Demand picks up: Nike expected to return to profit

CHICAGO:

Strong online sales and demand from Chinese shoppers and students heading back to school are expected to have helped Nike swing back to a profit in the first quarter, a sequential improvement from the surprise loss it posted in July, according to Refinitiv. With malls and department stores like JC Penney shutting shops due to Covid-19 lockdowns, people turned to e-commerce, buying significantly more products directly from Nike’s website. In the fiscal fourth quarter, Nike reported a 75% rise in online sales and Wall Street analysts expect this to continue - at least nine have raised their price targets on the stock in the last two weeks. E-commerce sales are now nearly a third of Nike’s total revenue - a goal Nike had previously set for 2023. Nike’s first-quarter adjusted sales in China are also expected to have grown by more than 10% as official lockdowns there all but ended.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 23^rd, 2020.

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