The world's second-largest sporting goods manufacturer, Adidas, is ramping up its efforts to catch up with its embattled archrival Nike, following robust growth over the past year. Adidas CEO Björn Gulden said Thursday he is confident that all segments—sport, comfort, lifestyle, and fashion—will continue to grow, “and we are also very confident that we will further expand our market share.” In 2025, the Herzogenaurach-based company's revenue surged by ten percent on a currency-adjusted basis to a record €24.8 billion, according to figures released Thursday evening. “Double-digit growth in all markets and sales channels is, of course, very pleasing,” Gulden commented. “But even more important is that this is high-quality growth.”

The company managed to weather both the steep tariffs imposed by the U.S. government on imports from popular Asian manufacturing countries in the sports industry such as Vietnam and China, as well as the weak dollar, which alone cost the company more than €1 billion in revenue, according to the statement. Excluding the clearance sales in 2024 of leftover inventory from the “Yeezy” collaboration with scandal-ridden rapper Kanye West, revenue in 2025 would have risen by as much as 13 percent. Operating profit soared by 54 percent to €2.06 billion, surpassing Adidas' most recent target of €2 billion. The gross margin climbed to 51.6 percent (2024: 50.8 percent).

This put Adidas well ahead of its competitors. At struggling local rival Puma, Chinese industry giant Anta Sports is stepping in to acquire the stake held by France's billionaire Pinault family. Nike is fighting for a comeback, having reported stagnant sales from September to November along with sharply declining margins. According to insiders, a further 775 employees are set to be laid off, following several previous rounds of job cuts in recent years. Nike CEO Elliott Hill is accepting steep discounts to reduce inventories of less popular sports shoes. Gulden said Adidas had been able to keep such discounts under control. “Our markets managed very well to ensure that the right products were sold in the right quantities in their respective markets.”

SHARES HIT YEAR LOW LAST WEEK

Operationally, Adidas achieved a return on sales of 8.3 percent, up from 5.6 percent the previous year. Gulden has set a medium-term target of ten percent “or more.” He said 2025 turned out much better than Adidas had planned or expected at the start of the year. On the stock market, Adidas shares temporarily rose more than six percent. The figures were well received by investors, given the current share price and outlook for the year ahead, according to analysts at Deutsche Bank.

Despite the booming business, Adidas shares hit a yearly low of €142.55 last week. Gulden now aims to boost the stock price with a share buyback. Starting in early February, Adidas plans to repurchase up to €1 billion of its own shares, which will then be retired. The last time Adidas repurchased its own shares was in 2022. CFO Harm Ohlmeyer had indicated that share buybacks would only be considered again after the “Yeezy crisis” once Adidas was a “healthy company.”

(Reporting by Alexander Hübner and Christina Amann. Edited by Olaf Brenner. For questions, please contact our newsroom at berlin.newsroom@thomsonreuters.com (for politics and economy) or frankfurt.newsroom@thomsonreuters.com (for companies and markets).)