SportStyle nearly doubles as Europe shines: Asics upgrades full-year guidance

After a record start to 2026, Asics remained cautious. Three months later, that caution is gone: With SportStyle booming, the company has significantly raised its full-year guidance.

And the stock market’s reaction was the exact opposite of Q1: Following the half-year results and the raised forecast, the stock jumped 10.81 percent to ¥5,281 (€28.60) on August 14 and briefly reached a record high of ¥5,389 (€29.19). After Q1, however, the stock had fallen 6.05 percent to ¥4,600 (€25.05) despite record results, as Asics kept its full-year guidance unchanged, disappointing investors. Management has now given the market what it had been looking for in May.

Full-year guidance gets a boost

The scale of the upgrade is substantial: Asics is raising its revenue forecast by more than 10 percent to ¥1.05 trillion (€5.69bn), while its operating profit forecast increases by 14 percent to ¥195 billion (€1.06bn). This puts the group on track for another year of record results. Management expects further momentum in the second half, particularly from SportStyle and Onitsuka Tiger.

SportStyle shifts into high gear

SportStyle is really picking up speed right now. After the lifestyle division had already grown strongly at the start of the year, sales nearly doubled in the second quarter with a 97.6 percent increase. Retro silhouettes such as the Gel-1130, Gel-NYC, and Gel-Kayano 14 remained in high demand, while newer models like the Gel-Cumulus 16 and Gel-NYC 2.0 are expanding the product range.

And the sneaker boom is no longer just a regional phenomenon. On a currency-adjusted basis, SportStyle grew by 77 percent in Europe and 76.1 percent in North America during the second quarter. Greater China (+65.8%) and Oceania (+59.8%) also saw strong growth. As a result, the lifestyle boom is increasingly being driven by several major markets.

This is how the growth mix at Asics is changing: Lifestyle is gaining increasing importance relative to the traditional performance business. Even though SportStyle is currently driving the more spectacular growth rates, Performance Running remains the foundation of the business.

Running remains the foundation

The core business shows no signs of slowing down. With first-half revenue of ¥220.6 billion (€1.19bn), Performance Running remains by far the largest category. Revenue rose by 19.3 percent; however, on a currency-adjusted basis, growth was significantly more moderate at 8.2 percent.

On the product front, the company is also continuing to push forward. The Gel-Kayano 33, launched in June, got off to a strong start, while the Bounce family continues to drive demand. With the Novablast 6, Asics is stepping up its game on the road, while simultaneously expanding its trail running lineup. In addition to the Metafuji Trail 2, the Blazeblast marks the introduction of an entirely new trail running franchise. It is designed to bring the springy running feel of the road models to the trails, thereby making trail running accessible to a broader group of runners.

Strong business in Europe

Business is particularly strong in Europe. Asics EMEA increased revenue by 32.9 percent in the second quarter, excluding Onitsuka Tiger. The wholesale channel showed particularly dynamic growth, with an increase of 44.1 percent. At the same time, according to data from Circana, Asics has become the number one brand in performance running footwear in France, Germany, Italy, Spain, and the United Kingdom – based on sales for the twelve months ending in June 2026.

EMEA Head Carsten Unbehaun attributes the growth not only to consumers’ stronger connection to the brand but, above all, to “the trust of our retail partners.” In North America, the increased focus on running specialty retailers is also paying off: Sales through this channel rose by 24.2 percent on a currency-adjusted basis.

Lifestyle brand OT accelerates global expansion

Onitsuka Tiger is also maintaining a strong pace. The brand’s revenue rose by 37.5 percent in the second quarter. Japan is performing particularly well: Sales to international visitors reached a new quarterly record of ¥15.5 billion (€84m). Riding this momentum, Onitsuka Tiger is continuing to expand its global retail network. In July, new flagship stores opened in Shanghai and Shinjuku, Tokyo – the latter, at 1,837 square meters, is the world’s largest OT flagship store. Nagoya followed in August, with additional locations planned for Milan and Seoul.

There’s more to this than just additional retail space. Management aims to position Onitsuka Tiger more strongly as a luxury lifestyle brand and, to that end, will grant the business greater autonomy starting in January 2027. The Onitsuka Tiger business and its regional subsidiaries will be consolidated under the newly established OT Group Corporation, which will remain 100 percent owned by Asics. The more autonomous management structure is primarily intended to speed up decision-making, while research and development as well as intellectual property will continue to be shared with the parent company.

Profits are growing faster than revenue

The strong performance of the individual divisions is also reflected in the group’s financial results. In the first half of the year, the company increased revenue by 32.7 percent to ¥534.4 billion (€2.89bn), while operating profit grew significantly faster, by 48.5 percent, to ¥120.4 billion (€652m). As a result, the operating margin improved by 2.4 percentage points to 22.5 percent. Net profit rose 53.3 percent to ¥82.1 billion (€445m).

The development of inventory levels is also noteworthy. Despite strong growth, inventories at the end of the first half were ¥4.2 billion (€23m) below the level at the end of 2025, and even ¥8.3 billion (€45m) lower on a currency-adjusted basis. This suggests that the group has not yet had to compensate for the higher sales pace by building up inventories accordingly.

Running ecosystem: More than just shoes

The brand is also expanding its digital connection with runners. The OneAsics community grew by 25 percent within a year to 25.85 million members. Tokyo: Speed: Race demonstrates how the brand plans to leverage this reach: Participants are guided through their training via RunKeeper, receive event information through the AI-based RunConcierge, and get free running photos via ThaiRun. Of the approximately 1,700 participants registered through Runnet, 20 percent were new OneAsics members.

The extent to which OneAsics is driving digital sales remains to be seen, but this segment is also growing rapidly: Global e-commerce sales rose by 23.9 percent in the first half of the year to ¥93.9 billion (€509m). Excluding North America, where Asics is strategically scaling back its operations, the increase was as high as 34.8 percent.

One thing, however, is becoming clear: The Japanese company has long wanted to be more than just a shoe retailer. A dedicated running ecosystem is taking shape around the brand, designed to accompany runners from training all the way to the finish line.

Note: Euro conversion based on the average exchange rate of ¥184.65 per €1 reported by Asics for H1 2026.