Adidas lifts sales outlook after record Q2

Adidas (ADSd) delivered record net sales of approximately €6.74 billion in the second quarter, representing about 13% growth compared with the same period a year earlier. The performance underscores strong consumer demand across the business during the three months through June. This top-line momentum came despite a backdrop of elevated spending, reflecting the company’s push to support its brand on the global stage.

Running and football were highlighted as key growth engines within the quarter. These categories benefited from product launches and heightened interest around major football events, helping Adidas (ADSd) to achieve its best-ever second-quarter revenue figure. The strength in these segments provided the basis for an upgrade to the company’s sales outlook for the full year.

On the back of its strong second-quarter showing, Adidas raised its currency-neutral revenue growth target for 2026 to about 9%–10%. This updated target signals confidence that the underlying demand trends visible in running and football can extend across the remainder of the year. The company framed the new growth range as a reflection of both recent trading and expectations for continued momentum in key product categories.

Despite adjusting its top-line ambitions, Adidas maintained its full-year operating profit guidance at around €2.3 billion. Keeping profit guidance unchanged while raising the sales outlook implies that management expects additional revenue to be broadly offset by higher costs, including marketing investments. This balance between growth and profitability remains central to the company’s guidance framework for 2026.

Reports on the quarterly results pointed to heavy World Cup-related marketing spending as a factor weighing on Adidas’s operating profit in the period. The additional outlay was linked to campaigns around the football World Cup, a key showcase for the brand’s global positioning in the sport. While this investment supported visibility in football, it compressed near-term margins relative to the strong revenue performance.

The combination of record sales, profit pressure, and elevated marketing spend was followed by a sharp decline in the company’s share price on the day of the announcement, with coverage describing a steep single-day drop. The market reaction highlighted investor sensitivity to the trade-off between near-term profitability and strategic spending tied to major sporting events. It also underscored how expectations for margins can drive share moves even when revenue trends are positive.

Adidas also pointed to a possible financial benefit from U.S. tariff refunds, estimating a potential recovery in the range of $250 million to $300 million. This prospective refund relates to past tariff payments and, if realized, would represent an additional source of profit. However, the company stated that this potential upside is not currently incorporated into its official guidance figures.

By excluding any tariff refund from its outlook, Adidas is framing the €2.3 billion operating profit target and 9%–10% currency-neutral revenue growth range on a conservative basis relative to this possible windfall. Any eventual recovery would therefore come on top of the performance implied by current guidance. For now, the focus remains on execution in core categories and managing the impact of World Cup-related marketing spend on margins.