Adidas makes €400 million from Yeezy shoe sales, cutting projected loss

Adidas sales should fall only slightly in 2023, a better outcome than previously expected, the sportswear giant said on 3 August, confirming that a release of Yeezy shoes helped narrow a projected loss for the year.

The upgraded guidance follows a 40% jump in Adidas shares since the start of the year as investors have bet on CEO Bjorn Gulden to rebuild the brand after a chaotic break-up with Ye, previously known as Kanye West, over his antisemitic comments.

Sales of surplus Yeezy shoes generated around €400 million ($437 million) in the quarter, helping Adidas reduce its predicted loss for the year to €450 million, down from the €700 million loss previously expected.

In currency-neutral terms, sales were flat compared to the second quarter of 2022, while they were down 5% in euro terms, to €5.3 billion. Adidas said it now expects currency-neutral revenues to decline at a mid-single-digit rate in 2023, from a high-single-digit rate previously expected.

“The sale of the first part of the Yeezy inventory did of course help both our top and bottom line in the quarter,” said Gulden.

Gross margins increased by 0.6 percentage points to 50.9%, which Adidas said reflected less discounting. The results confirmed figures Adidas released last week in a trading statement.