BERLIN – Adidas on Wednesday announced record-breaking results for the third quarter, confirming preliminary numbers released last week.
The German sportswear giant said sales revenues grew 12 percent in currency neutral terms to 6.63 billion euros.
Those figures are “the highest we have ever achieved as a company in a quarter,” Adidas chief executive Bjorn Gulden said in a statement.
Despite a volatile market environment, including tariff increases in the U.S. and geopolitical uncertainty, Adidas was now focused on “transitioning well into 2026,” Gulden said.
The sales increase was accompanied by a 23 percent increase in operating profit, which hit 736 million in the third quarter. That takes operating margin up to 10.1 percent for the first nine months of the year, just slightly above the 10 percent margin Gulden, who’s led the company for almost three years, previously said he was aiming for.
The results were broadly in line with market consensus.
Gulden is known for his tendency to temper market expectations but the third-quarter results saw Adidas raise guidance. The company now predicts that for the full year, currency-neutral revenues will increase around 9 percent and operating profit will come in at about 2 billion euros. Previously, Adidas had forecast currency-neutral revenues to grow at a high single-digit rate and operating profit to land between 1.7 billion euros and 1.8 billion euros.
Adidas saw double-digit growth in every market except North America. There sales grew at 8 percent to 1.3 billion euros.
In Adidas’ largest market, Europe, sales climbed 12 percent to 2.33 billion euros. In Greater China, sales rose 10 percent and in Japan and South Korea, 11 percent.
In terms of product categories, footwear sales grew 11 percent on a currency neutral basis to 3.75 billion euros.
Market analysts and investors have expressed concern about Adidas’ reliance on the wildly popular “terrace trend” in footwear. But in its statement on the quarterly results, the company noted that it has started expanding its “low profile” offerings and has relaunched the classic Superstar sneaker, as well as pushing collaborations with a wide variety of creatives, including Pharrell Williams, designers Grace Wales Bonner, Edison Chen and the British band Oasis.
Adidas apparel sales increased by 16 percent to 2.38 billion euros. The company attributed “differentiated and locally relevant apparel collections” for the category’s success. Accessories — a category that Adidas executives have previously conceded needs more work — only rose 1 percent.
