Nike

After market close Thursday, Nike is expected to report that sales grew 1% for the full yearits worst results in more than two decades excluding the first year of the pandemic and the 2008-09 financial crisis. Ahead of Nike’s results, The Wall Street Journal has taken a detailed look at how the company lost ground in the critical running categorydig in here. And here’s a rundown of some other key financial data points, based on consensus estimates compiled by FactSet: — For the most recent financial year, Nike is expected to report net income jumped 8.6% to $5.51 billion. — That translates into a 14% bounce in adjusted earnings per share, which are seen hitting $3.70. — For the most recent quarter, analysts expect about $1.29 billion of profit, on revenue of $12.86 billion.

Nike’s stock hasn’t been a winning bet for the better part of the past three years. One analyst thinks the company’s losing streak could soon be coming to an end as product innovation ramps up. Oppenheimer analyst Brian Nagel upgraded Nike shares to Outperform from Perform Friday, and lifted his price target to $120 from $110. Nagel also reinstated Nike as a top megacap pick across his coverage. Nike shares are 11% lower this year, and have shed 38% over the past three years. There are a lot of reasons investors have been downbeat on the stock, including slower sales growth in China, a sluggish innovation cycle, rising competition, and cooling consumer spending in the U.S. Those challenges persist for Nike, Nagel acknowledged, but he believes the company’s turnaround efforts will start panning out in the next few quarters. And with shares trading at a roughly 25% discount to their

Nike (NKE) is expected to report in-line results for fiscal Q4 on June 27, according to Morgan Stanley, which models a 1% sales growth for the quarter compared with the Street’s 0.6% increase. “4Q is unlikely to shift the thesis on NKE as questions around L-T growth & profitability remain, though it will give us a first look into the P&L impacts of mgmt.’s recent strategy evolution,” the report said. Morgan Stanley said the market will focus more on Nike’s initial guidance for fiscal Q1 and 2025 as strategic changes from the management seem more likely to materialize in fiscal H1 2025 and beyond results. “We anticipate NKE sets a low FY guidance bar given early-days & evolving strategy initiatives, potentially guiding initial ’25e EPS a touch below the Street,” the report said. Morgan Stanley cut Nike’s price target to $114 from $116 while maintaining its overweight rating.

Nike (NKE) is unlikely to regain traction in fiscal Q4 as no “major fireworks” are expected when it reports quarterly results on June 27, Wedbush said in a note Friday. “Essentially, the company already gave some nuggets of guidance for FY25, and we wouldn’t expect them to change that outlook meaningfully,” analysts Tom Nikic and Matt Quigley wrote. The company’s stock may be in a “holding pattern” until Nike unveils new products in its pipeline, the note added. Nike is planning to hold an investor day in the fall this year after seven years and the last time they held it, their peers were performing “extremely well”, and the company was facing challenges from over-distribution of legacy styles, the note said. The analysts expect Nike to tell a “compelling” story this fall that will support its shares regaining momentum. Also, Adidas rolling out different Yeezy styles on their application will

Nike (NKE) is now positioned for slight fiscal fourth-quarter revenue growth while its fiscal 2025 guidance may imply a back-half acceleration in sales, RBC Capital Markets said Friday. The brokerage is guiding for sales of $13.01 billion, implying growth of 1% on a reported basis and 2% at constant currencies. That’s up from RBC’s prior sales estimate of $12.53 billion, which implied a decline from the $12.83 billion Nike reported the year earlier. The average analyst estimate in a Capital IQ survey is for $12.91 billion. Direct-to-consumer sales are expected to rise 1% in constant currency terms to $5.67 billion while wholesale revenue is seen climbing 3% to $7.21 billion, according to the report. Wholesale should benefit from a “significant easing” of year-over-year comparisons, according to RBC analyst Piral Dadhani. For fiscal 2024, RBC is forecasting revenue of $51.76 billion, up from its prior view of $51.28 billion and above

