The company announced a €1 billion buyback program that will start in February and be financed through the company’s cash flow this year. It intends to terminate the repurchased shares.

Adidas shares rose as much as 5.8% in early Frankfurt trading on Friday, but they’re down more than 40% over the past 12 months.

Currency-neutral sales rose 10% for the quarter, slightly ahead of analyst estimates. Despite the gain, Adidas’s performance has been held back by the weaker US dollar and tariffs, with currency swings impacting its revenue by more than €1 billion last year.

The currency hit in the fourth quarter was “much greater” than anticipated and it’s reassuring that the company still managed to post double-digit revenue growth in all markets, Adam Cochrane, an analyst at Deutsche Bank, said in a note. While Adidas’s management team is displaying confidence with its new buyback program, “all eyes” will be on the initial 2026 guidance when it’s released in March, the analyst said.

Sustainable Growth

Chief Executive Officer Bjorn Gulden is aiming to demonstrate that Adidas has arrived in a new era of sustainable growth after capitalizing on robust demand in recent years for its fashion-oriented retro sneaker models including the Samba and Gazelle. Now in his fourth year as CEO, he’s trying to make performance running and football products a more reliable component of Adidas’s earnings engine.

Investors have cast skepticism on Adidas’s ambitions — along with the growth prospects for many companies in the footwear world — with some analysts suggesting the world’s years-long sneaker boom is slowing. Analysts have also regularly wondered when the Samba wave will pass and how Adidas will fill the void with different hot-selling products.