Adidas Races Toward Q1 Results with a World Record on Its Feet

Adidas reports Q1 earnings amid a marathon world record, strong running shoe demand, and a stock down 38% from its high. Analysts eye €6.32B revenue.

The German sportswear giant is heading into its first-quarter earnings report on Wednesday with a powerful marketing asset: a marathon world record set in its lightest-ever shoe. On April 27, Kenyan runner Sabastian Sawe clocked 1:59:30 at the London Marathon, becoming the first athlete to break the two-hour barrier under official race conditions. He wore the Adizero Adios Pro Evo 3, a competition shoe weighing just 97 grams and retailing for €500. The women’s winner, Tigst Assefa, also set a world record — in Adidas footwear.

That kind of headline-grabbing performance is precisely what CEO Bjørn Gulden needs as the company prepares to deliver its numbers. Analysts expect first-quarter revenue of €6.32 billion, up roughly 2.7% from the prior year, with earnings per share climbing to €2.66 from €2.40. The running category, which grew by more than 30% on a currency-adjusted basis in fiscal 2025, has become a central growth engine. For the full year 2026, the market is looking for group sales of around €26 billion.

Yet the stock tells a different story. Adidas shares currently trade at €138.15, some 38% below their 52-week high of €223.50. The year-to-date decline stands at roughly 18%, and the distance to the 52-week low of €130.60 is a slim 6%. That gap between operational momentum and market sentiment has investors watching closely.

The London Marathon result gives Adidas tangible bragging rights in the fiercely competitive running shoe market. Nike, its main rival in the category, has been losing ground lately. The US running shoe market alone is now worth over $8 billion, and Adidas has been pushing aggressively into that space with high-priced technical models. The Adizero Adios Pro Evo 3, despite its €500 price tag, sells out quickly at retail and commands multiples of that on resale platforms.

The company is also securing its long-term future in football. Adidas has extended its contract as the official ball supplier for the German Football League (DFL) through at least 2034, backed by a loan facility of up to €100 million to support the league’s media rights marketing.

On the shareholder front, the management and supervisory board have proposed a dividend of €2.80 per share, with payment scheduled for May 12, 2026. That payout will be voted on at the annual general meeting.

Wednesday’s earnings will test whether the strong brand narrative translates into sustainable margins. If the numbers confirm that expensive innovations and surging demand in the performance segment are feeding through to the bottom line, the chasm between the company’s operational strength and its beaten-down share price could begin to narrow.