As predicted, the early returns from the ongoing sale of Adidas’ discontinued Yeezy inventory have already provided a massive boost for the company.
After prior reports that Adidas received more than $565 million worth of orders for Yeezy shoes, Thursday’s quarterly earnings report showed the brand generated $437 million in revenue from that stock. The Yeezy sales helped lift a second quarter with flat revenues of $5.8 billion on a currency-neutral basis and an operating profit of $192 million.
“The sale of the first part of Yeezy inventory did, of course, help both our top and bottom line in the quarter,” said Adidas CEO Bjørn Gulden. “We will continue to carefully sell off more of the existing Yeezy inventory. This is much better than destroying and writing off the inventory.”
Adidas cut ties last year with Ye, formerly known as Kanye West, due to his antisemitic comments.
The bullish financial results also follow a first quarter that beat analyst expectations and the brand’s recent record-setting kit deal with Manchester United.
Kraft’s Influential Role
Adidas plans to donate at least $120 million of the proceeds from the Yeezy shoes — and perhaps more — to anti-hate advocacy groups. One of those is the Foundation To Combat Anti-Semitism, led by New England Patriots and Revolution owner Robert Kraft.
Kraft reportedly has been directly involved with Gulden in developing the closeout sale plan, and Yeezy shoes sold in North America will now include a blue square pin created by Kraft’s foundation as a symbol of solidarity in fighting antisemitism and hate.
