Swiss shoemaker On Holding AG fell after posting earnings and sales growth that failed to satisfy investors after the company’s stock almost doubled this year.
Shares fell as much as 10% in New York trading, cutting the company’s market value to less than $10 billion. On reported a 78% jump in first-quarter sales to 420 million Swiss francs ($470 million) Tuesday, higher than the average analyst estimate. Profit also beat expectations.
While On also nudged up its revenue guidance for the year, the new target is roughly in line with what analysts had been expecting.
“I don’t think there is anything disappointing about the report,” said Cristina Fernandez, an analyst at Telsey Group. “The stock is up a lot this year and some investors could be selling into the strength.”
The Roger Federer-backed shoe company is enjoying strong demand, especially in the Americas, as it eats into market share from bigger rivals like Adidas AG, Nike Inc. and Puma SE. The Zurich-based firm has expanded from its Swiss roots as a quirky, performance-running shoe brand to become one of the hottest companies in the athletic leisure shoe sector.
The company needs to report strong growth to justify its share performance, which has left Nike and Adidas far behind.
The Swiss brand said Tuesday sales jumped 92% in the Americas to reach 270 million francs in the first quarter, while growing 52% in Europe to 119 million.
“Our focus is on durable growth,” Co-Chief Executive Officer Martin Hoffmann said in a phone interview. Whenever On jumps into new markets, “we don’t play all the cards in one season, but we stretch it over a period of time.”
On also had a couple of professional sports milestones, with Kenyan runner Hellen Obiri winning the Boston Marathon last month outfitted in On shoes and apparel, while rising tennis star Iga Świątek won the Stuttgart Open.
The brand’s momentum is catching the attention of its biggest competitors. Earlier this month, Adidas Chief Executive Officer Bjorn Gulden told analysts that brands like On and Hoka are changing the market dynamics by taking performance running shoes more mainstream.
“We need to make sure that we very quickly are having an answer to that, and that’s what we’re working on,” Gulden said.
On nudged its full-year sales guidance higher to at least 1.74 billion francs.
(Updates with shares and analyst quote in opening paragraphs)
