Adidas is on a winning streak. On April 29, the German sportswear giant said that revenues for the first quarter of fiscal 2026 were up 14% year-on-year to €6.6 billion. The strong first-quarter results follow Adidas’s mega-London Marathon weekend, during which it kitted out both sub-two-hour runners, Sabastian Sawe and Yomif Kejelcha, who finished in first and second place, respectively, as well as Tigist Assefa, who set a new women’s world record of 2:15.41. All wore Adidas’s new Pro Evo 3 supershoe.
On the earnings call, Adidas announced that a documentary about the sub-two-hour marathon will go live tomorrow, April 30, before showing investors the trailer.
“I hope you accept that we brag a little bit, because, for us, the achievement of the weekend meant a lot. It’s the result of many, many months, if not years of work from the product point of view, from a marketing point of view, and from an athlete’s training point of view,” CEO Bjørn Gulden said on Wednesday’s call. “When you see what the three did, it becomes even more impressive.”
2026 is the final year in Adidas’s four-year ‘Own the Game’ growth plan. “When we look at this year, we’ve had a great start — not only the numbers, but the achievements and visibility in marketing, in social media, and the energy that we have internally is the highest that I have seen during my two phases in the company,” Gulden continued. “And the numbers you have seen in Q1 are very strong. It proves that the product we have in the marketplace is in demand by the consumer.”
In the first quarter, direct-to-consumer (DTC) revenues were up 22%, while wholesale grew 8% on a constant currency basis. By category, footwear sales increased 4%, apparel revenues were up 31%, and accessories sales rose 13%. Performance was a bright spot, up 29% year-on-year, driven by strong double-digit growth in soccer (up 49%), running (up 28%), and training (up 12%), according to the company. Motorsport was up 79%, off the back of Adidas’s new Audi partnership, up from just Mercedes a year prior. “Those of you who said, ‘Is this not dangerous, to grow only lifestyle?’ Well, now you have the answer,” Gulden said. “The plan was to shift the growth also to performance.” Lifestyle revenues were up 6%, though the category’s footwear had a tougher time, Gulden noted. The goal, he assured investors, is to balance out the lifestyle and performance growth.
By region, revenues in Europe were up 6% to €2 billion. Meanwhile, North America revenues were up 12% to €1.2 billion, despite a “nervous market when it comes to consumer demand” due to high oil prices, Gulden said, noting that the region is the brand’s biggest opportunity. Greater China was up 17% to €1.1 billion, while Japan and South Korea were up 23% to €405 million. Latin America was up 26% to €831 million, which Gulden said is fueled by the World Cup this summer, and emerging markets, including the Middle East, was up 10% to €869 million. As for the current status of the Middle East conflict on business, Gulden said: “We are losing business in these countries, mainly in the last four or five weeks. We can discuss later what this could mean going forward, depending on how long this conflict will last.”
Adidas’s big marathon weekend is a marker of the brand’s innovation efforts. “I think many of you thought we were lacking innovation. I’ve told you that I disagree, but, of course, to bring ideas and concepts to commercial product takes some time,” Gulden said, adding that many of the products coming out of the athlete innovation pipeline will then go commercial. “Which, at the end of the day, is the reason why we’re doing it,” the CEO added. “The visibility of what we did on the weekend will also help us when it comes to the commerciality.”