Nike’s (NKE) stock has underperformed peers due to earnings downgrades and lower valuations, and relies on a return to positive revenue growth, which is not expected until early 2025, RBC Capital Markets said in an earnings preview Friday. The firm said Nike’s current valuation is more attractive and will remain stable until management reveals the company’s future product plans and strategies. Further details of product range transition, including timing, new products and category strategy, will be important, according to RBC. RBC said it expects revenue to grow 1% to $13 billion and diluted earnings per share of $0.72 for fiscal Q4, the results of which are scheduled for release in late June. For fiscal year 2024, RBC said it now expects a 1% revenue growth because of foreign exchange translation. For fiscal year 2025 organic revenue guidance, RBC said it lowered its estimate to 2% growth from 4%. “Nike’s de-rating

Nike’s (NKE) recent challenges stem from the loss of talent as a combination of layoffs and voluntary departures hurt morale, productivity and near-term performance, Wedbush said Tuesday in a report, citing an interview with Peter Orcutt, who worked at the footwear company for 24 years. The company lacks any near-term catalyst for product innovation, and despite new releases, is missing a “groundbreaking” release for the Olympics in three months, Wedbush said. Orcutt, a senior leader who left in a major round of layoffs in early 2020, said that the company pursued a direct-to-consumer strategy too aggressively, which damaged its wholesale partnerships and pushed retailers to seek alternatives, the Wedbush report said. Nike rival Adidas is gaining ground, and early views of Adidas’s 2025 products impressed industry insiders, Orcutt said, according to the Wedbush report. “There are several key challenges that the company must work through,” Wedbush said. Partly because “one

By Weston Blasi Some Nike athletes’ careers are ‘winding down,’ one expert said, and the company is looking to make a big splash with Clark’s meteoric rise Caitlin Clark is reportedly adding to the $76,535 starting salary she’ll make in the WNBA in a big way: with an eight-figure endorsement deal with Nike Inc. Clark’s endorsement deal with Nike (NKE) will be for eight years and be worth “up to $28 million,” according to the Wall Street Journal. It comes after an iconic run for Clark through the women’s March Madness that saw her star rise to a point where the women’s tournament final had more viewers than the men’s final for the first time. As part of the Nike deal, Clark would be getting a signature shoe, something almost unheard of for a basketball player who has yet to play in a professional game. In the basketball space, Nike

By Weston Blasi Some Nike athletes’ careers are ‘winding down,’ one expert said, and the company is looking to make a big splash with Clark’s meteoric rise. Caitlin Clark is reportedly adding to the $76,535 starting salary she’ll make in the WNBA in a big way: with an eight-figure endorsement deal with Nike Inc. Clark’s endorsement deal with Nike (NKE) will have a total value that’s “above $20 million,” Shams Charania of The Athletic (NYT) reported, and would come after an iconic run for Clark through the women’s March Madness that saw her star rise to a point where the women’s tournament final had more viewers than the men’s final for the first time. As part of the Nike deal, Clark would be getting a signature shoe, something almost unheard of for a basketball player who has yet to play in a professional game. In the basketball space, Nike has

Nike’s (NKE) annual earnings estimates “finally look achievable” on management’s “bold steps to transform” following a stock slump, BofA Securities said Thursday in a report. Calling Nike’s valuation “compelling,” BofA upgraded the stock to buy from neutral and raised the price objective to $113 from $110. The EPS consensus of $3.99 in fiscal 2025 and $4.49 in fiscal 2026 EPS appear achievable as the company’s management takes steps to transform the business and benefits from marketing around the Paris Olympics this year. “Management has acknowledged a need for big changes, and continued shakeup in the team and processes from the recently announced cost savings plan could also spur faster sales stabilization,” BofA said. Shares of Nike rose 3.4% in recent trading Thursday.

By Bill Peters ‘Nike has historically benefited from the newness and marketing around the Olympics, and we see this year as no different,’ BofA analysts say Over the past two years, Nike Inc. has dealt with slowing demand and a lack of new sneakers and other gear to revive it. But for analysts at BofA, acknowledging the problem has been part of the solution. And as Wall Street tempers its profit expectations, they say the bar for the athletic-gear maker might finally be low enough to actually clear. BofA analysts Lorraine Hutchinson and Christopher Nardone upgraded shares of Nike (NKE) to buy from neutral on Thursday. While they said a bigger turnaround could still take time, efforts to lure back customers by shaking up its product assortment, along with a potential boost from events like the Summer Olympics, would benefit the company. The analysts also nudged their price target higher,