Germany's adidas "gained ground on larger U.S. rival Nike" at the start of '16, reporting a "jump in quarterly sales and profits and raising its outlook for the year, sending its shares to an all-time high," according to Emma Thomasson of REUTERS. Adidas is "benefiting from collaborations with celebrities such as Kanye West and Pharrell Williams and has scored major fashion hits with retro Superstar and Stan Smith sneakers." The company has already said that it had "high hopes" for '16 "thanks to a busy sporting calendar" including the European football championship and the Rio Olympics. Equinet analyst Mark Josefson said, "For the group to have performed so strongly, it necessarily means that brand adidas is back in vogue across the board, not just football in Europe." Adidas, which had raised its guidance in February, said that it "now expected currency-adjusted sales to grow" by about 15% in '16, compared with a previous forecast for a rise of 10% to 12%. Nike, by contrast, last month said that "it expected revenue to grow in the high single digits" for the year ending May '17 (REUTERS, 4/27). BLOOMBERG's Aaron Ricadela reported the increased forecast, which adidas said was "helped by more effective marketing, gives a further boost" to incoming CEO Kasper Rorsted. Rorsted is "due to join from Henkel in August, right before the start of the Olympic Games in Brazil." Exane BNP Paribas analyst Graham Renwick said, "Momentum in the business looks to be accelerating. Sportswear remains a very attractive sector, and there are signs that the adidas strategy is starting to deliver." Bryan Garnier & Co. analyst Cedric Rossi said that adidas’s X and Ace football cleats and more casual streetwear sneakers "are performing well." He said, "All these products clearly have higher margins than average" (BLOOMBERG, 4/27).
