Nike cut at CFRA Research as ‘company faces competition’

Nike (NYSE:) was cut to Sell from Hold at CFRA Research on Friday, following the company’s latest earnings release, which resulted in its shares tumbling over 11%.

The firm maintained a $91 per share price target on the stock, and its FY 24 and FY 25 EPS estimates of $3.50 and $3.75, respectively.

“NKE posts normalized Q2 EPS of $1.03 vs. $0.85, $0.18 above estimates on revenues of $13.39B vs. $13.32B and $39M below estimates,” explained CFRA analysts. “Nike Direct sales increased 6% with Nike Digital increasing 4%. By region, North America revenues declined 4% Y/Y, Europe increased 2%, Greater China improved 4%, and APAC and Latin America increased 13%.”

Nike’s gross margin expanded 170 bps year-over-year to 44.6%, driven by higher strategic pricing and lower freight costs.

“Although Nike maintains a fortress balance sheet with significant capital returns, we believe the multiple will trend back down to pre-pandemic levels as the company faces competition from brands like HOKA and On while it looks for new growth drivers and focuses on cutting costs,” added CFRA analysts.