Shares in Adidas slump on weak profit guidance as tariffs, exchange rate bites

By Nora Redmond

Adidas's operating profit outlook for 2026 is about 15% lower than analysts' expectations.

Shares in Adidas declined on Wednesday after the German sportswear retailer issued a disappointing profit outlook.

Adidas stock (XE:ADS) on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange fell 7% - making it one of the worst performing constituents of Europe's Stoxx 600 index (FXXP00) after warning of a EUR400 million hit from Trump administration tariffs and changes to currency exchange rates.

The company said it expected operating profit to increase to about EUR2.3 billion for 2026, with an implied margin of about 9%. Analysts at Deutsche Bank led by Adam Cochrane, head of the general retail equity research team in London, wrote in a note on Wednesday that this is around 15% lower than the consensus of EUR2.7 billion with a 10% margin.

"The difference of EUR400m is attributable to EUR200m of tariffs and EUR200m of FX, although both of these were in forecasts to varying extents," the analysts said on the weaker-than-expected guidance for the year.

Adidas guided to revenue growth in the high single digits compared to last year's figures with EUR24.8 billion, which met expectations of a roughly 8% increase. Investors are also likely to be reassured by the news that CEO Bjørn Gulden has had his contract extended from 2027 to 2030.

Still, Adidas's falling stock price demonstrates weakening sentiment on the group and the wider sporting-goods industry.

Its shares are down 13% since the start of the year as uncertainty over tariffs has continued to drag apparel makers down. Rival Nike (NKE) has shed close to 7% in the same period of time, while shares of U.K. sporting-goods retailer JD Sports (UK:JD) has declined 10%.

"With the current moving macro parts, we can understand a degree of caution in the sales guidance although there is still an expectation that this may be conservative given the beats in prior years, with the lack of margin expansion a bit more concerning at this stage," the analysts at Deutsche Bank said of Adidas's results.

-Nora Redmond

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03-04-26 0749ET