FRANKFURT (dpa-AFX) – Shares of Adidas and Puma, which had already surged the previous day, continued to climb on Friday. Adidas shares rose by as much as 2.5 percent in early trading, though the price remained just below Thursday’s recovery high of just over €149. Despite this, the stocks have shown further stabilization from their lowest point since January 2023. Puma shares also gained as much as 2.1 percent on Friday. Most recently, gains in both stocks narrowed in line with the overall market, but each remained up by more than one percent.
On the previous day, voting rights notifications were cited as the main reason for the rally in both shares – including the revelation that Adidas CEO Björn Gulden had taken advantage of the recent price drop to make significant purchases. On Friday, however, Citigroup added further factors in several analyst notes, especially positive for German market leader Adidas.
Citigroup analyst Monique Pollard pointed to a rising likelihood of refunds for billions in U.S. tariff revenues, following a defeat for U.S. President Donald Trump in February before the Supreme Court over his aggressive tariff policies. The U.S. government recently suffered another setback in the legal battle over its tariffs. A judge at the U.S. Court of International Trade in New York ruled midweek that importers are entitled to refunds for tariffs already paid.
Pollard believes this paves the way for refunds. She also referred to another article from the portal "Børsen," which reported that Danish jewelry retailer Pandora had sued the United States for the repayment of "illegal tariffs." The analyst expects that other companies will follow suit – highlighting Adidas, Puma, and fashion retailer H&M as particularly strong beneficiaries.
Previously, after the latest annual results, Pollard had lowered her price target for Adidas to €232, but reaffirmed her buy recommendation for the sporting goods group. In further comments, she cited a customer survey in North America, China, and parts of Europe, where the results indicated that Adidas is gaining ground against its biggest rival, Nike./tih/ag/stk
