CICC: Maintaining the Anta Sports (02020) “Outperform the Industry” rating target price of HK$110.91

The Zhitong Finance App learned that CICC released a research report saying that maintaining Anta Sports (02020)'s outperforming industry rating, the company's revenue for the first half of 2026 increased 13% year-on-year to 43.5 billion yuan, reaching a record high. The target price remained at HK$110.91 (corresponding to the 18/17 non-price-earnings ratio deducted from 2026/27, with 41% upward space). Considering that the profit level may increase, the bank raised the 2026/27 EPS forecast by 4%/5% to 5.19/5.62 yuan after deduction.

CICC's main views are as follows:

Performance briefing

The company's revenue for the first half of 2026 increased 13% year on year to 43.5 billion yuan, another record high; profit attributable to shareholders excluding benefits from Amer Sports placement increased 13% year over year to 7.9 billion yuan. The performance was better than expected, mainly because the profit levels of FILA and other brands exceeded expectations. The company declared an interim dividend of HK$1.51 per share, with a dividend ratio of approximately 50%. Net cash flow from 1H26 operating activities increased 20% year on year to 13.1 billion yuan, with strong cash generation capacity; the number of inventory turnover days decreased by 6 to 130 days year on year.

Brand, products, and channels have been comprehensively upgraded to achieve higher quality growth

1H26 Anta's main brand revenue increased 5% year over year to 17.8 billion yuan. Product strategy focus, running matrix and core clothing IP increased by more than 30%. FILA's revenue increased 6% year over year to 15 billion yuan. Among them, the clothing category had a high year-on-year increase in orders, and the two core categories of tennis and golf had both lower year-on-year growth. Revenue from other brands increased 44% year over year to 10.7 billion yuan. Among them, Descente's sales increased 25% year over year and Kolon's sales increased 45% year over year. Wolf Claw also contributed. In terms of channels, the efficiency of offline stores of various brands has improved across the board. The Group's e-commerce revenue increased 16% year over year, and the share of revenue increased to 36%.

Efficient operation and continuous improvement in profitability

The gross margin of 1H26 increased 0.5 percentage points year-on-year to 63.9%, thanks to the increase in revenue share of other brands with high gross margins. Thanks to efficient operation, 1H26's operating profit margin increased 0.7 percentage points year on year to 27.0%, of which Anta's operating profit margin was 22.5%; FILA's operating profit margin increased 1.0 percentage point year on year to 28.7%, mainly due to the improvement in the quality of retail operations, the operating profit margin of all brands increased. Furthermore, Amer's investment income increased sharply to 700 million yuan (1H25 was 400 million yuan). Overall, profit attributable to shareholders excluding benefits from Amer Sports placements increased 13% year over year to $7.9 billion.

The guidance for the second half of the year continued to be superior to the industry, and the ability to empower multiple brands was highlighted

The company's guidance for the second half of the year continues to be superior to the industry, and the bank believes it once again demonstrates Anta Group's ability to empower multiple brands. The bank is firmly optimistic about the Group's single-focus, multi-brand, and globalization strategies, and expects overseas business, Wolf Claw, Puma, etc. to continue to become new growth engines.

Risk Alerts

The terminal retail environment fell short of expectations, industry competition intensified, and brand improvement fell short of expectations.