Canaccord: Nike Might Miss Q3 On Foreign Exchange Pressure

Nike Inc NKE could miss quarterly expectations on greater-than-expected pressure from foreign exchange woes, an analyst said Wednesday.

The Beaverton, Oregon-based footwear and apparel maker is slated to post earnings Thursday and changed hands recently at $97.51, up $0.97.

Citing a stronger dollar, Canaccord's Camilo Lyon trimmed his 2015 earnings forecast for Nike about 1.7 percent to $3.51 a share, compared with a current Wall Street consensus of $3.55.

For the period ended February 15, Lyon expects earnings of $0.84  a share, versus the consensus of $0.85.

Lyon, who maintains a Hold rating on Nike and trimmed his target slightly to $93, said strong demand trends should result in 9 percent sales growth for the third quarter.

China and North America will lead sales growth.

Europe and emerging markets are slowing down, exacerbated by difficult comparisons with the year-earlier period which coincided with the World Cup soccer matches, Lyon said.

Basketball and apparel product categories, along with so-called lifestyle running will continue to bolster Nike's results.

The "performance running" category has stalled as customers await product innovation, Lyon said.