adidas Still Unsure About What to Do With Yeezy Stock

Last month rumours circulated suggesting that Ye and adidas would be reuniting to sort out the remaining Yeezy product. However, in adidas’ latest earnings call, there was no mention that partnering with Ye was even an option. It was mentioned that adidas are projecting a $738 million operating loss for 2023 – its first negative income in 31 years. If the Yeezy stock were to remain unsold, it would account for $500 million of that, as reported by Business of Fashion.

The crux of adidas’ earnings call revealed that CEO Bjørn Gulden is still grappling with how the Yeezy inventory needs to be handled, whether that’s selling it, giving it away or destroying it. Gulden said, ‘Selling the product normally… causes a lot of reputational risk. The other side is we burn it or do whatever it takes to destroy it, and it disappears, then you have another issue,’ referring to sustainability.

‘We could sell [the sneakers] with a small margin and give the margin away for different donations. We can sell them with more margin and give more donations. I think the goal that we have is to do what the probability is that it damages us the least and we do something good.’

What’s clear is that there’s no definitive decision being made in the coming weeks on what adidas will choose to do with the Yeezys, but retail and luxury analyst at Deutsche Bank Research, Adam Cochrane, says the best solution is to sell.

Cochrane said, ‘Selling remaining stock can make the best out of the situation by recovering some of the lost profit and costs. I think to sell it themselves and to split the proceeds with the charity will be the most likely outcome.’

What’s more, Gulden mentioned he had received over 500 offers to buy the rights to the remaining Yeezy stock. But going down this avenue ‘would not necessarily be the right thing to do.’