Adidas Insiders Buy the Dip as Innovation Days Approach

Adidas CFO Kretschmer and CEO Gulden bought shares worth about EUR 605,000 combined as the stock trades near a 52-week low.

Two senior figures at Adidas have put their own money on the line just as the sportswear maker's shares sit near the bottom of a bruising stretch. Birgit Kretschmer, who takes over as finance chief at the end of 2026, picked up 720 shares at EUR 140.38 on September 11 through a joint account, a stake worth roughly EUR 101,071. The purchase came a day after CEO Bjørn Gulden bought 3,600 shares at EUR 139.98, shelling out close to EUR 504,000.

For Gulden, it marks the second documented purchase in a matter of weeks. He had already acquired 3,199 shares at EUR 158.93 in late July. Market watchers typically read insider buying of this kind as a vote of confidence from the top, and the timing here is hard to miss: the stock has shed 4.6% over the past seven trading sessions, 11% across 30 days, and 16% since the start of the year. The last close came in at EUR 142.10, well beneath the EUR 163.92 50-day average — a gap of some 13% that lays bare the recent weakness.

A technical picture stretched to the downside

The relative strength index has slipped to 27.6, a reading that flags a deeply oversold condition and, in technical terms, leaves room for a rebound — provided a fundamental trigger shows up. That trigger is expected to arrive on September 23 and 24, when Adidas hosts its Innovation Days. RBC reinforced its "Outperform" rating with a EUR 200 price target on September 11, implying considerable upside from current levels.

The company's operating base offers some support for the bull case. In the first quarter of 2026, Adidas booked EUR 6.6 billion in revenue and EUR 705 million in operating profit, according to Reuters — both ahead of analyst expectations. Gulden also pointed to roughly EUR 250 million in bookings for products tied to the football World Cup, a sign of revenue potential still to be realized this year.

Costs and reputation weigh on the narrative

Not everything has gone smoothly. Second-quarter revenue climbed 13% to about EUR 6.7 billion, and management raised its full-year growth guidance to 9% to 10% in currency-adjusted terms, with operating profit seen at around EUR 2.3 billion. Yet operating profit itself grew just 5% to EUR 574 million, falling short of market expectations as higher marketing spend and additional cost items took their toll. The shares came under pressure even after the upgraded outlook.

On top of the financial picture, a reputational issue flared in early September. An advertising campaign for Adidas's single-shoe service for amputees featured a former Israeli soldier, drawing criticism. Authors Susan Abulhawa and Fatima Bhutto publicly called for a boycott of Adidas products, and further appeals spread across social media. Adidas apologized and stressed that the promotion was a regional initiative rather than a global campaign. The episode remains a source of uncertainty, though it has not yet visibly dented the underlying business.

Regional headwinds add another layer. Reuters reported that several countries in the Middle East posted declining sales in the first quarter, with Adidas absorbing roughly USD 30 million in lost revenue from the conflict in the region. Persistent weakness there would cloud the growth story.

Buybacks running alongside insider purchases

While executives buy on their own account, the company continues its share repurchase program. In late July, Adidas acquired 259,419 of its own shares in a second tranche at a volume-weighted average price of EUR 151.04, followed a day later by another 369,529 shares at an average of EUR 159.49. Both the insider deals and the buyback are unfolding in a market where the stock, at EUR 142.10, trades well below the levels at which management and the company itself previously bought.

The distance to the 52-week low of EUR 130.20 is now just over 9%, and the twelve-month decline of 20% speaks to lingering structural doubts about the growth path. Should the Innovation Days deliver convincing new collections, the oversold stock could work off its stretched position and edge back toward its 50-day average. RBC's EUR 200 target suggests ample headroom if that plays out. Disappoint, or see the reputational cloud thicken, and the downtrend could resume with the shares drifting closer to their yearly trough.

Investors now have two dates circled: the Innovation Days on September 23 and 24, and October 29, when Adidas reports third-quarter figures. Only then will it become clear whether the staggered insider purchases have marked a floor — or whether cost pressures and reputational drag keep the stock pinned down.