Just weeks after cutting ties with controversial rapper Ye, formerly Kanye West, Adidas (OTC: ADDYY) has announced that it will be lowering its earnings forecast for the year. Along with the end of that partnership, the company also says that it will be facing additional costs related to its exit from Russia, as well as a challenges in the Chinese market.
In its third quarter report, the German athletics company said it expects its operating profit margin to reach 2.5% while its revenue growth slows to the low single digits. In comparison, at the start of the year, Adidas predicted that it would have an operating margin of 11% and revenue growth reaching 13% in 2022.
After it was introduced to markets, Yeezy quickly accounted for more than half of Adidas's total profits. The company says it expects the fallout to cost it $250 million this year, and Yeezy manufacturers have already been forced to lay off 142 employees in connection to the end of Ye's partnership.
Adidas dropped Ye after the rapper and designer made a series of anti-semitic posts and debuted a "White Lives Matter" shirt at Paris Fashion Week. The company has declined to provide details about its decision to end its relationship with Ye.
Before Adidas announced that the rapper's partnership was under review, both Balenciaga (OTC: PPRUY) and Gap (NYSE: GPS) had begun distancing themselves from the controversial artist.
Adidas says that it still owns the rights to the products that it made with Ye, including items that have yet to hit the market.
"It's our product," Adidas CFO, Harm Ohlmeyer, told reporters. "We intend to make use of these rights as early as in 2023."
On Friday, November 11, Ohlmeyer will step in as interim CEO of Adidas, replacing the company's current CEO, Kasper Rorsted. Former-Puma (OTC: PUMSY) executive Bjorn Gulden is set to take over as the company's official CEO on January 1.
Gulden is credited with helping Puma turn its business around after he joined in 2013, but his departure announcement was followed by a 27% increase in Puma's share price.