Adidas shares deep red: Sports gear maker announces billion-dollar buyback, dividend hike - CEO commits to long-term |

Regardless of the economic and geopolitical turmoil, the sports goods company Adidas maintains itself in a good position in the coming years.

Adidas shares tumble despite planned multi-billion dollar buyback and dividend hike

Sportswear manufacturer adidas believes it is well positioned for the years to come, regardless of economic and geopolitical turbulence.

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The company is optimistic about the further development of the industry and aims to achieve by 2028. to significantly increase sales and profits.The Supervisory Board also extended the contract with CEO Björn Gulden until 2030. However, investors reacted somberly to such prospects.

"We are happy to be in an industry that sells consumer products in many sectors. We offer products for sport, comfort, lifestyle and fashion. We are very confident that we will continue to grow in all these segments worldwide, and we are also very confident that we will continue to expand our market shares", explained Gulden on Wednesday, when he presented the annual figuresin Herzurarück.

Sales are expected to grow by a high single-digit percentage this year on a currency-adjusted basis.In absolute terms, this would represent an increase of €2 billion.In 2025, adidas brand revenue increased 13 percent on a currency-adjusted basis to a record €24.8 billion.Operating profit is expected to improve from just under €2.1 billion to around €2.3 billion.This was below the expectations of analysts.However, tariffs and currency effects are likely to affect profit by €400 million.

This is the same as every year, said Felix Daniel of Bank Metzler, who called the outlook "conservative" and also expects that there is still room for improvement.Adidas has consistently raised its forecasts over the past two years.The forecast for 2026 exceeds market expectations in terms of sales, but according to Citigroup, operating results are weak.

Through 2028, sales are expected to grow by a single-digit percentage year-over-year, adjusted for currency effects, and operating results are expected to improve by a mid-teens percentage point year-over-year.In addition, an operating profit margin of over ten percent should be achieved in 2028 - after 8.3 percent last year."To achieve this, we focus on being a global sports brand with a consumer-centric and local mentality," said Gulden.He stated that he wants to further reduce complexity. "We also need to ensure that our systems, processes and organizations adapt to the new reality of the global market.

Dividend increases and share buybacks are announced

Shareholders look forward to higher returns in the form of higher returns and may buy more shares.According to Adidas, up to one billion euros of securities will be repurchased in 2027 and 2028 if conditions permit.Adidas has already announced this size program for the current year.

Adidas published preliminary figures for last year at the end of January.The company enjoyed double-digit growth rates, adjusted for currency, across all markets and sales channels.However, the strong euro reduced sales by a total of one billion euros.Business was particularly good in the footwear and clothing sector.The company recently achieved great success, among other things, with the re-release of retro products.

Profit from continuing operations increased by 67 percent and reached almost 1.4 billion euros.Shareholders should receive a 40 percent higher dividend of 2.80 euros.

Meanwhile, there will be a change at the top of the supervisory board at the annual general meeting.Bertelsmann boss Thomas Rabe's term ends with the general meeting on May 7. His successor will be Nassef Saviris, who has been on the board since 2016 and vice president from 2025. According to Adidas, the Egyptian-Belgian businessman has a "special" stake through his holding company NNS Adidas.Springer's CEO Matthias Döpfner will also be proposed to be elected as a new member of the supervisory board.

Adidas shares temporarily fell 6.12 percent to 138.10 euros in XETRA trading.

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