Li-Ning's performance exceeded expectations, but the company still "doesn't want to take risks".
Author | Xie Yunzi
Editor | Zhang Fan
Li Ning's latest financial report performance exceeded expectations.
In 2025, the company's operating income increased by 3.2% year - on - year to 29.598 billion yuan; the net profit attributable to the parent company was 2.936 billion yuan, maintaining a net profit margin of 9.9%. In terms of profit indicators, Li Ning's gross profit margin decreased by 0.4 percentage points year - on - year to 49%; the return on equity attributable to equity holders decreased by 1 percentage point year - on - year to 10.9%.
The year - on - year growth of the company's revenue mainly came from the growth rate of professional categories.
During the reporting period, the turnover of Li Ning's three major categories of running, basketball, and comprehensive training accounted for 64%, and the revenue of professional products accounted for more than 56%. The main reasons for the decline in gross profit margin were the increase in the actual tax rate, the adjustment of the channel structure, and the increase in discount intensity due to intensified competition in direct - sales promotions.
After more than two years of stability maintenance and adjustment, Li Ning's external statement has become "more positive".
At the financial report meeting, although Qian Wei still emphasized the need to "maintain a challenging rather than a risky attitude", he also told 36Kr that the company would, with a more positive attitude and actions, explore opportunities in different sub - categories. "Where there are opportunities to expand the business, we will invest resolutely."
Combined with the good performance, on the day of the financial report meeting on March 20th, Li Ning's stock price once rose by more than 13%, and the closing price soared by 8.5% to HK$21.44 per share, with the latest market value of about HK$55.4 billion.
36Kr made the chart based on the financial report data
The picture is from Li Ning's financial report
Be the number one in running and lead the badminton industry
Looking closely at the company's performance in various sub - tracks, Li Ning showed strong growth in running sports.
In the past year, Li Ning developed the "Ultra - Bounce Capsule" based on the "Bounce Technology". Based on professionalism, the group's running turnover increased by 10% year - on - year in 2025, and its share increased from 16% five years ago to 31%; the sales volume of professional running shoes exceeded 26 million pairs, among which the new product sales volume of the three core running shoe IPs (Feidian, Chitu, Ultra - Light) exceeded 11 million pairs.
From the perspective of the development of the entire running sports, the strength of international brands such as Nike and Adidas cannot be ignored. In 2025, Nike launched the "Top - level Cushioning Running Shoes" Nike Vomero series; Adidas' ADIZERO 0 drove a 30% growth in the company's running business.
Qian Wei also stated, "The company's running category has only gained a relative advantage in the past few years. If we are not careful, we may fall behind. In the future, Li Ning hopes to become the number one in running in consumers' minds and turn the relative advantage into an absolute advantage."
In addition, in the badminton field, Li Ning also performed outstandingly. In 2025, the revenue increased by 30% year - on - year, accounting for about 7% of the total revenue, reaching a record high.
The "National Sports Status Survey Report" of the General Administration of Sport of China shows that badminton is the second - largest national fitness project in China after power walking. The 2025 fiscal year performance report of Yonex also stated that the per - capita annual consumption of badminton in China has increased from 300 yuan ten years ago to nearly 3,000 yuan.
As a racket sport, the equipment can truly represent professionalism and core competitiveness. In the past few years, Li Ning adjusted the entire product portfolio of the badminton business. At present, the proportion of rackets, strings, and shoes in Li Ning's badminton category has increased to about 85% from 60% - 70% of the clothing's share in the badminton category revenue three or four years ago. The planning at the operational level has led to a surge in sales. In just the past year, Li Ning sold 5.5 million badminton rackets.
Qian Wei also said that Li Ning's badminton category is no longer chasing the market but leading it. Considering that the badminton business is limited by the overall market size, the company will focus on improving operational efficiency while maintaining orderly growth in the future.
The picture is taken from Li Ning's company financial report
Give "China Li Ning" a fulcrum, and the outdoor business is still in exploration
Although Li Ning performed well in the two major tracks of running and badminton, the turnover of basketball and sports casual decreased by 19% and 9% respectively.
The overall basketball market is currently in a downturn. "Young people don't like playing basketball" is an established fact in the industry. According to company executives, the basketball category once had a problem of price chaos due to scale expansion, which objectively weakened the market competitiveness of the products. Therefore, Li Ning actively controlled the quantity and supply of the basketball category in the past two or three years, resulting in a phased decline in its business share.
However, Qian Wei clearly stated, "The company believes that the basketball market will not be in a long - term downturn and strives to expand its market share first when the industry recovers."
In addition, in the sports lifestyle field, Li Ning seems to have a plan to "continue to expand".
After the upsurge of the national trend revival passed, Li Ning spent a long time finding a balance between sports professionalism and trendy fashion until it determined the development path of "professionalism as the main trunk and fashion as the branches".
