adidas just reported the best quarter in its history. Revenue hit EUR 7.25 billion ($8.07 billion), up 9 percent, and operating profit came in at EUR 1.008 billion ($1.12 billion), up 37 percent, both reported on October 29. It raised its full-year operating profit target from around EUR 2.3 billion ($2.56 billion) to around EUR 2.5 billion ($2.78 billion). Investors liked it, and shares rose on the news.
Most of the coverage will stop there, and I understand why. It’s a clean headline and a comeback story, four years after the Yeezy partnership ended. But when I went through the numbers, three of them didn’t fit the headline. Footwear sales were flat. A big piece of the profit jump is a one-time check from the US government. And the one category adidas has been shouting about all fall shrank.
And that brings me to the most important part...
