brand and Greater China, and Nike now expects fiscal 2027 revenue to decline by a high single-digit percentage.

Profit in fiscal 2026 was also flattered by a one-off. After the US Supreme Court struck down tariffs imposed under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA), Nike recorded an expected recovery of 986 million dollars in its fourth quarter, of which 965 million dollars sat in North America EBIT. Without it, company EBIT would have been about 2.9 billion dollars, a margin of roughly 6.2 percent instead of 8.3 percent.

adidas: from a 2023 loss to record sales

adidas has recovered faster than any other large brand. In 2023, the year it ended its Yeezy partnership, it made an operating loss of 58 million euros. By 2025 revenue reached a record 24.81 billion euros, up 10 percent currency-neutral, and operating profit rose to 2.06 billion euros, a margin of 8.3 percent. The adidas brand itself grew 13 percent currency-neutral in both 2024 and 2025 once the roughly 650 million euros of Yeezy sales in 2024 are excluded.

Growth was broad. Europe, the largest segment at 8.14 billion euros, posted a segment operating margin of 20.8 percent, and Latin America grew 22 percent in the adidas brand. North America remained the weak spot: revenue of 5.09 billion euros was slightly lower in euros than in 2024 and earned a segment margin of only 10.7 percent, about half the European level.

Segment margins of around 20 percent shrink to 8.3 percent at group level because marketing, brand and central costs are carried outside the segments. That gap is where adidas has the most room to improve. In the first half of 2026, helped by demand around the FIFA World Cup in North America, revenue rose 14 percent currency-neutral to 13.34 billion euros, and second-quarter sales reached a record 6.74 billion euros. adidas raised its 2026 forecast to currency-neutral growth of 9 to 10 percent with operating profit of about 2.3 billion euros. The football economy behind that demand is set out in our data on FIFA revenue.

Puma: a reset year and a new largest shareholder

Puma had the worst year among the large brands. Sales fell 13.1 percent in euros (8.1 percent currency-adjusted) to 7.30 billion euros in 2025, gross margin dropped 2.6 points to 45.0 percent and the company reported an EBIT loss of 357 million euros, including 192 million euros of one-time costs. Wholesale sales fell 12.8 percent currency-adjusted as Puma deliberately cut distribution, while its own direct-to-consumer business grew 3.4 percent and rose to 32.4 percent of sales.

Puma called 2026 a transition year and expects sales to decline by a low to mid single-digit percentage at constant currency, with an EBIT loss of 50 to 150 million euros. First-half 2026 sales were 3.55 billion euros, down 5.2 percent currency-adjusted, with Asia Pacific the only growing region (+8.3 percent).

Ownership has changed too. In January 2026 Anta Sports agreed to buy a 29.06 percent stake in Puma from Groupe Artemis, the Pinault family holding company, and announced completion on 7 October 2026, making it the largest Puma shareholder. Anta said it would seek supervisory board representation and does not plan a takeover offer. The Pinault family also controls Kering, whose luxury brands appear in our luxury brand value ranking.

Who makes the most money on each dollar of sales

Size and profitability do not line up. Anta Sports, with a 23.8 percent operating margin, and Deckers, at about 23 percent, earn almost three times as much per unit of revenue as Nike or adidas. lululemon (19.9 percent) and Asics (17.6 percent) are also well ahead of the two leaders. At the other end, Columbia and VF earned about 6 percent, and Puma and Under Armour made losses.

Small can be more profitable: Anta and Deckers earn about 23 cents of operating profit on every unit of sales, against about 8 cents at Nike and adidas.

Three factors explain the spread. The first is gross margin, which reflects pricing power: On reported 62.8 percent, Amer Sports 57.6 percent, Deckers 57.7 percent, lululemon 56.6 percent and Asics 56.8 percent, against 51.6 percent at adidas, 45.0 percent at Puma and 42.9 percent at Nike. The second is marketing and overhead, which weigh heavily on companies that sponsor leagues, teams and athletes worldwide. The third is the mix of channels and regions, covered below.

Margins are also moving. lululemon lost 3.8 points in fiscal 2025 as gross margin fell 2.6 points, and its forecast for fiscal 2026 implies further pressure. Asics gained 2.8 points, Amer Sports 1.6 points and adidas 2.6 points. Athlete endorsement costs, one source of the overhead gap, can be seen in our list of the highest-paid NBA players, many of whom carry signature shoe deals.

