Adidas vs. Nike: Who Has the Better Innovation Pipeline

As Nike tries to reignite growth and Adidas aims to keep its momentum going, Wall Street is focused on which brand has the stronger innovation pipeline.

That question might not get fully answered until Nike holds its Investor Day meeting on Nov. 16 and 17. The expectation is that Nike will give analysts a sneak preview of the new products coming out early in 2027.

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For now, analysts have Nike chief executive officer Elliott Hill’s promise that the team will introduce more than a dozen footwear styles that are all new instead of going back to the vault and doing old retro shoes. “It is leveraging innovation, and you’ll see some newness and freshness coming in new silhouettes,” he told investors back in June when the company posted fourth quarter results.

And during last Thursday’s first quarter conference call to investors, Hill emphasized: “And where we have introduced newness at scale, we’ve seen early success.” Nike’s big success under Hill has been Nike Running, where “our innovation in Max cushioning helped reignite this business. Led by the strength of the Vomero franchise, we’ve nearly tripled our share of the Max cushioning category over the past year,” Hill said.

Nike’s CEO also said that over the past two months, the brand has introduced four new footwear innovations, three in the racing silo and one in the Pegasus silo, with each one built around a different runner, distance and goal.

In August, the brand launched its Pegasus Plus 2, a fast-tempo training shoe with a curved Air Zoom unit for a quick smooth ride. This was followed last month by the Alphafly 4, a lighter, more energy-giving version of the brand’s marathon shoe. And last week, Nike introduced two new shoes, the Swooshfly for entry-level marathon runners and the Apex super shoe. In Nike training, the brand also introduced its recovery innovation through its Hyperslide.

Earlier this month, Dick’s Sporting Goods executive chairman Ed Stack told investors at a company presentation at the Goldman Sachs’ Global Consumer and Retail Conference that the athletic cycle isn’t over. As proof, he said that when a brand had something that’s new and innovative, the shoes do well because the consumer is buying it. He cited Nike’s Mind shoe — which Hill told Wall Street back in June that it was Nike’s best product in the fourth quarter — as one example.

Still, there has been some criticism that Swoosh isn’t bringing newness to the market fast enough.

Colby Howard, president of Heron Events at Heron Intelligence, raised one point of caution when looking towards Investor Day next month and the innovation pipeline for 2027. He noted that the difference between the two brands is that Adidas’s focus is more design-led. In contrast, Nike has the innovation ability but is sometimes slower to move, according to Heron’s research. “So the question for November isn’t who has better ideas. It’s whether Nike can get them to market,” Howard said.

Adidas held its Innovation Day last month, and HSBC global sporting goods analyst Anne-Laure Bismuth said in a research note last week that the event showed a strong pipeline of product innovations, with the bulk of the mix “set to be unveiled in 2027 and 2028.” She noted that one key plus for the brand is the group’s ability in general to “react faster if new trends emerge” than some of its competitors.

Nike’s next stage in its turnaround appears to be addressing some of its critics as the new Pace operating model will streamline decision-making. Hill explained that this changes was “so we can capture demand faster and improve productivity while also creating greater capacity to invest in what has always set Nike apart, serving athletes, creating industry-leading innovation and building the world’s strongest sports brands.”

Meanwhile, the HSBC analyst’s key takeaway from last month’s Adidas event was that innovation “remains strong and healthy” in lifestyle apparel and footwear. Last week, she lowered the price target for adidas shares to 175 euros from the previous target of 210 euros, but kept her “buy” rating on the shares. She expects third quarter organic growth to soften to up 3 percent following the second quarter’s up 14 percent due to a boost from the World Cup.

The HSBC analyst concluded in a research note last month that the Adidas focus on localization efforts “have paid off, especially in China, which remains a strong growth engine of the Adidas brand.” Localization features a local-for-local market approach, where 90 percent of the sourcing is done locally.

Cristina Fernández of Telsey Advisory Group (TAG) said that Adidas’ current business model focused on local assortments and go-to market strategies, with innovation engineered in Germany, Los Angeles, Calif., and Portland, Ore., is “proving successful and allow it to gain share” across geographies. That has Adidas moving in the right direction in North America, even though it remains far behind Nike, the TAG analyst said.

While the men’s lifestyle market is difficult for Adidas, the brand is “growing strongly in performance, women’s lifestyle footwear, and apparel,” Fernández noted. Among the products that stood out during showroom tours during Innovation Day were new running styles for 2027, including the Adizero Evo SL2, and a completely redesigned Supernova Rise, as well as “new variations of popular footwear lifestyle franchises in leather, shine, studs and crocodile finishes.”

Fernández also noted that sportswear products represents a significant part of Adidas’ business, accounting for one-third of footwear sales. Inspiration is from hero products that are brought down to more accessible price points, often in the $60 to $90 range for footwear.

“The majority of sales in less affluent regions like Latin America and emerging markets are of sportswear products. Shoes specifically for walking are seen as a big opportunity in this area,” the TAG analyst said.

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