Columbia Sportswear Company reportedly exceeded its management's forecasts in the third quarter, according to data reported by FashionUnited France. For the quarter ended September 30, 2026, net sales rose 2%, reaching $962.60 million, compared with $943.40 million a year earlier. At constant exchange rates, the increase was identical, at 2%.
This rise offset the decline in net sales in the United States, where shipments of wholesale orders for the autumn-winter 2026 season were delayed. Operating income came in at $109.60 million, or 11.4% of net sales, compared with $67.40 million (7.1%) in the third quarter of 2025, a year that included a $29.00 million impairment charge related to the prAna and Mountain Hardwear brands. Gross margin, meanwhile, contracted by 20 basis points, to 49.8% of net sales.
Net income climbed to $84.70 million, generating diluted earnings per share of $1.66, compared with $52.00 million ($0.95 per share) a year earlier. Over the first nine months of 2026, the group's net sales rose 1%, to $2.36 billion.
Tim Boyle, chairman and chief executive officer of Columbia Sportswear, said these results had been driven by « l'amélioration des tendances de notre activité DTC aux États-Unis et par la dynamique continue de nos activités internationales, malgré un contexte macroéconomique mondial difficile ». He also highlighted progress made under the group's multi-year turnaround programme: « Nos performances du troisième trimestre témoignent de progrès tangibles et continus dans le déploiement de notre stratégie de croissance ACCELERATE. Nous sommes particulièrement encouragés par la dynamique qui s'installe au sein de l'activité e-commerce DTC de notre marque Columbia aux États-Unis. »
Annual targets raised
Columbia Sportswear raised its guidance for the fiscal year. Annual net sales are now expected to be between $3.46 and $3.50 billion, representing growth of 2% to 3%. Diluted earnings per share should range between $4.65 and $4.90, and operating margin between 8.7% and 9.1% of net sales. In the fourth quarter, net sales should range between $1.11 and $1.15 billion, an amount boosted by the shift of autumn-winter 2026 wholesale shipments into this final quarter.
The group also approved payment of a regular quarterly dividend of $0.30 per share, to be distributed on December 3, 2026. According to early estimates for the first half of 2027, wholesale net sales are expected to grow by around 5%, based on order bookings recorded for the spring-summer 2027 season.
