Do we like Adidas?
Sportswear and footwear maker (Adidas, Yeezy-era Originals, football kits), based in Herzogenaurach, Germany
Our score: 5 out of 10. Mixed. The business is recovering strongly, but pay in its supply chain keeps drawing criticism and it lost a greenwashing case. We'd back it only with reservations.
Adidas is a German sportswear giant from Herzogenaurach. Norwegian ex-footballer Bjørn Gulden has been CEO since 2023. His job was to fix the mess left when the hugely profitable Yeezy line vanished in 2022, and the company says that four-year plan is now nearly done.
The recovery looks real. In Q3 2026 Adidas reported record revenue and record quarterly operating profit, and it raised its full-year outlook. That's business success, not virtue, but it means the company isn't wobbling.
The Yeezy split was messy. Adidas dropped Ye after antisemitic remarks, and investors sued, saying the company ignored warning signs. A US appeals court sided with Adidas in December 2025. Adidas and Ye settled their own disputes in 2024.
The big black mark is how its clothes get made. In October 2026 a BBC Sport investigation traced Adidas club shirts to two Cambodian factories where basic pay was about US$1 an hour. Adidas disputed aspects of the findings. Unions have also long accused it of not taking responsibility for wage theft.
On climate, a German court ruled in March 2025 that its 'climate neutral by 2050' advertising was misleading, though there was no fine. Adidas says emissions are down 20% since 2022. A recovering brand with unresolved worker-pay questions lands at a middling 5.