Adidas Global Creative Director Paul Gaudio believes the company isn’t just competing with rival footwear and apparel manufacturers (i.e. NKE, UAA, PMMAF etc.), but with anyone “competing for share of wallet.” Gaudio’s premise assumes that consumers have a fixed budget for recreational purchases and weigh the value of a product not just against its immediate competitors, but against all other products under consideration prior to purchase. ADDYY isn’t the first company outside television and film to be threatened by the blue-chip company; in 2016 Darden (DRI) CEO Gene Lee said the restaurant industry was competing with what he calls today’s “new necessities” (including: smart phones and NFLX) for discretionary dollars. ADDYY reported a Q3 ’17 sales increase of 9% YOY (to $6.6 billion) and profit that increased 30% YOY (to $610 million).
Howie Long-Short: While I admire Mr. Gaudio’s macro view on consumer spending, U.S. consumer confidence remains near a 17 year high. Consumer confidence measures feelings about current and future economic conditions, with an optimistic consumer purchasing more goods and services. If consumer confidence remains high, NFLX isn’t a threat to ADDYY; however, if consumers begin to pull back the reigns on spending (should the economy falter) it’s reasonable to think they will begin asking if that new pair of NMDs is worth forgoing 12 months of binge watching.
Fan Marino: Kanye West got Kim Kardashian a portfolio of blue-chip stocks including; Disney (DIS), Apple (AAPL), Amazon (AMZN), Adidas (ADDYY) and Netflix (NFLX) for Christmas! The portfolio included; 920 shares of DIS (valued at +/-$98,500) and 955 shares of ADDYY (valued at +/- $96,500). That sure beats the luggage I got for Hanukkah as a 16-year-old. Thanks dad (eye roll).
Adidas considers Netflix as competition
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