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Adidas is one of the world’s most recognised sportswear manufacturers. It’s the biggest sportswear brand in Europe and the second biggest on the planet after Nike. Founded by entrepreneur, Adolf Dassler, Adidas was originally founded to supply spiked running shoes suitable for a host of athletics events.

It was first established under the name Gebrüder Dassler Schuhfabrik, before rebranding to Adidas in August 1949. This decision was taken due to a fallout between Dassler and his brother, Rudolf, with the latter departing the company to found a rival brand, Puma. The iconic three stripes of the Adidas brand are now unmistakable worldwide. In 2021, Adidas turned over more than €21 billion in sales, with a net income of €2.11 billion.

In terms of the all-time growth of the Adidas (ETR: ADS) share price, it is up approximately 196% as of December 2022. However, that doesn’t tell the whole picture of the value of Adidas stock in recent years. In fact, between 2015 and 2020, this was a significant boom period for Adidas investors. The price of Adidas stock soared from €61.00 to €313.00, representing a five-fold return in as many years.

The breakout of the Covid-19 pandemic saw mass panic surrounding the Adidas share price. It fell from €309 in January 2020 to €188 in April 2020. Although it recovered strongly during H2 2020, Adidas stock has been hugely bearish since the end of 2021. That’s due largely to a weakening in its European and Chinese sales, with the latter’s “deteriorating traffic trend” leading to Adidas cutting its sales guidance for a second time.

In terms of Adidas’ major competitors in the sportswear market, Nike is the outright powerhouse. With revenues of $46.7 billion, Nike is the most valuable investor-owned sportswear brand on the planet. It’s also worth mentioning the brand of Rudolf Dassler, and Adolf’s brother, Puma. This German sportswear brand has posted revenues of $8 billion, positioning it ahead of Canada-based sportswear brand Lululemon Athletica ($6.3 billion) and Japanese brand Asics Corp ($3.6 billion).

Looking beyond revenues, Under Armour is another major player in the casual sports apparel market. North America is Under Armour’s biggest target market. It’s a similar story with New Balance, which has a manufacturing presence in the US and the UK.