I spotted Adidas as an undervalued stock when nobody was talking about it. I walked into their headquarters. I covered the rise of Yeezy, the decline of Nike's scarcity model, and the dawn of AI-designed and 3D-printed footwear all before they became the stories everyone was telling.
In 2015, Adidas was being ignored. Nike was the story. Under Armour was the hot brand. Adidas was the forgotten number three. I didn't think that was right.
I started writing about Adidas on Seeking Alpha and TheStreet making the case that the James Harden signing, the Yeezy partnership, and a renewed focus on North America were being undervalued by the market. The stock was around $60. It would eventually hit $340.
Two years later, I was sitting across from Mark King, President of Adidas North America, in a series of exclusive interviews I secured by showing up, asking, and earning the access. We talked about Harden, about Yeezy, about the intersection of fashion and performance, and about what it would take to hold the number two spot in North America against a weakening Nike.
Simultaneously, I was covering Nike's structural problems the Jordan brand oversupply, the scarcity model breakdown, the DTC strategy that would eventually unravel under CEO John Donahoe. The market didn't price that in until years later.
And in April 2017, I was in New York covering the launch of Adidas Futurecraft 4D the world's first mass-market 3D-printed shoe. I called it one of the most significant innovations in footwear history. I connected it to the same AI-in-manufacturing story I'd later cover in golf with Callaway's Epic Flash driver. The thread was always the same: technology changing how physical products are made.
The original thesis. Adidas is undervalued. Harden is the catalyst. Nobody is writing this yet.
Read →First of three exclusive interviews with Adidas North America President Mark King. The turnaround story, Harden, and what's next.
Read →Breaking coverage of the Futurecraft 4D launch. Called it one of the most notable innovations in footwear history.
Read →Exclusive with TaylorMade CEO David Abeles on golf's recovery, Tiger's business impact, and why the industry's pessimism was never fact-based.
Read →Third exclusive with Mark King. The thesis confirmed. The brand is winning because it merged what competitors kept separate.
Read →The Nike thesis closes. Stock down 26%, CEO ousted, DTC strategy reversed. The problems I covered in 2017 confirmed a decade later.
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