Adidas Earnings Recover in Q3, But Lockdowns Could Affect Outlook

German-based sportswear company Adidas’ revenue recovered in Q3 from a down second quarter, but the company warned it might not have seen the end of its woes with lockdowns in Europe on the rise again.

The company reported that income for the three months ending Sept. 30 was $683 million down from $761.5 million a year earlier. 

Revenues in Q3 decreased 7% to $7.04 billion; Q2 revenue decreased 34%. In the first nine months of 2020, revenues decreased 18% on a currency-neutral basis.

“We saw a strong recovery in our business in Q3,” CEO Kasper Rorsted said in a statement. “Our focus on healthy inventories, profitable sell-through and disciplined sell-in clearly paid off. … At the same time, we kept costs under control and delivered a profit improvement of more than 1.1 billion euros ($1.3 billion) compared to Q2.”

Adidas brand sales fell 2% year-over-year, while Reebok’s were down 7%. 

The company is reportedly looking into selling off the long-struggling Reebok brand, but Rorsted declined to comment on the matter. In Q2, Adidas-specific sales fell 33% while Reebok’s fell 42%.

Over 90% of Adidas’ stores were operational during Q3, up from 83% at the end of the prior quarter. Online sales grew 51% year-over-year after skyrocketing 93% in Q2.