Adidas Nth America sales lag as US tariffs bite

(Sharecast News) - North America sales at German sportswear maker Adidas dragged behind regional peers as the impact of US tariffs bit in the third quarter.

Revenues for North America rose 8% year on year compared with other geographies which rose 10% - 21% in the period.

"The environment is volatile with the tariff increases in the U.S. and a lot of uncertainty among both retailers and consumers around the world," said chief executive Bjorn Gulden.

Adidas last week increased its profit guidance for 2025 despite a mixed third quarter from the German sporting goods group, with top-line growth coming in slightly below market estimates despite revenues hitting a record high.

Full-year operating profit is now expected to increase to �2.0bn, up from earlier guidance of �1.7b-1.8bn and the �1.4bn made in 2024.

"The improved profitability outlook reflects continued brand momentum, the better-than-expected business performance as well as the company's successful efforts to partly mitigate the additional costs resulting from increased US tariffs," the company said.

Currency-neutral revenues are expected to rise by 9% in 2025, compared with previous guidance of a high-single-digit improvement.

Reported revenues over the three months to 30 September totalled �6.66bn, up 3% from �6.44bn the year before. In currency-neutral terms, revenues would have risen by 8%, with comparatives including the impact of Adidas selling its remaining Yeezy inventory at the end of last year.

This was slightly behind the company-compiled consensus estimate of �6.71bn.

However, gross margin improved by 0.5 percentage points year-on-year to 51.8%, as the company was able to offset unfavourable currency movements and higher tariffs. As such, operating profit jumped to �736m from �598m, comfortably ahead of the �694m expected by analysts.

Reporting by Frank Prenesti for Sharecast.com