Regional mix: dependence on North America and China

Where a brand sells matters as much as how much it sells, because it decides exposure to US tariffs, to the slowdown in Chinese consumer spending and to currency moves. The companies divide into three groups: US-centred brands that earn half or more of revenue in the Americas, European brands with a larger home base, and Chinese groups that sell almost entirely in China.

Greater China is the other big swing factor. Nike earned 12.9 percent of NIKE Brand revenue there in fiscal 2026 and adidas 14.6 percent in 2025, but they moved in opposite directions: Nike fell 11 percent while adidas grew 13 percent currency-neutral. Amer Sports is the most China-exposed of the Western-listed groups, with 28.4 percent of revenue from Greater China after 43.4 percent growth, and lululemon grew 29 percent in China Mainland in fiscal 2025.

lululemon is a reminder that China growth can fade quickly: after 29 percent in fiscal 2025, growth in China Mainland slowed to 4 percent in the quarter to August 2026, and comparable sales there fell. The wider economy behind these trends is covered in our China GDP data.

Footwear vs apparel: how each brand makes its money

Most leading sportswear companies are footwear companies first. Shoes made up 93 percent of On net sales in 2025, about 65 percent of NIKE Brand revenue and 57 percent at adidas and Puma. Under Armour is the main exception: it began as a performance apparel brand and still earns about two thirds of its revenue from clothing, while its footwear sales fell 11 percent in fiscal 2026.

Shoes carry the industry: five of the six companies earn about half or more of revenue from footwear.

Apparel is where several brands are now finding growth. NIKE Brand apparel grew 4 percent in fiscal 2026 while footwear was flat. adidas apparel rose to 8.76 billion euros from 7.94 billion euros, faster than footwear, and On apparel grew 68 percent, albeit from a small base of 170 million francs. New Balance said its global apparel business passed 1 billion dollars for the first time in 2025.

Sourcing is concentrated in a few Asian countries. Nike said factories in Vietnam, Indonesia and China made about 52, 27 and 16 percent of NIKE Brand footwear in fiscal 2026. That dependence is the reason tariff policy matters so much to these companies, and the trade flows behind it appear in our ranking of the leading export countries.

Direct-to-consumer vs wholesale

For a decade the industry pushed toward direct-to-consumer (DTC) selling through owned stores and websites, because it captures the full retail price and customer data. The latest figures show most large brands now settle at 40 to 50 percent direct. Amer Sports is the most direct of the group at 48.9 percent after DTC sales jumped 41.5 percent, and Columbia sells 47.6 percent direct. Nike, by contrast, is moving back toward wholesale.

The direct share has plateaued: most large brands sell 40 to 50 percent of their goods directly, and Nike is now moving back toward wholesale.

The latest results show why the pure DTC model has lost some appeal. Nike Direct fell 6 percent in fiscal 2026 and its digital sales fell 13 percent in the first quarter of fiscal 2027, while lululemon, which sells almost entirely through its own channels, saw Americas revenue fall 8 percent in the quarter to August 2026. Growth among the challengers came from both channels: On wholesale grew 27.5 percent and DTC 33.7 percent in 2025, and Deckers grew wholesale faster (12.3 percent) than DTC (6.3 percent). Wider online retail trends are in our report on global retail e-commerce growth.

On, HOKA, Asics and New Balance: the challengers

The clearest change in sportswear over the past five years is the rise of performance running brands that compete directly with Nike and adidas. On, founded in Zurich in 2010, grew net sales from 725 million Swiss francs in 2021 to 3.01 billion francs in 2025, more than four times as much. It expects at least 23 percent currency-neutral growth in 2026, later lowered to the low 20 percent range, implying sales of 3.47 to 3.56 billion francs.

Four times bigger in four years: On net sales rose from 725 million francs in 2021 to 3,014 million in 2025.

HOKA, owned by Deckers, followed a similar path. Its net sales rose from 571 million dollars in fiscal 2021 to 2.59 billion dollars in fiscal 2026, a 4.5 times increase, although growth has slowed from more than 50 percent a year to 15.9 percent. Deckers expects low double-digit HOKA growth in fiscal 2027. UGG, the other Deckers brand, is still slightly larger at 2.74 billion dollars.

