Analysts and Wall Street react after On Holding announced an update to its top CEO leadership structure on Wednesday, its second in one year.
fell more than 11 percent by the end of trading on Wednesday after the Swiss company revealed its second top leadership change in a year.that Martin Hoffmann will step down as chief executive officer in May as part of a “planned hiatus” to pursue philanthropic interests.
In turn, On cofounders David Allemann and Caspar Coppetti now will serve as co-CEOs and Scott Maguire will be promoted to president and chief operating officer., which calls for net sales to grow by at least 23 percent on a constant currency basis for the full year. That implies reported net sales of at least 3.44 billion Swiss francs. The company also noted earlier this month in its most recent earnings report that it anticipates “continued elevated profitability” in 2026, with a full-year gross profit margin of at least 63 percent and an adjusted EBITDA margin between 18.5 percent and 19 percent.But market watchers are skeptical of both the CEO change and other shifting trends, including a slowdown in the American business, the lack of a clear wholesale strategy and slipping DTC sales.just one year ago as a bad sign. “The departure of two CEOs in a year is notable for a company that considers itself in the first inning of growth,” Konik wrote in a research note on Wednesday. “We see this as a reaction to complexity rising and competitive pressure building. of On is not as big as the market thinks, so growth will slow, margins will compress, and the stock price will decline substantially.” Konik also called out On’s slowdown in its Americas business and its direct-to-consumer channel as pause for concern. “DTC slowdown may already be happening,” he wrote. “Moreover, paid search is rising, which may indicate the company is trying to drive new customer growth. Americas business is slowing too. USA in particular only up 13 percent in ’25, slowing roughly 1,300 basis points from last year’s trend. If USA goes negative in ’27, it doesn’t matter what growth occurs in China.” As for William Trading analyst Sam Poser, the executive changes have led his firm to reduce its price target from $44 a share to $41 a share. The analyst suggested that On needs more work on its wholesale channel to succeed in the future.“We remain concerned that On does not have the necessary ground game in place to understand and execute against the nuanced differences between and within the store base of its wholesale accounts,” Poser wrote in a research note. “As a result, many of On’s U.S. wholesale accounts are looking for alternatives as On’s segmentation and allocation strategies are based on what On hopes for, but not how the consumers are shopping.” Poser added that he expects, and is beginning to see, deceleration of sell-through rates at athletic specialty retailers like Foot Locker and JD Sports, which will likely become greater, and more evident as Nike regains momentum at those retailers. Konik agreed with this take as well, adding in his note that Nike’s big marketing and research and development budgets will make it harder for On to sustain its previous easy share gains in the years ahead. “We expect On’s growth will moderate through ’26 and beyond, as the company faces tougher comparisons, rising competition and DTC and apparel benefits plateau,” Konik said. “Wholesale door expansion is slowing and On appears increasingly dependent on paid search to drive DTC traffic. Bottom line, we see parallels with brands such as K-Swiss or Puma — brands that, historically, have had a niche, then a star moment, then fade.” For Jonathan Komp, senior research analyst at Baird Equity Research, he’s a bit more optimistic of On’s leadership changes — adding in a note that Maguire taking a larger role at the company is a “key positive” for On. “In our interactions, we have been impressed by Maguire’s executive leadership background and expertise as a product-led operator, which we believe has brought anThe analyst added that Allemann and Coppetti taking on a larger role in the company is also a good thing.were among On’s original cofounders and have been actively involved as executive co-chairmen — with Allemann especially focused on marketing Coppetti on global sales historically — including in publicly facing roles with investors,” Komp added. “Accordingly, we view both as exceptionally positioned to lead On’s next chapter as co-CEOs.”. We use vendors that may also process your information to help provide our services. // This site is protected by reCAPTCHA Enterprise and the Google WWD and Women's Wear Daily are part of Penske Media Corporation. © 2026 Fairchild Publishing, LLC. All Rights Reserved.
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