Adidas: The German shoe giant has posted its first loss in 30 years

3/12/24 8:00PM

Adidown

‍After years in the black, sportswear giant Adidas has gone red. The German company posted its first annual loss in over 3 decades as the full effects of its breakup with Kanye West and his valuable Yeezy brand continue to hamper the apparel behemoth.

The company revealed a €14m net loss for 2023 — a far cry from the €638 million net income it notched in 2022, and even further from the €2.2 billion (~$2.4 billion) that it achieved the year before. Weak revenue in the US, its second biggest market, is driving the decline, with sales slipping 16% in 2023 — a trend that the 74-year-old company expects to continue this year as it battles with a glut of inventory.

‍My beautiful dark twisted fantasy

‍When it cut ties with Kanye West in October 2022, Adidas still had some $1.3 billion worth of Yeezy shoes in its warehouses that it has slowly shifted over the last 15 months, donating some of the profits to fight hate speech, and the company now finds itself in a transitional period.

Soccer-player-turned-CEO Bjørn Gulden, who spent nearly 10 years at the helm of rival Puma, set out a pretty understated roadmap slogan, saying that Adidas should be a “good company” by 2025 and a “really healthy company” by 2026. Nonetheless, shares in Adidas are up 55% since Gulden took the reigns and implemented his turnaround plan.

Max Knoblauch21h

Paramount reportedly receives $24 billion from Gulf funds to back its Warner Bros. takeover

Three Middle East sovereign wealth funds have agreed to back Paramount’s takeover of Warner Bros. Discovery to the tune of roughly $24 billion, according to Wall Street Journal reporting.

The company’s triumph over Netflix in the bidding war came thanks in part to financial backing from Oracle cofounder Larry Ellison, billionaire father of Paramount CEO David Ellison.

Saudi Arabia’s PIF, which last year led the $55 billion deal to take Electronic Arts private, will provide about $10 billion in the deal. The Qatar Investment Authority and Abu Dhabi’s L’imad Holding Co. is also involved.

According to the WSJ, the funds will not receive voting rights in the combined Paramount-Warner company. Those working on the deal don’t expect the Gulf funds’ involvement to spark any additional regulatory reviews.

Exclusive | Gulf Funds Agree to Back Paramount’s $81 Billion Takeover of Warner

The company’s triumph over Netflix in the bidding war came thanks in part to financial backing from Oracle cofounder Larry Ellison, billionaire father of Paramount CEO David Ellison.

Hyunsoo Rim

appy birthday

4/1/26

Apple is turning 50 today and it doesn’t look a thing like its younger self

From Macs to iPods, iPhones, and now services, here’s how Apple’s business has looked every 10 years.

The entrance of Allbirds seen from Hayes St. in San Francisco, Calif.

Allbirds, the once buzzy multibillion-dollar sneaker startup, is selling up for $39 million

That’s less than 1% of its peak market cap about four years ago.

Tom Jones3/31/26

Max Knoblauch3/30/26

JetBlue is raising its bag fees as fuel costs squeeze airlines

JetBlue will reportedly hike its bag fees, as the cost of jet fuel continues to climb amid the war in Iran. It’s the latest example of carriers finding ways to push rising costs onto travelers.

Last week, United Airlines CEO Scott Kirby said that if fuel prices remain elevated, fares would need to rise another 20% for his airline to break even this year.

As CNBC reported, when one airline raises fees, others tend to follow.

Earlier this month, JetBlue hiked its first-quarter outlook for operating revenue per seat mile to between 5% and 7%, saying that strong Q1 demand helped “partially offset additional expenses realized from operational disruptions and rising fuel costs.” Now, the carrier appears to be making moves to further boost revenue to offset those costs.

Earlier on Monday, JetBlue rival Alaska Air lowered its Q1 profit forecast. The refining margins for the carrier’s cheapest fuel option — sourced from Singapore and representing about 20% of Alaska’s overall supply — have spiked 400% since February.

JetBlue did not immediately respond to a request for comment.