Adidas delivered a weak full-year profit outlook. Shares at a three-year low

Sportswear maker Adidas gave an operating profit forecast for the current year that came in below analysts' forecasts. As a result, the shares were falling by 8% in Frankfurt trading and reached their lowest level in more than three years.

Adidas expects to increase its operating profit to around €2.3 billion in 2026. These expectations include a negative effect of €400 million due to U.S. duties and currency fluctuations, The Wall Street Journal reports.

During trading on the Frankfurt exchange on March 4, the securities were losing up to 8% and fell to their lowest level since the beginning of 2023.

The forecast presented will "disappoint" investors as it came in about 15% below overall market expectations, CNBC quoted analysts at RBC Capital as saying. The main discrepancy between the company's forecast and consensus estimates appears to be related to the possible removal of U.S. duties, JPMorgan analysts suggested in a statement to The Wall Street Journal. According to Adidas head Bjorn Gulden, the projected losses due to duties and exchange rates do not really take into account changes in U.S. import duty rates following the Supreme Court ruling that found them illegal and U.S. President Donald Trump's decision to impose new duties of 15%, Reuters wrote.

In the medium term, Adidas expects to deliver "high single-digit percentage" sales growth (7-9%) between 2026 and 2028 and achieve operating margins above 10% by 2028, banking on market share gains and industry recovery, the Wall Street Journal noted.

At the same time, revenue will be negatively affected by the conflict in the Middle East: some stores will be forced to close, said Goulden. Adidas has 350 stores in the region, 200 of which are operated by franchisees, Reuters writes.

Adidas said cutting discounts and selling "the right product in the right quantity" in different markets allowed it to offset significant losses incurred last year due to currency fluctuations and U.S. duties, Reuters quoted it as saying.

The company is implementing a brand renewal strategy in an effort to return the business to sustainable growth, notes the Wall Street Journal. At the same time, the outlook for the global sportswear industry remains under pressure due to oversupply and changing consumer preferences in China, CNBC writes.

On Wednesday, Adidas extended Goulden's contract through 2030, which the market saw as an expression of confidence in his strategy, CNBC noted. Goulden took over the company in early 2023 with the task of stabilizing Adidas after a fractured relationship with rapper Ye over his anti-Semitic remarks, which triggered a crisis and showed how much the brand depended on their joint line of Yeezy sneakers, CNBC recalls.

"Gulden has proven to be a 'best-in-class CEO' when it comes to localization strategies, as well as maintaining trends and promoting successful products over a long period of time," Reuters quoted Felix Dennl, an analyst at Frankfurt-based Metzler, as saying.

Adidas stock is down 40% over the past year and has lost 16.3% since the start of 2026.

Most analysts advise buying Adidas shares: they have 12 Buy ratings and four Overweight ratings out of 22 total, The Wall Street Journal shows. Another four recommend Hold and one recommends Sell (Underweight).

3 months ago, analysts were more optimistic, with 24 analysts recommending the securities to buy against the same four Hold ratings, WSJ data shows.

This article was AI-translated and verified by a human editor