Adidas 2024 profits jump fivefold, recovering from Kanye crisis
FRANKFURT, Germany — Adidas on Tuesday said that its operating profit jumped five-fold last year, as the German sportswear giant moves past a crisis triggered by its split from musician and entrepreneur Kanye West.
Full-year operating profit jumped to 1.34 billion euros ($1.39 billion), up from 268 million in 2023, according to preliminary results from the company.
Sales jumped 11 percent from the previous year and hit 23.7 billion euros, better than expected.
It marked a stark turnaround from 2023, when Adidas’s earnings were hammered by the end of its collaboration with West, with whom the company had designed the blockbuster line of Yeezy trainers.
Adidas pulled the plug on its contract with the rapper — now formally known as Ye — after his anti-Semitic social media posts triggered an outcry, but in the process lost a vital revenue stream.
CEO Bjorn Gulden, who was brought in to lead the company from rival outfitter Puma shortly after the West tie-up fell apart, said he was “very pleased” with the 2024 results.
“We still have a lot to improve but I am very proud of what our teams and people have achieved in 2024. We also feel good about the future, and we see potential to increase our market share in all markets.”
Adidas saw its operating profit increase to 57 million euros in the fourth quarter, compared to a loss of several hundred million euros in the same period in 2023. Sales were up 24 percent.
It will publish its full results for 2024 on March 5.
Off-loaded
The end of the West partnership left Adidas saddled with a mountain of Yeezy trainers, which it gradually offloaded in a series of cut-price sales.
Gulden has sought to shift the company’s focus to promoting classic Adidas trainers — such as Samba, Gazelle and Campus — a strategy that appears to have borne fruit.
Adidas has raised its outlook several times throughout out the year, boosting its expectations for both sales and profits.
Gulden warned of heightened “macroeconomic uncertainty” but insisted the company still aimed for strong growth going forward.
