The German sportswear group says it is on course for €2.6 billion in 2026 operating profit but now guides to €2.5 billion, reinvesting €100 million in initiatives for future profitability. CEO Bjørn Gulden says excess inventory and discounting weigh on lifestyle footwear.
Adidas now expects around €2.5 billion in 2026 operating profit, up from around €2.3 billion, after record third-quarter sales and earnings. The figures are preliminary. During the quarter, Adidas received most of its US tariff claims and booked a refund of around €200 million.
Record sales, margin and profit in the third quarter
The company communicated after the market close on Oct. 20: Revenue rose 9 percent to €7,252 million, or 7 percent on a currency-neutral basis. Gross margin improved by 2.5 percentage points to 54.3 percent. Operating profit increased 37 percent to €1,008 million, the highest quarterly figure the company has recorded.
Adidas said the tariff refund helped lift gross margin, along with healthy full-price sales. Currency effects had a negative impact.
How Adidas gets to €2.5 billion
Adidas expects currency-neutral revenue growth of 9 to 10 percent in 2026 to be more profitable than planned.
The new outlook is built in four steps. Adidas starts from its previous outlook of around €2.3 billion, then adds around €100 million from more profitable growth and around €200 million from the tariff refund, which puts it on course for €2.6 billion.
From that, it subtracts around €100 million that it will reinvest during the final quarter. The reinvestment will go into initiatives meant to let profit grow faster than sales in future, Adidas said. It added that this is consistent with the mid-term profitability targets it has already communicated.
Lifestyle footwear remains the difficult category
CEO Bjørn Gulden said the lifestyle footwear business is currently difficult, mainly because of too much inventory and too many discounts across the market. He said he is confident that will normalize soon.
Gulden said marketing investment has made the brand popular again worldwide. He added that innovation spending is paying off in profitable growth in football, running and training, and that new apparel collections are in strong demand and are currently powering the lifestyle business. In this environment, Adidas is not trying to get “the maximum out in the short term,” Gulden added. The company will stay disciplined and keep its focus on mid-term targets, he added.
What’s next: Adidas will publish its final third-quarter results on Oct. 29.
See also: Adidas raises full-year guidance after record Q2 revenue, but investors focus on World Cup costs
