Kanye West’s Yeezy Shoe Release Boosted Adidas’ Second Quarter Profits

Adidas saw extensive profits with the help of Kanye West’s Yeezy shoe release from this past May. The apparel powerhouse revealed their fiscal report for the second quarter of 2023 this past week, showcasing their major numbers.

“We are happy with the way the second quarter developed,” Adidas CEO Bjørn Gulden announced.

“The core Adidas business was slightly better than we expected. Although we still have too much slow-moving inventory in the market, sell-through has been improving. We also saw gross margin in our core business improving strongly compared to the first quarter. The operating profit of [$194] million was substantially higher than our initial plans. The sale of the first part of the Yeezy inventory did of course help both our top and bottom line in the quarter….The sale of the Yeezy product positively impacted adidas’ operating profit by an incremental amount of around [$165] million in Q2.”

As you know, Adidas terminated their partnership with Kanye West back in October of last year following his media rants and outbursts. Shortly after, the brand experienced a huge dip in sales, so the company decided to unload the remaining Yeezy inventory.