ANTA Sports Products Ltd

Anta Sports Products announced it has completed the procedure to acquire 43,014,800 shares of German sportswear giant Puma, or 29.06% of total issued shares, from Artemis. Greentown China announced that real estate sales from its own investment projects in September 2026 fell 26.6% year on year to 9.4 billion yuan on a contracted and reserved basis, while sales area rose 24.1% to 360,000 square meters. The average selling price was 25,943 yuan per square meter. New World Development said foot traffic at its K11 MUSEA commercial complex rose 12% year on year during the National Day holiday, a record high for the period since opening. Spending by tourists also rose 26%, helped by efforts to strengthen its brand mix, including attracting a succession of well-known brands.

ANTA Sports Products Limited has completed its acquisition of a 29.06% stake in PUMA SE from Artémis SAS, the investment company of the Pinault family, for EUR 1,505.5 million in cash, making the Chinese sportswear group PUMA's largest shareholder. The deal closed after receipt of all relevant regulatory approvals and fulfillment of customary closing conditions. ANTA Sports said the investment marks a major milestone in its single-focus, multi-brand, globalization strategy and that it will bring management, retail and global resource integration expertise to PUMA. Board Chairman Ding Shizhong said ANTA has confidence in PUMA's management team and supports the strategic transformation currently underway, while respecting the brand's independence and identity. PUMA CEO Arthur Hoeld welcomed ANTA Sports as largest shareholder and called its long-term commitment a strong vote of confidence in the company's strategy. ANTA Sports said it will seek adequate representation on PUMA's Supervisory Board and currently has no plans to make a takeover offer for PUMA.

Nike's falling share price is putting its place in the Dow Jones Industrial Average at risk, with Reuters reporting the stock trading around $36 and carrying just a 0.4% weighting in the price-weighted index, the smallest among its 30 components. Nike has gained only about 5% since joining the Dow in 2013, while its market value has fallen roughly 80% over the past five years, and Reuters also noted the company is set to leave the S&P 100 after 18 years. The weakness reflects underlying business pressures: Nike's fiscal 2026 revenue was $46.4 billion, essentially flat from $46.3 billion a year earlier and down from $51.4 billion in fiscal 2024, while net income fell to $3.1 billion from $5.7 billion two years earlier. Nike Direct revenue declined 6% in fiscal 2026 and digital sales fell 12%, with Greater China sales down 17% in the fiscal fourth quarter and management expecting another revenue decline in fiscal 2027 amid competition from Anta and Li Ning. The company ended fiscal 2026 with $7.6 billion of cash and equivalents and $2.9 billion in operating cash flow, down from $3.7 billion, leaving the recovery under CEO Elliott Hill dependent on whether new products and wholesale stabilization can restore sustainable growth.

Nike will stop selling through partner-operated online storefronts in China starting January 2027, a move Bernstein analysts say should lift the company's China operating margins by 200 basis points to 24% in fiscal 2027 but will also erase roughly $1 billion in revenue as the wholesale online channel is wound down. The channel represents a high-teens percentage of Nike's China business, and its elimination is expected to cause a low-teens constant-currency decline in China for fiscal 2027, dragging total company growth by 2 percentage points. Nike's digital presence in China will thereafter be limited to its direct web and app channels and official flagship stores on Tmall, JD.com, and Douyin, a shift aimed at curbing gray-market resellers and deep discounting that management says has hurt brand perception. Bernstein cut its Nike price target to $68 from $72 and lowered fiscal 2027 earnings-per-share estimate to $1.96 from $2.10, while maintaining an outperform rating. The broker named Adidas as the biggest near-term beneficiary, as partners like Topsports and Pou Sheng will need to replace lost Nike online volume, and also sees domestic brands Anta and Li Ning gaining at lower price points.

US sportswear giant Nike has announced plans to halt online sales of its products by major retailers starting January next year, directing consumers to its official channels as a countermeasure to sluggish sales in the Chinese market. Greater China Vice President and General Manager Cathy Sparks told Reuters that by restricting wholesalers' online sales and consolidating them into brand digital stores on Tmall, JD.com, and Douyin, as well as its official website and app, the company aims to restore brand value and reduce reliance on discounting. China is Nike's third-largest market globally, but Greater China revenue in the fourth quarter fell 17 percent year-on-year on a currency-neutral basis, continuing a downturn amid intensifying competition from domestic brands such as Anta Sports and Li-Ning. The move is part of CEO Elliott Hill's turnaround strategy, with most of the 16 sales partners operating Nike stores in China expected to cease online sales.