Bjørn Gulden details Adidas's turnaround amidst tariff headwinds

Sportswear group Adidas has managed to somewhat limit the impact of US tariffs on its international business. For the current year, CEO Bjørn Gulden now only expects losses of around 120 million euros. Previously, the German company had anticipated a negative impact of 200 million euros. The majority of this will be incurred in the fourth quarter. Adidas shares, which showed little movement at the start of trading on Wednesday, ultimately fell significantly. The shares were down 4 percent at midday.

New flows of goods

Gulden said that Adidas has so far only selectively increased prices for some new products in the US. The company has tried to manage production so that respective markets are supplied from countries with the lowest possible tariff requirements. For example, the important Chinese market is increasingly being served by its own manufacturing.

Nevertheless, Gulden estimates that the burden from US tariff policy will increase next year. The question of how the tariffs will have an indirect impact remains completely open. This could be through lower purchasing power due to rising inflation and potential discount wars in retail.

New year with Olympics and World Cup

Last week, Adidas published preliminary figures for the third quarter and raised its forecast for the current year following record sales. The focus is now on a smooth transition into 2026, according to Gulden. Next year, the Winter Olympics and the Football World Cup will take place in the US, Canada and Mexico.

Gulden joined Adidas from competitor Puma in 2023 and initially had to announce losses. The company is now on track and is generating an operating profit margin of 10 percent. In the first nine months of 2025, the net profit from continuing operations was 1.29 billion euros. In 2024, the figure for the same period was 851 million euros.

This article was translated to English using an AI tool.

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