The shares of Adidas and Puma defied the disappointing outlook from US competitor Nike on Wednesday. While Nike’s stock fell by 10.5 percent to $47.25 in US trading premarket, the shares of the two German sporting goods manufacturers recovered in the very solid overall market.
In the Dax, however, after two days of price gains, Adidas now rose by a below-average 0.6 percent to 137.45 euros, while the leading German index rose by 2.0 percent. Puma, on the other hand, jumped above average with an increase of 4.5 percent to 22.69 euros. The index of medium-sized companies, the MDax, also gained 2.5 percent.
In addition to the general optimism of investors that the Iran war will soon be over, Adidas was particularly helped by an event held by the sporting goods manufacturer before the quarterly figures on April 29th, which was well received by analysts, said a dealer. “And that shows that Nike has home-made problems and therefore a cross-read with industry members such as Adidas in particular, but also Puma, still does not work.” One even hears that Nike’s weakness contributes to the others’ strength.
The day before, Jefferies analyst James Grzinic had commented positively on Adidas’ pre-close call. He wrote that the event confirmed a continued positive balance between the maturity of the Terrace sneaker segment and the strong demand for apparel and running. According to Grzinic, the models of the new Hyperboost running shoe also appear “promising” at first glance.
Analyst Jürgen Kolb from Kepler Cheuvreux also wrote positively about Adidas. While the Germans confirmed their annual targets and expected stronger sales growth in the first half of the year than in the second, Nike needed more time overall.
Although the US group exceeded expectations with its fiscal quarter, the absolute development in terms of the decline in sales and the operating margin shows that the Americans are in a repositioning process. Ultimately, it became clear that the return to growth would not come sooner than expected. This, in turn, “continues to offer Adidas the opportunity to strengthen its market position as the company has expanded its product offering and benefits from a strong brand image.” Nike exceeded expectations in the third quarter, but the outlook disappointed the market.
In view of the fact that Puma shares rose significantly on this day, according to stock expert Andreas Lipkow from broker CMC Markets, old takeover fantasies are likely to be added to the generally positive market mood. At the end of January, the Chinese company Anta Sports Products announced that it wanted to get involved in a big way. As the parent company of brands such as Atomic, Fila, Jack Wolfskin, Salomon and Wilson announced around two months ago, it wanted to acquire a stake of just over 29 percent from the French billionaire Pinault family, subject to approval from the authorities.
