Stella International Reports 78% Surge in Quarterly Shipments Driven by Sports Demand

Momentum is building for Stella’s sports-focused factories and global brand partnerships.

Stella International Holdings Limited, the China-based manufacturing powerhouse for brands like Nike, Saucony, Under Armour, Merrell, Timberland, and UGG, posted robust results for the quarter and nine months ended September 30, 2025, propelled by new contracts and continued sports momentum.​

Shipments Grow Amid Sports Boom and New Clients

For the third quarter of 2025, footwear shipments rose 7.8% year-over-year to 13.9 million pairs—a surge primarily credited to the booming Sports category and expanding orders from new customers. Shipments for the first nine months rose 5.1% year-over-year to 41.4 million pairs. Executives noted that the strong quarterly result was aided not just by demand, but also a “low-base effect,” reflecting earlier 2024 shipments that had previously held numbers down.​​

Price and Revenue Trends

Revenue for Stella’s footwear manufacturing business increased 3.6% in Q3 to $391.6 million, while the average selling price (ASP) per pair fell 3.8% to $28.20 due to the higher share of lower-priced Sports products. For the first nine months, revenue rose 1.6% (to $1.15 billion) as shipment volumes climbed; average price per pair fell 3.1%, reflecting the same product mix shift.​​

Across the broader group (consolidated, unaudited data), Q3 revenue reached $404.2 million (+3.7%), and nine-month revenue came to $1.18 billion (+1.7%) compared to prior-year periods.​

Geographic and Operational Expansion

Stella reported solid progress ramping up new factories in Indonesia and the Philippines while resolving early-stage expansion challenges. With fresh production capacity scheduled to come online in late 2026, Stella is targeting a boost of 20 million pairs annually as part of its next Three-Year Plan (2026–2028), signaling its ambitions for global growth and deeper penetration in sports, luxury, and high-end fashion categories.​

Shareholder Returns and Corporate Outlook

The Group has reaffirmed its commitment to returning up to $60 million per year to shareholders in both 2025 and 2026 via a combination of share repurchases and special dividends, alongside regular dividends with a payout of about 70%. This underlines Stella’s focus on delivering value even as it invests heavily in new capacity.​

Leadership Perspective

Chi Lo-Jen, Group CEO, said in a Press Release:
“We continue to make progress in resolving the efficiency issues observed at some of our manufacturing facilities, while continuing to work closely with key U.S. customers to optimize their production operations and reinforce our long-term strategic relationships with them. We expect a moderate full-year increase in shipment volumes compared to 2024.”

Lawrence Chen, Chairman of the Group, said in a Press Release:
“Stella is close to finalizing its next Three-Year Plan (2026-2028), which reflects the Group’s intention to scale-up total production capacity by an additional 20 million pairs starting from this year.
We remain focused on acquiring and ramping up new customers, particularly in the Luxury, high-end Fashion and Sports categories.”

The Road Ahead

With improved efficiency, strong sports demand, and capacity poised to scale, Stella’s management expects shipment volumes to continue rising moderately year-over-year, with special dividends and buybacks rewarding investors as the next growth phase begins.