Adidas Posts Record €7.3 Billion Quarter as Nike Loses Ground

Adidas booked record quarterly revenue of 7.3 billion euros ($8.1 billion as of press time) in preliminary third-quarter figures, up 9% year over year — while rival Nike's revenue fell 4% to $11.2 billion in its latest report.

The German sportswear maker also posted its highest quarterly operating income on record: 1 billion euros, a 37% increase. About 200 million euros of that came from tariff refunds, which Adidas said represent the majority of what it expects to receive. On the strength of those numbers, the company raised its full-year profit guidance to 2.5 billion euros in operating profit.

What is Adidas doing with the windfall?

Not all of it flows to the bottom line. Adidas plans to reinvest 100 million euros in the fourth quarter to improve operating leverage (the ratio of revenue growth to profit growth) in the future.

CEO Bjørn Gulden credited marketing and innovation investment for the quarter, citing profitable growth in soccer, running and training.

"Our fantastic designers and development teams have created new apparel collections that are globally in high demand and currently fueling our lifestyle business," Gulden said in a statement. "Yes, the footwear lifestyle business is currently challenging, mainly due to too much inventory and too much discounting in the marketplace, but we know this will soon normalize again."

Gulden framed the soft spot as a managed one. "In this environment we are not trying to maximize the short-term," he said. "Instead we remain disciplined, continue to strengthen our foundation for sustainable and profitable growth and stay focused on our mid-term targets."

How wide is the gap with Nike?

Wide, and possibly widening. Adidas' official earnings report arrives next week, but the preliminary metrics contrast sharply with Nike's latest results. Nike's challenges are largely expected to persist through the current fiscal year and into the next — which analysts read as a meaningful competitive opening for Adidas.

Adidas expects currency-neutral revenue to grow up to 10% this year and says it is already taking meaningful share from Nike.

"The company is executing well, and its growth and profitability remain strong, resulting in significant market share gains and outperformance relative to competitors, particularly Nike," Telsey Advisory Group analysts led by Cristina Fernández said Tuesday.

Is the growth streak sustainable?

Fernández noted the quarter marks 11 consecutive quarters of high single-digit or double-digit growth in constant-currency revenue for Adidas. Gross margin improved 2.5 percentage points to 54.3%, helped by tariff refunds — but Adidas also pointed to "healthy full-price sales" as a driver.

The caveat sits inside the numbers themselves: a sizable slice of the record operating profit came from one-off tariff refunds, and the lifestyle footwear business remains crowded with inventory and discounting. Both factors flatter the quarter without guaranteeing a repeat.

The forward case rests on categories and franchises. "We expect further growth in 4Q26 and 2027 driven by strength in core categories like running, and training, newness in lifestyle and apparel, and extensions of franchises like Samba and Originals Sport," the Telsey analysts said.

If Nike's downturn runs as long as expected and Adidas' full-price sales hold, the 100-million-euro reinvestment this quarter could look conservative rather than cautious.