Adidas CEO raises concerns with stern warning to customers

Adidas (ADDDF) , famous for its athletic footwear and apparel, is one of the few mall retailers in the U.S. that saw significant growth in sales and profits during the first few months of the year, despite recent economic uncertainty.

Adidas’ first-quarter earnings report for 2025 revealed that its overall net sales grew by 12.7% year-over-year during the quarter. Specifically in the U.S., sales climbed by 5.5%. 

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This contributed to Adidas generating an operating profit of €610 million ($694.3 million), which is 81.7% higher than what it earned during the same quarter last year.

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Adidas flagged in the report that it saw “double-digit growth” in its footwear revenue, while its apparel revenue increased by 8%. Revenue in its accessories category also spiked by 10%.

This growth comes after the brand recently unveiled bold partnerships such as a shoe collaboration with singer Tate McRae in February and a multi-year collaboration with Minecraft in March to develop footwear and apparel.

“I am very proud of what our team achieved in Q1,” said Adidas CEO Bjørn Gulden in the report. “Double-digit growth across all markets and channels in today’s volatile environment shows the strength of our brand and underlines the great job our people are doing.”

Adidas CEO sounds alarm on a growing problem

Despite increased sales and profits, Gulden warned in the report that President Donald Trump’s tariffs will soon have a major domino effect on its business.

“In a ‘normal world’ with this strong quarter, the strong order book and in general a very positive attitude towards Adidas, we would have increased our outlook for the full year both for revenues and operating profit,” said Gulden. “The uncertainty regarding the U.S. tariffs has currently put a stop to this.”

On April 2, Trump announced a 10% “baseline” tariff on all countries importing goods to the U.S., with roughly 60 countries seeing higher tariff rates. Tariffs are taxes companies pay to import goods from overseas, and the extra cost is often passed down to consumers through price hikes.

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However, on April 9, he changed his mind and enforced a 90-day pause on reciprocal tariffs on all countries (except China), dropping them to a universal rate of 10%. He also unexpectedly hiked tariffs on China to 145%.

Gulden said that Trump’s tariffs will cause Adidas to face higher import costs, since it produces most of its goods outside of the U.S.

“Although we had already reduced the China exports to the U.S. to a minimum, we are somewhat exposed to those currently very high tariffs,” said Gulden. “What is even worse for us is the general increase in U.S. tariffs from all other countries of origin. Since we currently cannot produce almost any of our products in the U.S., these higher tariffs will eventually cause higher costs for all our products for the U.S. market.”

Adidas CEO has harsh news for customers

Even though he said Adidas has not made any “final” decisions, he did warn that the burden of these higher costs will most likely be passed down to customers.

“Cost increases due to higher tariffs will eventually cause price increases … it is currently impossible to quantify these or to conclude what impact this could have on the consumer demand for our products,” said Gulden.

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Adidas’s warning comes after retailers such as Levi’s, Amazon, Temu, and Shein have also warned customers that prices may climb due to Trump’s tariffs.

Tariffs are already causing increased anxiety among consumers, which is pushing them to cut back on their spending.

According to a recent survey from market research company Numerator, 83% of Americans are changing their shopping habits to prepare for the higher prices Trump’s tariffs could bring. Some of these changes include scavenging for sales and coupons, delaying purchases, and buying fewer imported goods.

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