Adidas Shares on Course for Record Slump After World Cup Marketing Eats Into Earnings — Update

By Andrea Figueras

Adidas shares tumbled Thursday, putting them on course for their largest-ever one-day fall after the German sportswear company's earnings were squeezed by heavy marketing spending on the FIFA World Cup.

In European morning trading, shares were down 17% at 150.70 euros. Over the year to date, shares have fallen more than 10%.

The group spent close to 1 billion euros ($1.15 billion) on marketing in the quarter through June, around 30% more than in the same period last year, as the group leaned heavily into promotion surrounding soccer's FIFA World Cup in North America this summer. The championship ended successfully for Adidas, the kit supplier and sponsor of finalists Spain and Argentina.

But the heavy marketing outlay limited operating profit, which rose 5% on year to 574 million euros, missing consensus expectations of 623 million euros.

Adidas Chief Executive Officer Bjorn Gulden said in a call that he was surprised by the share drop.

The company confirmed its operating profit forecast for 2026, which stands at around 2.3 billion euros, lower than the nearly 2.5 billion euros projected by analysts.

Both the earnings result and the lack of an increase to the profit guidance are likely to disappoint, RBC Capital Markets analyst Piral Dadhania wrote in a research note.

The company said its outlook doesn't reflect potential U.S. tariff refunds of between $250 million and $300 million that might be recoverable in the future.

In absolute terms, Adidas reported a strong quarter, analysts at Deutsche Bank said. However, the results could disappoint investors against a rising tide of World Cup expectations, they said.

Write to Andrea Figueras at andrea.figueras@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

July 30, 2026 06:09 ET (10:09 GMT)