Nike on Thursday will report its fiscal second-quarter earnings, its first quarterly earnings under new CEO Elliott Hill, who is expected to lay out the early innings of a strategy to reverse an ongoing sales decline.
Here’s what analysts are expecting from the world’s largest sneaker company, according to consensus estimates from LSEG:
- Earnings per share: 64 cents
- Revenue: $12.18 billion
Analysts are expecting sales to drop more than 9% from the year-ago period and profits to plunge by about 38%.
The dismal outlook comes as Nike works to turn around its business and fix its product assortment by pulling back on three of its key franchises: Air Force 1s, Dunks and Air Jordan 1s. Those styles dominated Nike’s product lineup under former CEO John Donahoe, but then became so commonplace that they lost their cool factor. Now Nike is trying to cut back supply.
Nike has warned that strategy will pressure sales in the short term. But it has also affected Foot Locker, which missed Wall Street’s estimates on the top and bottom lines in its third-quarter report Dec. 4 in part because of soft demand for Nike products, its CEO Mary Dillon told CNBC at the time.
Foot Locker’s dismal quarter was a warning sign for Nike and a clue that investors may need to be patient as they wait for the sneaker giant to turn its business around. When Nike reports earnings Thursday, Hill will have been in the new role for just over two months, and it’s going to take time to see the effects of strategy changes.
Hill has his work cut out for him beyond fixing Nike’s product assortment. He’ll need to power up Nike’s innovation pipeline, reset its relationships with wholesalers and improve morale after a series of layoffs and a breakdown in culture.
Since taking over, he has scored a few wins. The National Football League announced Dec. 11 that it had renewed its contract with Nike after it briefly courted other bidders. Amid criticism for falling behind on innovation and botching a uniform release for Major League Baseball, the NFL’s decision to renew its contract with Nike through 2038 was a major vote of confidence.
Now, Nike is the exclusive uniform provider for the NFL, MLB, and the National Basketball Association.
Shares of Nike were down about 27% in 2024 as of Wednesday afternoon, compared with a roughly 27% gain for the S&P 500.