Adidas posted its results for the first quarter of 2024 on Tuesday, reporting an eight percent increase in currency-neutral revenues and a 20 percent increase for its direct-to-consumer business. The German sportswear brand said that it saw strong growth for the quarter in every market except North America, where it posted a four percent decline that Adidas blamed on weak sales in wholesale channels.
Adidas CEO Bjørn Gulden explained on a conference call with media that Adidas is working to improve its inventory in America, and that he believes Adidas will be up on sales in North America by the second half of the year.
“We didn’t sell in the right product at the beginning of 23,” Gulden said, “and that’s been dragging our sell-through with many American retailers for a long period of time.”
In addition to running through Adidas’ financial results, Gulden responded to a handful of trends and recent Three Stripes headlines. Here, from the call, are his takes on the Yeezy business, Nike poaching Germany from Adidas, and that infamous Rishi Sunak fit.