NEW YORK, July 2, 2026, 07:08 EDT
- NIKE, Inc. NYSE:NKE ended Wednesday at $43.06, gaining 4.90%. The stock traded at $43.26 before the bell at 7:05 a.m. EDT.
- Nike posted fourth-quarter EPS of $0.72. That number got a $0.52 lift from a tariff-recovery benefit, which made up nearly 72% of reported EPS.
- Nike’s North America EBIT jumped 91%, but the result got a $965 million bump from tariffs. Backing out that benefit, North America EBIT edged down about 1% by calculation.
- The NYSE will shut on Friday, July 3, for the Independence Day holiday.
NIKE, Inc. NYSE:NKE traded higher before the bell Thursday, adding to gains after Wednesday’s rebound ran with heavy volume. Investors shrugged off weak China numbers and bet on early signs of a turnaround. NIKE saw 80.2 million shares trade Wednesday, about triple its 65-day average. The S&P 500 slipped 0.22% and the Nasdaq Composite dropped 0.66% that day, so the action in Nike stood out.
Stock is up, but the numbers read a bit soft. Nike posted Q4 revenue of $10.97 billion, down 1%. EPS came in at $0.72, boosted by $0.52 from an expected IEEPA tariff recovery. Gross margin improved to 49.2%. Nike said the tariff recovery lifted that figure by about 900 basis points.
Nike’s EBIT table and the tariff footnote together work out to this profit bridge:
| Q4 metric | Reported | Tariff recovery | Adjusted read | Year-on-year read |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| EPS | $0.72 | $0.52 | $0.20 | still up, beat shrank a lot |
| Gross margin | 49.2% | about 9.0 pts | about 40.2% | fell about 10 bps |
| North America EBIT | $2.00 bln | $0.965 bln | $1.04 bln | roughly -1% |
| Nike Brand EBIT | $1.86 bln | $0.965 bln | $0.90 bln | roughly unchanged |
| Total Nike EBIT | $1.32 bln | $0.986 bln | $0.34 bln | up about 13% |
The benefit wasn’t just on paper. Nike said its cash from operations got a $0.3 billion lift from tariff recoveries. So the 91% North America EBIT jump doesn’t show a real demand boost. Without the $965 million benefit, North America EBIT would have come in at $1.04 billion, almost flat from $1.05 billion last year.
Nike’s regional data shows the recovery isn’t even yet:
| Business | Q4 revenue | Reported change | Currency-neutral change | Q4 EBIT change |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| North America | $4.83 bln | up 3% | up 3% | up 91%; down about 1% without tariff |
| EMEA | $2.98 bln | down 1% | down 6% | down 8% |
| Greater China | $1.30 bln | down 12% | down 17% | down 20% |
| Asia Pacific & Latin America | $1.60 bln | up 1% | down 1% | down 1% |
| Converse | $244 mln | down 32% | down 34% | down 15%; off about 93% ex-tariff |
The split in channels is important for the stock. Wholesale revenue was up 4% in the quarter. Sales at Nike Direct dropped 7%, and Nike Brand Digital was down 12%. This shows Nike is relying more on retail partners while its own channels are still weak.
CEO Elliott Hill said Nike is still dealing with “top-line headwinds.” CFO Matthew Friend said “sell-through remains challenged.” That’s not the tone of a demand rebound. Nike Investor Relations
Analysts were divided on the margin improvement and weak sales base. Cristina Fernandez at Telsey Advisory Group said the turnaround is “progressing slowly.” Interactive Brokers NASDAQ:IBKR chief strategist Steve Sosnick saw “more good news” this quarter than bad. Thomas Hayes from Great Hill Capital linked the move up to bad news already priced in. Reuters
Analyst sentiment on Nike remains cautious. According to FactSet data via WSJ, there are 24 hold ratings, 10 buys, five overweight calls and two sells. The median price target is $47. FY2027 EPS now stands at $1.75, versus $1.82 last month and $1.89 three months before.
That puts a tight near-term trade in play. The $47 median target is about 9% above the stock’s pre-market price at 7:05 a.m. Thursday. Nike’s outlook calls for revenue to fall at a low to mid-single-digit rate in the first half of fiscal 2027, so the shares need more than changes from tariffs and margin math to drive a bigger estimate reset.
Nike’s new CFO David Denton, coming from Pfizer Inc. NYSE:PFE, will take over Aug. 17 with a focus on capital returns. Denton said he backs investing with discipline. Nike gave back $2.5 billion to shareholders in fiscal 2026, most of that in dividends. Buybacks came to just $123 million out of an $18 billion authorization.
Next up on the stock-market calendar is a short week. The NYSE is closed Friday, July 3, for Independence Day observed. That puts Nike’s last print before the break at Thursday’s close, with shares just around 8% above their $40.00 52-week low.
