Adidas Has Sold All Yeezy Inventory, Will Cut 500 ‘Obsolete’ Jobs at HQ as It Eyes Nike’s Market Share

Adidas appears to have eyes on Nike’s market share as the former sees its fortunes in relatively sunny territory while the latter company continues a prolonged effort to enact a major turnaround. Part of Adidas’ plan was to liquidate all of its existing Yeezy stock — the famous 2013 collaboration with rapper Kanye West that eventually turned sour in 2022, as Us Weekly profiled. It also intends to axe about 500 roles at its Herzogenaurach, Germany, headquarters in a bid to streamline operations toward profitability.

According to Retail Dive, Adidas has now sold every single pair of Yeezys it had in inventory, revealing as much during a March 5 earnings report. Yeezy products accounted for around $705 million in revenue and about $216.5 million in profits for the black-and-white brand over the course of 2024. And even though Adidas CFO Harm Ohlmeyer said there is “not one Yeezy shoe left in our inventory,” the loss of Kanye West’s footwear line is expected to cause growth to stall somewhat throughout 2025.

On the other hand, CEO Bjørn Gulden outlined plans to terminate 500 “obsolete” jobs at the Adidas HQ in favor of attempting a localization effort, bringing more local and regional operational blueprints to the fore as opposed to a formerly top-down directorial approach.

“You don’t need rules for everything when you trust people,” Gulden said, suggesting that too much red tape and other bureaucratic business practices are harming the company’s potential. The significant job cuts may be painful but are necessary to streamline Adidas’ operations, the CEO said.

“You don’t win the popularity prize when you do that, right — and you shouldn’t. But it is necessary,” Gulden added.

Adidas Has a ‘Clear Ambition To Be No. 1’ Everywhere Except North America, but Wants Nike’s Spot

Per TipRanks, Adidas signaled intent to take on its largest and most prominent competitor, Nike, by stating a “clear ambition of being No. 1,” during the most recent earnings review.

That sentiment was echoed by Gulden in no uncertain terms. Suggesting that Adidas was poised for near double-digit revenue growth this year, the CEO gestured toward the fact that Adidas could potentially continue taking market share away from a still-struggling Nike.

“You’re all aware that the big competitor is struggling,” Gulden said during the call. “And you’re also aware that the world is very volatile — and a volatile world where the biggest one is struggling is of course an advantage for someone who wants to change their model.”

TipRanks made the case for Adidas’ climbing popularity versus Nike, beginning with the foundation of an expectation of 10% sales growth for Adidas this year. And while that figure is down slightly from 12% last year, it still points toward continued strength for the footwear and athleticwear company. Adidas projects $2 billion in operating profit in 2025, up from $1.4 billion in 2024 — however, even the $2 billion sum falls short of analyst expectations of $2.3 billion.

Nevertheless, Nike’s share of the global sportwear market fell to 14.1% in 2024 against 15.2% in 2023, while Adidas improved its share from 8.2% in 2023 to 8.9% last year, gaining significant ground and closing the gap.

And while Adidas has perhaps conceded that it won’t be the top contender in the segment concerning U.S. sales, it does plan to aggressively pursue expansion into the American market, building up creative centers in Portland and Los Angeles in tune with its new localization strategy.

“We don’t need to be No. 1 in America because that’s an illusion — the competitors are so much stronger — but we can definitely grow and become much, much stronger in the U.S. than we have historically been,” Gulden said.