Nike Stock Is Climbing Higher Friday: What's Going On?

Nike, Inc. NKE stock is moving higher Friday after the company reported better-than-expected fourth-quarter earnings per share and sales on Thursday after the market closed.

What To Know: The company reported earnings per share of 14 cents, beating the consensus estimate of 11 cents. In addition, Nike reported sales of $11.10 billion, beating the consensus estimate of $10.72 billion.

The company further detailed its results, with direct sales at $4.4 billion, down 14% year-over-year, wholesale revenue at $6.4 billion, down 9% year-over-year, and Converse sales at $357 million, down 26% year-over-year.

“While our financial results are in-line with our expectations, they are not where we want them to be. Moving forward, we expect our business to improve as a result of the progress we’re making through our Win Now actions,” said Elliott Hill, President & CEO, NIKE, Inc.

Nike, throughout the quarter, repurchased 3.2 million shares for $202 million. Furthermore, it reported that its gross margin for the quarter decreased 440 basis points to 40.3%.

Analyst Changes: Following the earnings report, multiple analysts issued price target adjustments.

• Baird analyst Jonathan Komp maintained an Outperform rating on Nike and raised the price target from $80 to $88.
• JP Morgan analyst Matthew Boss maintained a Neutral rating on Nike and raised the price target from $56 to $64.
• Needham analyst Tom Nikic maintained a Buy rating on Nike and raised the price target from $66 to $78.

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NKE Price Action: At the time of writing, Nike stock is trading 15.4% higher at $72.17, according to data from Benzinga Pro.

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