German Sports Brand Adidas Grew By 17% In The First Quarter.

German sports brand

(Adidas) recently released its initial financial data for the first quarter, and sales and operating profits both rose.

Sales grew by 17% to 4 billion 800 million euros, excluding exchange rate factors, which increased by 22%.

Operating profit increased by 35% to 490 million euros, even though it was still lower than that of its competitor Nike, but the increase was 6% over the same period last year.

Adidas said on Wednesday that, considering its excellent performance in the first quarter, it has raised its full year profit and sales forecast for 2016.

Excluding the impact of exchange rate, sales in 2016 are expected to grow by about 15%, higher than the previous 10% to 12% growth forecast.

It is estimated that net profit from continuing operations will increase by 15% to 18%, higher than the 10% to 12% growth forecast.

In contrast, as an old rival of Adidas, the American sports apparel giant Nike (

Last month, it said that the sales growth of group 2016 in fiscal year is expected to be less than 10%, lower than analysts' expectations, because of the impact of exchange rate on overseas market sales.

After the news, Adidas's share price rose 7% to a record high.

Since 2016, Nike's share price has fallen by 5%, while Adidas's share price has risen by more than 25%.

Adidas's current stock price earnings ratio is 25 times higher than Nike's 24 times.

For the first time in many years, investors believe that the valuation level of Adidas should keep pace with Nike.

Adidas will release the first quarter financial data in May 4th and disclose more details.

Adidas's strong performance in the first quarter is closely related to the two classic sports shoes of Superstar and Stan Smith.

The Superstar series was launched in 1969, and its global sales volume reached 15 million double in 2015.

Stan Smith was first published in 1963. It was not named at that time. It was named after the famous tennis player Stan Smith in 1971.

About 5 years ago, Adidas stopped supplying this kind of shoes.

By 2014, Stan Smith will be back again.

In order to promote this series, Adidas collaborated with celebrities such as singer Pharrell Williams and finally achieved great success.

Restoring ancient ways

It is one of the best selling footwear categories in the United States, and Adidas is the leader in this field.

In early March of this year, after the launch of the Adidas series of NMD, which combines three classic shoes in 80s, it was successfully detonated in the global fashion trend.

According to data from Matt Powell, an analyst at NPD Group, sales of Adidas increased by more than 50% in March this year, and the performance in the two areas of fashion running shoes and classic running shoes is better than that of old rival Nike.

Among them, the sales volume of classic running shoes Adidas increased by more than 150%, much higher than that of Nike 33%.

The strong performance of the two sectors has increased the market share of Adidas in North America from 4.7% to 7%, and the heat of the younger generation has also risen.

It can be said that Feng Shui has taken turns. Adidas's sales in the North American market have been falling year after year. In 2014, it was even surpassed by the new American sports brand Under Armour, ranking third.