中文Puma’s Reset Year Grinds On: Q3 Sales Fall 6.3% While Asia-Pacific Quietly Becomes the Bright Spot
Puma’s third-quarter results, published on 2 November 2026, read like the mid-term report card of a company that has stopped pretending the pain will be quick. Sales came in at €1.78 billion, down 6.3% on a currency-adjusted basis and 5.0% on a reported basis. That is not a collapse — it is a controlled descent, and by now everyone inside the Herzogenaurach headquarters understands the difference.
Chief Executive Arthur Hoeld struck a tone of deliberate calm: “Our third-quarter performance was in line with expectations as we continued to move Puma through this transition year while laying the foundation for future growth.” In other words: we planned for this, and we are not done yet.
The Regional Breakdown Tells the Real Story
The most striking figure is EMEA, Puma’s home region, where sales fell 11.5% on a currency-adjusted basis to €801.2 million. Part of that decline is self-inflicted by design — the company is deliberately walking away from “undesirable business,” the low-margin bulk wholesale deals that inflate revenue today and erode the brand tomorrow. Part of it is genuinely external: management pointed to subdued European consumer demand, with the ongoing conflict in the Middle East weighing on sentiment across the region.
The Americas were not much better. Sales dropped 8.1% to €580.4 million, and within that, North America fell a bruising 17.2% on a currency-adjusted basis. Weaker consumer demand and reduced business with mass merchants did the damage there, partially offset by a modest 1.4% gain in Latin America.
Then there is Asia-Pacific — the region that is quietly rewriting Puma’s story. Sales there rose 10.0% year-on-year to €394.6 million, powered by sustained strong demand for low-profile sneakers. Greater China grew around 3.5%, driven by direct-to-consumer channels, while the broader Asia-Pacific region expanded roughly 13.0% on strong wholesale performance. For a brand that has spent years watching rivals dominate Asian growth narratives, the reversal is notable.
Footwear Slips, But the Margin Story Is Better Than It Looks
By category, footwear — Puma’s core — declined 5.1% on a currency-adjusted basis to €1.02 billion. Apparel fell 9.4% to €557.1 million and accessories 3.2% to €208.1 million. Yet the profitability picture offers genuine encouragement: gross margin expanded approximately 420 basis points year-on-year to 49.5%.
Three forces drove that improvement. Lower sourcing prices helped; favourable channel mix and positive currency effects played their part; and tariff refunds totalling €29.8 million contributed roughly 170 basis points. Strip out the one-offs and the underlying gains are smaller but still real — evidence that the reset is doing what resets are supposed to do: trade volume for quality.
The Shadow of a Stronger Rival
There is an uncomfortable backdrop to all of this. Puma’s Q3 landed in the same week that its great German rival adidas raised its full-year profit outlook after a record quarter. The two companies are living through very different versions of 2026, and the comparison is unkind to the smaller of the pair.
But resets are not symmetrical. Adidas entered this cycle with momentum from retro classics and a cleaner channel; Puma entered with bloated wholesale exposure and a brand identity that had drifted. Hoeld’s willingness to accept a 6.3% sales decline rather than chase low-quality revenue is exactly the medicine most analysts have been prescribing — even if shareholders must swallow it in instalments.
What Comes Next
The remaining questions are about timing and stamina. Can the Asia-Pacific momentum, particularly the low-profile sneaker trend, offset a sluggish European winter? Will North America stabilise once the mass-merchant clean-up is complete? And when the reset measures initiated back in Q3 2025 finally annualise, how much of the revenue decline converts back into growth rather than simply evaporating?
For suppliers, tanneries and materials partners feeding the sportswear chain, the message is equally clear: Puma is sourcing less, but better, and at lower input prices. For competitors, the window to press the advantage is open — but a 49.5% gross margin suggests Puma intends to come out of this transition leaner, more premium and considerably harder to bully on price.
Source: World Footwear / Puma Q3 FY2026 results
