Sporting goods industry: Puma slips into the red numbers

The traditional models of what was previously called “sneakers” have become a guide for the success of an entire industry. Adidas, number two in the industry behind the US giant Nike, has with consistently recovered models such as the “Stan Smith” tennis shoe, but above all the “Samba” and the “Gazelle” huge success in the world.

Local rival Puma, with a clear distance worldwide, number three in the sporting goods business, lags behind. The attempt to counter with the “Speedcat”, a successful model of the nuller years, has more or less failed. The low-profile shoe with a very flat sole is especially in Asia, in other markets there is a lull. “The paragraphs remain behind the expectations,” the new Puma CEO Arthur Hoeld, previously under contract, has to state. With clothing, it looks even less favorable than with shoes.

Three weeks after starting at the head of the Puma management, Hoeld has to announce hard truths: sales in the first half of 2025 have broken down, the company slips into the loss zone. A recovery is not in sight by the end of the year, on the contrary: at the end of the year there will be a loss, sales will be a double -digit percentage below that of the previous year. And even further: In 2026, too, only one transition year will be. Only then should it get better again at Puma.

Hoeld inherited the bad numbers from his predecessor Arne Freundt – despite all the possible efforts, he had not succeeded in stepping into the great footsteps of Björn Gulden, who had led Puma to great success and then switched to the top of the eternal rival Adidas in a spectacular step. In his first days at Adidas, Gulden was largely responsible for the success of the retro models, the production of the “Samba” had even massively raised against internal resistance.

The new Puma boss is just caught: the US tariffs alone have a massive impact on the business of the sporting goods industry, which can be produced especially in Asian countries. Puma assumes 80 million euros, which through Donald Trump’s customs policy through Donald Trump’s input tax.

However, it should be worse for the smaller of the two Franconian sporting goods giants that the sophisticated brand strategy does not ignite. A brand campaign, which is still under the direction of Arne Friend, seems to be fizzled out. Hoeld now speaks of a “reset”. “The previous strategy will not continue,” he said.

A look at the numbers shows that this should be no alternative. Late on the evening of Wednesday, Puma presented the third winning warning for 2025 after announcements in January and March and had to correct its goals again for the overall year. The presentation of half -year numbers was actually only planned a week later. The stock exchanges reacted to the late -evening unveiling. The Puma papers listed in the MDax dropped by more than 15 percent by the morning, at times it was 20 percent.

In the past forecast in March, Puma forecasted an input tax of up to 525 million euros. Now a loss is expected – expectations broke within just over half a billion euros within just a few months. This cannot be explained with Trump’s tariffs alone. Already in the second quarter, 13.2 million euros in loss before taxes and interest.

Business development in the key markets of North America, Europe and Großchina is weaker than expected from Puma. The sales of the second quarter decreased by a currency adjusted by 2.0 percent to a good 1.9 billion euros. Without taking currency influences into account, the minus was even 8.3 percent. For the year as a whole, PUMA now even expects sales of over ten percent. Hoeld has to save 50 of the actually planned 300 investment million – and possibly also other staff. However, he only wants to present an exact picture in October.

Perhaps a glimmer of hope for Puma: Björn Gulden had also taken over in the crisis after moving from Puma at Adidas, first painted a dark picture and then torn the helm faster than expected.