Herzogenaurach (Germany) (AFP) – Adidas shares slumped Wednesday after the German sportswear giant gave a disappointing 2026 profit forecast and warned of a 400-million-euro ($465-million) hit from US tariffs and exchange rate effects. The maker of Gazelle and Samba trainers said it expects operating profit to rise to 2.3 billion euros for 2026, as it unveiled its annual results.
The group’s shares fell about eight percent on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange after the announcement, and were trading around 137 euros each. It adds to a steady slide in Adidas stock in recent months driven by worries about growing competition in the sportswear market. Deutsche Bank said guidance for both operating income and profit margins were “slightly weaker-than-expected.”
Adidas, second only to Nike among global sportswear companies in terms of sales, has been particularly exposed to US President Donald Trump’s tariffs as it makes many of its products in Asian countries facing levies. It is also facing impacts from recent strengthening of the euro against the US dollar, which has been driven by worries about Trump’s policies, as this erodes the value of profits earned overseas. “US tariffs and unfavourable currency developments” together would deliver a 400-million-euro hit to Adidas’s profits this year, the group said.
The group did not indicate what it thought about the impact of the recent US Supreme Court ruling against many of Trump’s global duties. The disappointing outlook took the shine off broadly positive results for 2025, with net income jumping 75 percent to 1.34 billion euros, with double-digit growth for both footwear and apparel. Sales rose around five percent to 24.8 billion euros. CEO Bjorn Gulden said that 2025 had turned out “much better than we had planned and expected when the year started.”
Adidas said it was extending the contract of Gulden until 2030, in a sign of confidence that his strategy is bearing fruit. Gulden took the helm of Adidas in 2023 after a torrid period for the sportswear giant following its split from American rapper Kanye West, now known officially as Ye, after outrage over antisemitic comments he made on social media.
© 2024 AFP
