Adidas fears the consequences of US tariff policy

"In a "normal world", with this strong quarter, the solid order backlog and the overall very positive sentiment towards Adidas, we would have raised our outlook for the full year for both sales and operating profit. The uncertainty regarding the US tariffs is preventing this at the moment," said Group CEO Björn Gulden on Tuesday in Herzogenaurach.

Production in Southeast Asia

Adidas has reduced exports from China to the USA to a minimum. "As we are currently unable to manufacture almost any of our products in the USA, these higher tariffs will ultimately lead to higher costs for all our products for the US market," he emphasized. The sporting goods group mainly produces in countries such as Vietnam and Bangladesh.

"Given the uncertainty surrounding the negotiations between the USA and the various exporting countries, we do not know what the final tariffs will look like," Gulden continued. Adidas is therefore unable to make any final decisions. It is currently impossible to estimate any necessary price increases, let alone their impact on consumer behavior.

Increased sales

Adidas grew strongly in the first quarter of 2025, mainly due to successful shoe sales. Sales increased by 13 percent compared to the previous year to 6.153 billion euros. On the bottom line, Adidas earned 436 million euros in the first quarter, more than twice as much as in the same quarter last year.