By Andrea Figueras
Adidas shares climbed after the German sportswear group logged higher sales for the first quarter and confirmed its forecasts for the year, reassuring investors that it would be able to weather market volatility.
The company said Wednesday that net sales increased 7.1% on year in reported terms to 6.59 billion euros, equivalent to $7.72 billion. Excluding currency movements, sales surged 14%, well above an 8.3% increase that analysts had expected, according to Visible Alpha.
Analysts at Deutsche Bank said Adidas was able to deliver another great quarter.
"In our view this is a strong performance with Adidas winning in a number of important categories," they wrote in a note to clients.
Adidas shares in Frankfurt gained more than 7% in midday trade, though the stock is down more than 10% since the year began as investors weighed the extent to which geopolitical tensions and tariffs could affect consumer appetite for sportswear goods.
Chief Executive Bjorn Gulden said the market was very volatile, particularly in lifestyle footwear.
"We do, of course, hope the environment stabilizes," he said. However, "this is unfortunately not in our control," he added.
Gulden said there were some complications stemming from the war in the Middle East, with rising transportation costs due to higher oil prices, though Adidas hasn't seen "any clear disruption" so far.
Quarterly operating profit grew to 705 million euros from 610 million euros a year earlier, also surpassing analysts' estimate of 653.7 million euros, according to Visible Alpha.
Jefferies analysts said better-than-expected earnings could inject renewed confidence into Adidas's fundamentals even as some investors presumably attributed part of the strong first-quarter figures to a temporary benefit from the men's FIFA World Cup soccer tournament.
Adidas sponsors several national soccer teams, including those of Spain, Germany, and Argentina--which secured the world championship in 2022. Gulden said in an earnings call that product lines for the soccer competition were performing very well and that the brand should gain visibility in the second quarter.
Meanwhile, the CEO noted that the company's running category would get a boost following the world marathon record set in London by Sabastian Sawe, who was wearing Adidas shoes and kit.
Sawe won the marathon in under two hours, while Yomif Kejelcha, another Adidas-sponsored athlete who finished in second place, also broke the two-hour barrier. The winner of the women's race, Tigst Assefa--who broke the world record in a women-only race--was also wearing Adidas shoes.
The company has been pushing innovation in performance while facing increasing competition from brands like On Holding and Hoka, both of which have challenged traditional brands in the industry.
Adidas confirmed its guidance for the year, but noted that economic challenges and high uncertainty remain. It anticipates a high-single-digit percentage increase in constant-currency sales and operating profit of around 2.3 billion euros for 2026, compared to the 2.06 billion euros it reported for 2025.
Adidas's first-quarter figures come days after U.S. rival Nike said it would reduce its workforce by some 1,400 workers, or about 2%, as the sneaker giant undertakes a turnaround strategy laid out by CEO Elliott Hill. German peer Puma, which is also implementing a brand revamp plan, is scheduled to publish first-quarter numbers on Thursday.
Write to Andrea Figueras at andrea.figueras@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
April 29, 2026 07:10 ET (11:10 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2026 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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