With the business potentially at an important milestone, we thought we'd take a closer look at Amer Sports, Inc.'s (NYSE:AS) future prospects. Amer Sports, Inc. designs, manufactures, markets, distributes, and sells sports equipment, apparel, footwear, and accessories in Europe, the Middle East, Africa, the Americas, China, and the Asia Pacific. The US$7.2b market-cap company announced a latest loss of US$209m on 31 December 2023 for its most recent financial year result. Many investors are wondering about the rate at which Amer Sports will turn a profit, with the big question being "when will the company breakeven?" Below we will provide a high-level summary of the industry analysts' expectations for the company.

According to the 15 industry analysts covering Amer Sports, the consensus is that breakeven is near. They expect the company to post a final loss in 2023, before turning a profit of US$180m in 2024. The company is therefore projected to breakeven around a year from now or less! How fast will the company have to grow to reach the consensus forecasts that anticipate breakeven by 2024? Working backwards from analyst estimates, it turns out that they expect the company to grow 48% year-on-year, on average, which is extremely buoyant. Should the business grow at a slower rate, it will become profitable at a later date than expected.

Underlying developments driving Amer Sports' growth isn't the focus of this broad overview, however, bear in mind that typically a high forecast growth rate is not unusual for a company that is currently undergoing an investment period.

Before we wrap up, there's one issue worth mentioning. Amer Sports currently has negative equity on its balance sheet. Accounting methods used to deal with losses accumulated over time can cause this to occur. This is because liabilities are carried forward into the future until it cancels. These losses tend to occur only on paper, however, in other cases it can be forewarning.

Next Steps:

This article is not intended to be a comprehensive analysis on Amer Sports, so if you are interested in understanding the company at a deeper level, take a look at Amer Sports' company page on Simply Wall St. We've also compiled a list of pertinent factors you should look at:

1. Valuation: What is Amer Sports worth today? Has the future growth potential already been factored into the price? The intrinsic value infographic in our free research report helps visualize whether Amer Sports is currently mispriced by the market.
2. Management Team: An experienced management team on the helm increases our confidence in the business – take a look at who sits on Amer Sports's board and the CEO's background.
3. Other High-Performing Stocks: Are there other stocks that provide better prospects with proven track records? Explore our free list of these great stocks here.

Have feedback on this article? Concerned about the content? Get in touch with us directly. Alternatively, email editorial-team (at) simplywallst.com.
This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. We provide commentary based on historical data and analyst forecasts only using an unbiased methodology and our articles are not intended to be financial advice. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned.