Nike Misses Earnings Forecast for Q4 2019

Nike announced its earnings report for Q4 and the entire fiscal year yesterday, and despite achieving sales of $10.18 billion USD for the quarter, slightly exceeding estimates of  $10.16 billion USD, the adjusted earnings per share of 62 cents were below Wall Street’s forecast of 66 cents a share. As a result, Nike’s stock price fell, opening today at $84 USD and now hovering around $83 USD.

Higher marketing and product launches costs, as well as an increased tax bill, had an impact on Nike’s figures. The company spent an extra 10% on selling and administrative expenses, equalling $12.7B USD last year. In May, Nike joined 170 other footwear companies to address Donald Trump‘s implemented 25 percent tariff on footwear imported from China, asking the president to unleash the high import costs.

Nevertheless, there’s a lot to be excited about — this is the first time in Nike’s history it has made over $10B USD in one quarter. The success was driven by its sportswear, Jordan Brand and basketball divisions. Revenues for Converse came in at $491M USD for the same period. In North American, sales grew 7.5 percent over last year to $4.17B USD during the quarter, better than the 3 percent pace the company posted in the region during the year-ago period. While in China, revenue grew 22 percent over last year to $1.7B USD, comprising 17 percent of fourth-quarter revenue. Nike’s sales in Greater China have grown by double digit percentages for the past 20 consecutive quarters, according to Yahoo.

Mark Parker, the company’s chairman, president and chief executive officer said in a statement to WWD, “Our distinctive innovation and digital advantage led to accelerated growth across our complete portfolio, while our brand fueled deeper relationships with consumers around the globe.”

In other news, Nike and Paris Saint-Germain have extended their partnership until 2032.