adidas AG shares plummeted over 18% on Thursday, heading for the biggest single-day drop on record, as heavy spending on World Cup marketing squeezed profitability.
The sportswear company's American depositary receipts (ADS) tumbled 18.63%, set to mark the steepest decline since its listing in November 1995.
Total marketing spending in the quarter ending June surged to about $1.15 billion, up roughly 30% year-over-year, as the company bet heavily on the World Cup to boost business, particularly in the U.S. market where it has long trailed rival Nike.
Management and industry analysts view the World Cup as a major growth opportunity for adidas. Fourteen teams, including finalists Spain and Argentina, wore adidas kits, while the company also supplied uniforms for match officials and provided the official match ball.
The aggressive marketing initiative included fan events and a high-profile campaign featuring actor Timoth茅e Chalamet alongside football stars Lionel Messi and Jude Bellingham. This strategy did drive revenue growth: second-quarter sales rose 14% to 6.7 billion euros (about $7.7 billion), a record high. However, the hefty marketing costs ate into profits.
Operating profit for the period grew 5% to 574 million euros, missing analyst expectations of 623 million euros. adidas maintained its full-year operating profit outlook at around 2.3 billion euros, below the nearly 2.5 billion euros analysts had forecast. The company noted the guidance excludes potential U.S. tariff refunds of between $250 million and $300 million.
The market had high earnings expectations for adidas due to the World Cup, but the miss and lack of an upward guidance revision triggered a panic sell-off. In European afternoon trading, the stock fell more than 18%, potentially setting a record for the biggest single-day percentage decline since its 1995 listing.
adidas CEO Bjorn Gulden said on the earnings call that the stock's sharp drop was beyond his expectations.
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