The sporting goods manufacturer adidas defied the headwinds from tariffs and the strong euro in the first quarter and performed better than expected.
The Nike competitor increased its sales and profits significantly and confirmed its forecast. The war in the Middle East currently has little direct impact on business – however, high oil prices and the re-emerging inflation concerns are causing consumers, especially in Europe, to act somewhat more cautiously.
Adjusted for currency effects, adidas achieved growth of 14 percent. The strong euro impacted sales by around 350 million euros. Adjusted for currency effects, adidas grew double-digit percentages in all regions – with the exception of Europe, where an increase of 6 percent was recorded. adidas continues to operate in a volatile environment, said CEO Björn Gulden. In Europe there is the most uncertainty among consumers. Discounts are currently being used most intensively there in order to get the products off the ground.
CEO analysts praised the numbers. adidas is benefiting from healthy brand and sales momentum, which is increasingly rare in a challenging and fragmenting sportswear market, noted analyst Piral Dadhania of Canadian bank RBC.
The company recorded robust demand, particularly in its own sales channels. In contrast, the increase in wholesale was weaker – since retailers are currently relying more on discounts due to the uncertain consumer environment, adidas says it is currently not selling “excessive quantities” to its partners in order to keep the discounts under control. This applies specifically to the lifestyle segment. “Of course we hope that the environment will stabilize and the discounts will normalize, but unfortunately that is not in our hands,” explained CEO Gulden.
Despite headwinds from currency effects and customs duties, operating profit rose by 15.5 percent to 705 million euros. Analysts had expected less in terms of both sales and operating results. The profit attributable to shareholders improved by 12.6 percent to 482 million euros.
Given the uncertain environment, adidas stuck to its forecast. In the current year, sales are expected to increase by a high single-digit percentage after adjusting for currency effects. In absolute figures, this would be an increase of around 2 billion euros. In 2025, the adidas brand’s revenue increased by 13 percent, adjusted for currency effects, to 24.8 billion euros. The operating result is expected to improve from just under 2.1 billion to around 2.3 billion euros. However, tariffs and currency effects are likely to impact profits by 400 million euros.
The war in the Middle East is currently having a minor impact on adidas. Business in the region is currently directly affected, for example by store closures. There are also problems getting goods there. Overall, however, sharply rising transport and material costs could become an issue in the next six to twelve months, says Gulden.
Adidas is hoping for tailwind from the men’s World Cup in the USA, Canada and Mexico this summer. “Despite many delivery and transport problems, we have the majority of the products in the markets and are looking forward to a fantastic event that will be great for us,” said Gulden.
adidas shares are taking off
Adidas shares reacted positively to its first-quarter results on Wednesday. On XETRA, the sporting goods manufacturer’s shares ultimately rose by 8.35 percent to 149.30 euros.
In general, however, things are still looking rather poor for adidas. Looking at the start of the year, there is still a loss of almost 13 percent. Since the downward trend began in mid-February 2025, the loss has been 44 percent.
Analyst Richard Edwards from the US bank Goldman Sachs does not expect any changes to market estimates given the only confirmed annual targets, but praised adidas’ surprisingly strong operating result in the first quarter. This was further underpinned by the currency-adjusted sales growth.
However, Piral Dadhania from the Canadian bank RBC pointed out that the growth in revenue was unevenly distributed and was particularly low in the shoe sector. While sales in this category only increased by 4 percent on a comparable basis, the increase in the clothing sector was around 31 percent. There, double-digit percentage growth rates in the areas of football, running, training, motorsport and originals drove revenue.
After the strong first quarter, the debate about adidas among investors could now shift in a more constructive direction, wrote Jefferies analyst James Grzinic, who rates the paper as “Buy” and has a price target of 190 euros.
Above all, he positively emphasized the company’s robustness, which is evidenced by the growth dynamics, the resilience of the gross margin despite high tariffs and exchange rate pressures, and by cost control.
“However, we may have to wait until the third quarter to get a clearer, non-event-driven impression of adidas’ brand popularity,” he said. Before that, however, it could become clearer to what extent the latest innovations, in particular the Hyperboost and Adizero Adios Pro Evo 3 running shoes, can reduce the risk of the Terrace segment’s increasing market maturity.
Grzinic is aware that skeptics could also attribute part of the strong business development to temporary sales effects due to the upcoming World Cup this year. In addition, the further build-up of inventories is likely to be examined more closely, although, according to him, the supply chain uncertainties justify the early procurement of products.
adidas CEO: Material costs could rise if oil prices remain high
According to CEO Björn Gulden, adidas is not yet feeling any short-term “disruptions” in its business as a result of the Middle East war. “Of course it is difficult to get goods to the Middle East,” said Gulden in the media conference call. And the shops are closed in areas that are under rocket fire.
The sporting goods manufacturer is not yet acutely aware of the “exploding” higher prices for oil and logistics. When it comes to material costs, especially for materials that are heavily dependent on oil such as polyester, the company does not feel any short-term negative impact on the products currently arriving. The reason is the long lead times in procurement; the relevant materials and components were purchased much earlier, when the price of oil was still at a different level
However, material costs could rise in the second half of the year and into 2027 if the price of oil remains high. At least in the next 6 to 12 months, material costs could increase, says Gulden. It is currently not possible to measure how much impact this will ultimately have, as it depends heavily on the respective product and market and is a process of ongoing negotiations in the wake of global developments.
adidas “very visible” at the World Cup – built up “healthy” stocks early
As a supplier, adidas expects “high visibility” at the FIFA World Cup, which will take place in June/July in the USA, Canada and Mexico. According to CEO Björn Gulden, 14 national teams will play in adidas outfits, around a third of the players will wear adidas products, and the official match ball will also be provided by adidas. “So we will be very, very visible,” Gulden said in the media conference call following the first quarter results. In the run-up to the tournament, adidas built up inventory early and quickly in order to be prepared for possible complications and “disruptions,” said Gulden.
CFO Harm Ohlmeyer pointed out that inventories therefore increased by 14 percent in the quarter. On the one hand, this was also crucial for growth in the first quarter. It is important “that the stocks are healthy, because 90 percent are either for the current or future seasons,” says the CFO. “We are very happy with it.” Management assumes that inventories will normalize in the second half of the year. At the end of March they amounted to 5.8 billion euros.
HERZOGENAURACH (dpa-AFX) / Dow Jones Newswires
