The Tamesis
Adidas is on a winning streak. On April 29, the German sportswear giant said that its revenue in the first quarter of fiscal year 2026 increased by 14% year-on-year to 6.6 billion euros. adidas had a strong first quarter over the London Marathon weekend, during which it fielded two sub-two-hour runners, Sabastian Sawe and Yomif Kejelcha finishing first and second respectively, as well as Tigist Assefa, who set a new women’s world record of 2 minutes, 15.41 seconds. All were wearing Adidas’ new Pro Evo 3 super shoes.
During the earnings call, Adidas announced that a documentary about the two-hour marathon will be launched tomorrow (April 30), and then showed a trailer to investors.
“I hope you’ll accept our bragging rights because for us, what we achieved over the weekend is huge. From a product perspective, a marketing perspective and an athlete training perspective, it’s the culmination of many, many months and years of work,” CEO Bjorn Goulden said on a conference call Wednesday. “When you see what those three guys did, it becomes even more impressive.”
2026 is the final year of adidas’ four-year “Own the Game” growth plan. “When we look back on this year, we’re off to a great start – not just the numbers, but the success and visibility in marketing, social media, and the energy within us is the highest I’ve ever seen it in both phases of the company,” Goulden continued. “The first quarter numbers are very strong. This proves there is consumer demand for the products we offer in the market.”
In the first quarter, direct-to-consumer (DTC) revenue increased 22%, while wholesale revenue increased 8% on a constant currency basis. By category, footwear sales increased 4%, apparel revenue increased 31%, and accessories sales increased 13%. Performance was a bright spot, driven by strong double-digit growth in football (up 49%), running (up 28%) and training (up 12%), up 29% year-on-year, according to the company. Driven by Adidas’ new partnership with Audi, the motorsport business grew 79%, up from Mercedes a year ago. “Those of you who say, ‘Isn’t it dangerous to just develop a lifestyle?’ Well, now you have your answer,” Goulden said. “The plan is to turn growth into performance as well.” Gulden noted that lifestyle revenue grew 6%, although footwear in that category has had a rough time. He assured investors that the goal is to balance lifestyle and performance growth.
By region, Europe revenue increased 6% to €2.0 billion. Meanwhile, Gulden said revenue in North America rose 12% to 1.2 billion euros despite “tight consumer demand” due to high oil prices, citing the region as the brand’s biggest opportunity. Greater China grew by 17% to €1.1 billion, while Japan and South Korea grew by 23% to €405 million. Goulden said Latin America grew 26% to 831 million euros, helped by this summer’s World Cup, while emerging markets, including the Middle East, grew 10% to 869 million euros. As for the current state of business conflicts in the Middle East, Goulden said: “We are losing business in these countries, mainly in the last four or five weeks. We can discuss later what that means for the future, depending on how long this conflict lasts.”
adidas’ big marathon weekend is emblematic of the brand’s innovative efforts. “I think a lot of you feel we’re lacking innovation. I’ve told you I disagree, but, of course, it takes some time to get ideas and concepts into commercial products,” Goulden said, adding that many of the products that come out of the athlete innovation pipeline will then go into commercialization. “At the end of the day, this is why we do this,” the CEO added. “The visibility of what we do over the weekend will also help us commercially.”