At this year's financial report meeting, Qian Wei further emphasized that it is not sustainable for professional sports brands to rely too much on trendy development. Therefore, the company reasonably controlled its sports lifestyle business.
It cannot be ignored that the casual sports category is closer to the public and is still the basic market for sports brands. Qian Wei also admitted that there is a huge business space in sports casual. "This is where we will improve."
It is worth mentioning that during the reporting period, China Li Ning joined hands with Chinese table tennis player Wang Chuqin to reshape the retro - style "Table Tennis" series.
The co - branding between the two may mean that Li Ning is endowing the trendy, especially "China Li Ning", with more sports attributes and fulcrums by exploring advantageous sports resources, and China Li Ning can thus have stronger competitive barriers.
In addition, in the fastest - growing outdoor track, Li Ning, which entered the market relatively late, seems not to have figured out "how to make specific adjustments".
In December last year, Li Ning opened a dedicated outdoor store "COUNTERFLOW" in Beijing. Qian Wei emphasized that this store is still in the "trial period". If the outdoor business is to become an independent channel or a more competitive category, the current product structure and product matrix are not rich enough.
"We almost started from scratch in the outdoor business and doubled the turnover on a small base. Of course, we look forward to greater development in 2026. Before that, we still need to carefully determine and confirm how to implement the business model of this independent channel."
The picture is from China Li Ning's official Weibo
Nearly 20 billion in cash flow, firing the first shot for the Winter Olympics
To some extent, Li Ning, which has always adhered to the "single - brand, multi - category, multi - channel" strategy, has the confidence to attack after several years of stability maintenance.
For sports brands, an indicator repeatedly examined by the market is the inventory management level.
As of the end of last year, Li Ning's inventory turnover days were 64 days, the same as last year. In terms of inventory age structure, the inventory within 6 months accounted for about 85% of the total inventory, and the inventory - to - sales ratio across all channels was stable at 4 months, which left room for subsequent category expansion.
In terms of the number of stores, as of December 31, 2025, the total number of Li Ning's sales points increased by 24 to 7,609. In the context of weak offline consumption, the company closed 59 direct - sales stores last year. To optimize operational efficiency, it strengthened the construction of outlet channels in high - level markets.
In the youth segment, the number of Li Ning YOUNG stores soared from 50 at the end of 2024 to 1,518. Online, the turnover of the e - commerce channel also achieved single - digit growth.
The picture is taken from Li Ning's company financial report
As a result, a series of measures reduced the sales and distribution expenses, reducing their proportion in the total revenue by 1.1 percentage points to 31%; the company's operating profit margin also increased from 12.8% to 13.2%. This means that despite the pressure on the gross profit margin, Li Ning's main business still maintained a certain level of profitability.
In addition, during the reporting period, Li Ning's total cash balance after adding back time deposits reached 19.973 billion yuan, a net increase of 1.833 billion yuan compared with 2024.
The abundant cash flow undoubtedly laid a foundation for the company's long - term development.
In January last year, Li Ning regained the cooperation right of the COC (Chinese Olympic Committee) from Anta. At that time, Li Ning himself sent an internal letter, saying, "Every Li Ning employee can proudly accept this honor and mission."
At the end of 2025, Li Ning opened its first "Dragon Store" in Sanlitun, Beijing, and launched the "Glory Gold Label" series, for the first time applying the commercial logo of the Chinese Olympic Committee and the Li Ning logo to the products.
The picture is provided by the interviewee
Regarding this new store type, Qian Wei said that the overall store efficiency exceeded the team's expectations. Currently, it is expanding the width of the product line and preparing to open a new store in the central business district of Shanghai. At the just - concluded Milan Winter Olympics, Li Ning has successfully fired the first shot in this Olympic cycle.
According to the analysis of Guojin Securities, "The Chinese sports delegation appeared at the opening ceremony in full Li Ning equipment, gaining significant global exposure for the brand at the beginning of the event." Guojin Securities also said that it will continue to be optimistic about Li Ning's business performance in the big Winter Olympics year of 2026, and it is expected that the significant increase in brand awareness will strongly support the annual performance.
According to Qian Wei, for the overseas business, the CEO of the joint - venture company took office in the second half of last year. Although the joint - venture company has been separated from the listed company system at the financial level, the actual business is still growing and will enhance the overall brand potential.
All these mean that although challenges exist in the long term, the more positive Li Ning may start a new cycle. While regaining the favor of investors, it may take off again. Wind data shows that since the beginning of 2026, Li Ning's stock price has increased by more than 11%, while other sports brands have all declined to varying degrees.
*Disclaimer:
The content of this article only represents the author's views.
The market is risky, and investment should be cautious. In any case, the information in this article or the opinions expressed do not constitute investment advice to anyone. Before making an investment decision, if necessary, investors must consult professionals and make careful decisions. We have no intention of providing underwriting services or any services that require specific qualifications or licenses for the parties involved in the transaction.
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