Amer Sports Heads Into Q1 Print With Options Sellers Turning Cautious

Amer Sports reports Q1 2026 earnings on May 14 with a notable shift in options sentiment overshadowing an otherwise subdued short positioning picture.

Options traders have turned markedly more defensive heading into the release. The put/call ratio has climbed to 0.64, nearly two standard deviations above its 20-day average of 0.31. That is a sharp reset from where the ratio spent most of April — hugging the 0.22 level — and reflects heavier demand for downside protection added almost precisely as earnings approached. The RSI14 reads a neutral 53, and the stock has reclaimed 10% over the past month to $36.03, yet that recovery hasn't stopped options buyers from hedging.

Short interest tells a less urgent story. At 2.3% of the free float, short positioning is modest and the borrow market is loose — cost to borrow runs below 0.5% and availability is high, meaning there is no meaningful squeeze pressure. That said, short interest itself has climbed roughly 33% over the past month, rising from around 9.4 million shares in early April to nearly 12.6 million. The move appears tied to the broader tariff-driven market volatility of that period rather than a conviction short against the business. The ORTEX short score of 42.7 sits in the middle of the range — not a signal of extreme bearish conviction.

The bull case for AS centres on its China momentum. Arc'teryx, which drives the bulk of the company's Asia-Pacific revenue, grew at 43–57% over the past six quarters in the region, and full-year 2024 revenues reached $5.2 billion. Analyst consensus remains constructive: the mean price target of approximately $49 implies roughly 36% upside from the current price, and recent analyst moves — from UBS and Evercore ISI — have all been target raises with maintained positive ratings. Note that the most recent of these changes was reported in late February, so the consensus hasn't yet been stress-tested against the tariff environment that rattled markets through March and April. Bears point to debt load, low brand awareness for Arc'teryx outside core markets, and the 36% revenue exposure to the Americas — a region more directly in the crosshairs of trade policy uncertainty.

On the ownership side, the register is tightly held. ANTA Sports owns nearly 40% of shares, and Dennis Wilson holds a further 17%, leaving a comparatively thin free float. The most recent insider activity, in mid-April, was a cluster of routine executive sales by the CFO and an Arc'teryx division CEO after RSU awards — low-significance transactions at prices around $36, essentially in line with where the stock trades today.

The print on May 14 will test whether China growth momentum has held through a quarter defined by tariff noise, and whether the company can maintain its margin trajectory at a valuation — roughly 14x EV/EBITDA and 28x earnings — that requires confidence in the growth story remaining intact.