Adidas raises 2025 profit forecast after record quarterly sales

Adidas has lifted its full-year profit forecast after posting record quarterly revenues, driven by strong growth in footwear and apparel.

The sportswear brand reported a 12% increase in sales to €6.6bn (£5.82bn) for the third quarter, marking its highest quarterly revenue on record. 

Operating profit for the 2025 financial year is now expected to reach around €2bn (£1.76bn), up from previous guidance of between €1.7bn (£1.50bn) and €1.8bn (£1.59bn).

Footwear sales for the Adidas brand rose 11% to €3.75bn (£3.30bn) on a currency-neutral basis, while apparel revenues grew 16% to €2.38bn (£2.10bn). Accessories increased 1% to €496m (£437m). Growth was supported by wider product ranges in running, football, training and specialist sports, and by locally targeted collections in key markets.

In Europe, sales climbed 12% to €2.32bn (£2.04bn), driven by double-digit gains in both wholesale and direct-to-consumer (DTC) channels. 

Revenues rose 10% to €947m (£834.3m) in Greater China, 13% to €935m (£823.8m) in emerging markets, 21% to €720m (£634.3m) in Latin America, and 11% to €358m (£315.4m) in Japan and South Korea.

North America posted 8% growth to €1.29bn (£1.14bn), with declines in accessories partly offsetting gains in footwear and apparel.

Across all channels, Adidas recorded double-digit growth. Wholesale revenues increased 10% to €4.19bn (£3.69bn), supported by higher sell-through rates and shelf-space allocations. Own-store sales grew 13%, while e-commerce revenue rose 15%, contributing to an overall 14% increase in DTC sales to €2.41bn (£2.12bn).

Gross margin improved by 0.5 percentage points to 51.8%, helped by lower product and freight costs, a stronger product mix and high sell-through rates, which more than offset currency and tariff pressures.

Looking ahead, Adidas expects currency-neutral revenue for the full year to rise by around 9%, compared with a previous forecast of high-single-digit growth. 

The group also reaffirmed expectations for double-digit revenue growth in its core brand, excluding the impact of discontinued Yeezy sales in the prior year.

Bjørn Gulden, chief executive of Adidas, said: “The environment is volatile with the tariff increases in the US and a lot of uncertainty among both retailers and consumers around the world, but our teams work hard, and our brand and our products resonate well with consumers. Given the positive development in Q3, we have narrowed our top-line guidance and raised our full-year EBIT outlook from between €1.7bn (£1.5bn) and €1.8bn (£1.59bn) to around €2.0bn (£1.76bn). 

“2025 is a success for us already. 14% growth for the adidas brand year-to-date and an EBIT margin above 10% is proof of how strong our brand is. Being a global brand with a local mindset, empowering our markets to win their local consumers is the right strategy to be globally successful and is driving these strong results. The focus is now on transitioning well into 2026, which will be another exciting sports year with the Winter Olympics right at the beginning, the biggest Football World Cup ever, and many more great events to look forward to.”