Third-quarter sales set a record as operating profit rose 37%
Adidas raised its 2026 operating-profit guidance to €2.5 billion on Tuesday, up from a previous forecast of €2.3 billion, after receiving about $224.3 million in U.S. tariff refunds. The German sports company said the refunds, totaling around €200 million, represented the majority of its total claims. A Wall Street Journal ticker line showed Adidas ADS up 0.13%.
Third-quarter revenue rose 9% from a year earlier to a record €7.25 billion, or $8.13 billion. Excluding currency movements, sales increased 7%.
Adidas said operating profit climbed 37% from a year earlier to €1.01 billion, the company’s highest quarterly level on record. The company now expects to post operating profit of €2.5 billion in 2026, up from the previous €2.3 billion forecast.
CEO Bjorn Gulden said Adidas was experiencing strong and profitable growth in its soccer, running and training segments, while demand for apparel collections remained high.
The Wall Street Journal reported that the broader sports industry was contending with high competition, soft demand and inflation pressures, all of which were weighing on shoppers’ willingness to spend on discretionary goods.
The Wall Street Journal also reported that difficult market conditions had prevented Adidas from raising forecasts in recent months. The newspaper said that under Gulden’s leadership, Adidas had typically pursued a strategy of beating and raising its targets, which tended to appear conservative at the beginning of the year. Adidas is scheduled to publish full results for the third quarter on Oct. 29.