Zalando sprints in Frankfurt, boosted by buy back with accounts and estimates supported by AI
(Il Sole 24 Ore Radiocor) - Zalando stands out at the Frankfurt Stock Exchange with the biggest rise among the biggies thanks to its 2025 accounts and forecasts for 2026, accompanied by the announcement of a buy back. The backdrop to the results and guidance is the recourse to artificial intelligence, which - the company explained - has been and will continue to be a growth engine, making the business more efficient, productive and profitable. A picture well received by investors, after the recent controversy over the implications, considered by various observers to be negative, of AI development on online retailers' businesses.
Zalando ended 2025 with a gross value of goods sold (Gmv) of 17.6 billion (+14.7%), revenues of 12.3 billion (+16.8%), an adjusted Ebit of 590 million (up from 511 million) above market expectations (580 million) and a net profit of 213 million (up from 251 million). However, it was the fourth quarter that really surprised investors, with sales up 23%, adjusted EBIT of 262 million (up from 253 million expected) and an operating margin of 6.4%, better than analysts' expectations (6.2%). Zalando points out that its annual results are in the high range of guidance.
"We have accelerated our strategy and introduced major innovations in the B2C and B2B sectors to achieve excellent results in 2025," said Zalando's co-Co-Chief Executive Officer Robert Gentz. "The unique data and infrastructure platform we have built over 17 years gives us a huge advantage. We have Europe's richest fashion-specific data from billions of customer interactions and unrivalled brand relationships, as well as the continent's leading logistics network. By enhancing this base with artificial intelligence, we are offering our customers and partners experiences and services that seemed impossible just a few years ago, while making our operations more efficient,' Gentz added.
In 2025, 'Zalando used artificial intelligence to increase efficiency and productivity in all its activities', a statement underlined. On the marketing front, the company increased the percentage of product content generated by artificial intelligence "from almost zero to 90 per cent in just one year, reducing campaign creation time from six weeks to a few days and increasing content production by 70 per cent". In logistics, advanced artificial intelligence models solved 'complex supply chain optimisation challenges, improving the accuracy of real-time delivery promises to customers by 22 percentage points'. Furthermore, Zalando's matchmaking accuracy has already led to a 13% increase in items added to shopping 'baskets' and an AI-based virtual fitting tool helps customers choose the correct size, reducing size-related returns, a major problem for online retailers, by 8%. "In 2026, Zalando will continue to leverage its data and infrastructure advantage to solve the fashion world's most complex challenges."
Against this background, the Berlin-based group expects 'further acceleration and profitable growth for 2026, which represents a further milestone towards the achievement of the company's medium-term targets in 2028'. For the current year, the guidance points to an adjusted EBIT of between EUR 660 million and EUR 740 million from EUR 591 million in 2025 and a growth in gross merchandise volume (GMV) of between 12% and 17% in 2026, from EUR 17.56 billion last year.
