Puma Shares Drop 15% After Cutting 2025 Sales and Profit Forecasts Over US Tariffs

Shares in global sportswear giant Puma fell by as much as 18% on Friday after the German company reported weaker-than-expected second-quarter results and slashed its full-year outlook, citing the impact of US trade tariffs.

In a preliminary update issued after markets closed on Thursday, Puma said it now expects full-year sales to decline by a low double-digit percentage, a sharp reversal from its previous forecast of growth in the low-to mid-single-digit range.

The brand also warned of an operating profit loss in 2025, compared with its earlier guidance of €445 million to €525 million. The revised outlook follows a reassessment of the expected financial burden from US tariffs.

By 9:26 a.m. London time, Puma’s shares had recovered slightly but were still trading down by 15%.

“Amid ongoing volatile geopolitical and macroeconomic volatility, Puma anticipates that both sector-wide and company-specific challenges will continue to significantly impact performance in 2025,” the company said in a statement.

“Key factors include muted brand momentum, shifts in channel mix and quality, the impact of US tariffs, and elevated inventory levels,” it added.

Puma said it was reducing its imports to the US from China and planned to implement price increases from the fourth quarter. Despite these efforts, the company still anticipates a negative impact of around €80 million on 2025 gross profit due to tariffs.

Arthur Hoeld, who took over as CEO on 1 July with a mandate to turn around the struggling brand, admitted the company had underperformed and called for an internal reassessment.

“We as a company need to take a hard look at ourselves, [we] have not been delivering against our own expectations,” he told reporters during a post-earnings media call, according to Reuters.

In the second quarter, Puma’s preliminary sales fell 2% year-on-year on a currency-adjusted basis to €1.94 billion, missing analyst expectations of €2.06 billion according to a poll by LSEG.

Adjusted quarterly operating profit, excluding one-off costs, showed a loss of €13.2 million. The company also incurred €84.6 million in one-time costs, partly linked to its ongoing cost efficiency programme.