Adidas gets World Cup boost in 'very volatile' market

By Linda Pasquini and Helen Reid

April ‌29 (Reuters) - Adidas on Wednesday ​reported stronger ​than expected first-quarter operating profit and sales, helped by early demand for World Cup soccer products ahead of the FIFA tournament in June.

Adidas said it frontloaded World Cup products to ‌its markets to avoid "many supply and transportation issues".

"It was definitely the right decision to bring ⁠in the inventory early, especially for the World Cup," Chief Financial Officer Harm Ohlmeyer told reporters on a call. "Without that, we would ‌not have been able to grow ‌14% in the first quarter."

The company took around 250 million euros ($292 million) in bookings for World Cup products in the quarter and expected the same in the current quarter, CEO Bjorn Gulden said later ​in a call with investors.

Running gear was also a growth driver with sales rising more than 10%. The Adidas brand is riding high after its ultra-light racing shoes helped Kenyan athlete Sabastian Sawe become the ⁠first person to run a sub-two-hour marathon in an official race in the London Marathon on Sunday.

Adidas' shares were up 8% at 1447 GMT ​on the robust performance. The shares have fallen over the past year as the company faced U.S. tariffs and cautious consumers, and are still near their lowest level ​in more than three years.

"Overall, Adidas started 2026 strong, taking ‌share globally, while maintaining full-price selling, which gives us confidence it can deliver on its 2026 sales and profit goals," Telsey Advisory Group's analysts wrote in a note ⁠to clients.

Adidas said "discipline" in not selling too much to retailers was crucial to avoid sneakers having to be discounted in a "very volatile" retail environment.

Gulden flagged Europe as the market with the highest levels of discounting and a lot of uncertainty among ⁠consumers.

U.S. rival Nike said earlier this month it was being "aggressive" with promotions as it tries to clear unsold stock.

Quarterly sales rose ​to 6.6 billion euros ($7.7 billion), even though several countries in the Middle East reported sales declines due to the Iran war.

"Stores in many of these markets (have) been impacted when war activities are going on. And of course, if you have bomb ‌alarms in a market, that means that the authorities tell you not to open your stores," Gulden told journalists.

The company has lost about $30 million in sales in the ‌quarter due to the conflict, he said.

Emerging markets, which includes the Middle East, represented 13% of sales in the first ⁠quarter.

Quarterly operating profit rose by 16% to ‌705 million euros, well above the ​647 million euros projected by analysts in a company-compiled poll.

($1 = 0.8546 euros)

(Reporting by Linda Pasquini in Gdansk and by Helen Reid in London. Editing by Thomas Seythal, Shri Navaratnam and ‌Jane Merriman)

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