Nike Shares Drop as It Misses North America Estimates

BEAVERTON, United States — Nike Inc. missed North America quarterly sales estimates on Thursday, amid higher spending on new products and online initiatives, sending its shares down about 4 percent.

Also weighing on sentiment was an in-line revenue, the first time in six quarters that the company failed to beat revenue estimates.

Shares of the world's largest sportswear maker have gained nearly 19 percent this year, as investors cheered its "Consumer Direct Offence" strategy that includes a focus on online sales, product launches and supply chain improvements to bring new products to shelves faster.

"While it's not very clear what caused the domestic weakness, it's possible that the news of what happened with the Duke University player's shoe had a short-term negative impact," said Kian Salehizadeh, a senior analyst at investment firm Blockforce Capital.

College basketball superstar Zion Williamson sprained his knee in February after his Nike sneaker split during a game, prompting an outcry on social media against the company.

Salehizadeh, whose firm owns shares in Nike through ETFs, said overall retail weakness in the United States over the last few months could also have hit the company's sales.

Quarterly revenue in North America rose 7 percent to $3.81 billion, but missed estimates of $3.87 billion, according to IBES data from Refinitiv.

Sales in Nike's home continent were also hit by a decline in revenue at the company's Converse brand.

Total revenue also increased 7 percent to $9.61 billion, in line with analysts' average estimate.

The maker of Air Jordan sneakers reported a net income of $1.1 billion, or 68 cents per share, for the third quarter ended February 28, compared with a net loss of $921 million, or 57 cents per share, a year earlier, when the company incurred a $2 billion charge related to US tax reform.

Analysts on average had expected earnings of 65 cents per share.

The company's shares were trading at $84.72 in after-market hours.

By Uday Sampath; editor: Sriraj Kalluvila.