Adidas Says Tariffs Will Add $231 Million to Second-Half Costs

Adidas shares fell 7.5 percent in early trade on Wednesday after the sportswear brand’s second-quarter sales missed expectations and it warned that higher US tariffs would add around €200 million ($231 million) to its costs in the second half.

Highlighting the impact of US president Donald Trump’s volatile trade policies, Adidas said uncertainty was holding it back from increasing its annual guidance despite reporting a stronger than expected second-quarter profit.

“We still do not know what the final tariffs in the US will be,” CEO Bjorn Gulden said in a statement. Another unknown is the indirect impact on consumer demand if the tariffs cause “major inflation”, he added.

Net sales, adjusted for currency swings, rose 2.2 percent to €5.95 billion ($6.9 billion) in the quarter, lower than analysts’ average estimate of 6.2 billion euros, according to data compiled by LSEG.

The result will fuel fears that, after a run of very strong sales growth fuelled by its trending three-striped multicoloured Samba and Gazelle shoes, Adidas is losing momentum.

“For investors to view this as a temporary setback, the company will need to deliver a reassuring message regarding the outlook for H2 and the early 2026 order book,” UBS analyst Robert Krankowski said in a note to clients.

The US earlier this month announced a 20 percent levy on many Vietnamese exports and a 19 percent tariff on goods from Indonesia. Adidas’ two biggest sourcing countries, Vietnam and Indonesia produced 27 percent and 19 percent of Adidas’ products respectively as of 2024.

Like many other sportswear companies, including Puma , Adidas has frontloaded product purchases into the US to try to beat tariffs, driving its inventories up 16 percent to 5.26 billion euros at the end of June.

Adidas is also having to contend with a stronger euro and weaker dollar, which hit sales by around 300 million euros in the quarter through June.

Adidas’ quarterly operating profit reached 546 million euros, ahead of analysts’ expectations for 520 million.

Its gross margin increased by 0.9 percentage points to 51.7 percent in the quarter, as reduced discounting and lower product and freight costs mitigated the impacts from currencies and tariffs.

By Linda Pasquini and Helen Reid; Editors: Matt Scuffham and David Holmes

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