Asics has turned into one of the most profitable large brands. Net sales rose 19.5 percent to 810.9 billion yen in 2025 and operating margin reached 17.6 percent, up from 14.8 percent. Two fashion-led lines did most of the work: Onitsuka Tiger sales grew 43 percent to 136.5 billion yen with a category margin of 37.7 percent, and SportStyle grew 43.6 percent. Asics targets 950 billion yen of sales and an 18 percent operating margin in 2026.

New Balance, which is privately owned and publishes only headline figures, said sales rose 19 percent to 9.2 billion dollars in 2025, its fifth straight year of double-digit growth, after 7.8 billion dollars in 2024. It reported growth of 30 percent or more in Europe and 20 percent or more in North America, and is one of the few large brands that still makes shoes in the United States, at five factories in New England.

The rise of the Chinese sportswear groups

Anta Sports is now the third largest sportswear company in the world by revenue and the most profitable large one. Revenue rose 13.3 percent to a record 80.22 billion yuan in 2025, and operating profit grew 15.0 percent to 19.09 billion yuan. The group is no longer a single-brand business: FILA, which Anta owns in China, contributed 28.47 billion yuan, and its other brands, led by Descente and Kolon Sport, grew 59.2 percent to 17.00 billion yuan.

Less than half is the ANTA brand: FILA and the newer brands now make up 57 percent of group revenue.

The growth mix shifted again in the first half of 2026. Group revenue rose 12.9 percent to 43.51 billion yuan with an operating margin of 27.0 percent, but the ANTA brand grew only 4.8 percent while the other brands grew 44.2 percent. FILA earned an operating margin of 28.7 percent. Anta is also the largest shareholder in Amer Sports, the Helsinki-based owner of Arcteryx, Salomon and Wilson, and since October 2026 in Puma, giving it influence over two of the fastest-moving and one of the most troubled Western brands.

Li Ning, the other large Chinese group, has grown far more slowly. Revenue rose 3.2 percent to 29.60 billion yuan in 2025, gross margin slipped to 49.0 percent and net profit fell to 2.94 billion yuan, a 9.9 percent net margin. Its business is spread across footwear (49.5 percent), apparel (41.6 percent) and equipment, and its LI-NING brand makes 31 percent of its revenue through e-commerce.

The contrast with Nike is stark. In the same twelve months that Nike lost 11 percent of its Greater China revenue, Anta, which earns most of its revenue in China, grew 13.3 percent and Amer Sports grew 43 percent in the region. The growth of digital retail in China, which favours domestic brands with strong online channels, is covered in our report on AI-driven retail in China.

Tariffs: what the companies said in 2025 and 2026

US tariffs were the biggest external cost shock of 2025. Most sportswear is made in Asia, above all in Vietnam, Indonesia and China, and the companies with the largest US sales were hit hardest. In September 2025 Nike estimated the gross incremental cost of new tariffs at about 1.5 billion dollars on an annualised basis. In July 2025 adidas said US tariffs would add about 200 million euros to its 2025 costs. Columbia reported 31 million dollars of incremental US tariffs in its 2025 gross margin before mitigation.

The picture changed in February 2026, when the US Supreme Court invalidated tariffs imposed under IEEPA. Companies began recording refunds, which flattered 2026 results. Nike booked 986 million dollars, lululemon 134.5 million dollars in one quarter, and Puma 15.4 million euros in the second quarter with about 33.8 million euros more received in July. Tariffs under other legal authorities remain, and several companies warned that rates could rise again. The wider tariff data are in our reports on US tariff statistics and the economic impact of the 2026 tariffs.

What the companies expect next

Company guidance for the current fiscal year shows the two-speed pattern continuing. Amer Sports raised its 2026 forecast to about 24 percent reported growth and On expects growth in the low 20 percent range at constant currency. adidas expects 9 to 10 percent. At the other end, Nike expects revenue to fall by a high single-digit percentage in fiscal 2027, lululemon cut its fiscal 2026 forecast to a decline of 5 to 7 percent, and Puma expects a low to mid single-digit decline.

If these forecasts hold, Nike would remain the largest company by a wide margin but would fall further below its fiscal 2024 peak, while Amer Sports could pass 8 billion dollars and approach Puma and VF. The 2026 World Cup and other major events gave several brands a lift this year; the biggest sports properties by audience are compared in our report on the most popular sports leagues and events.

Figures that needed correcting

An earlier version of this page repeated several figures that circulate widely but do not match the company reports. They are corrected here.

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