NEW YORK, January 1, 2026, 17:58 ET
Nike shares rose 4% in the final session of 2025 after CEO Elliott Hill disclosed he bought about $1 million worth of stock, offering investors a fresh signal of confidence as the sportswear maker heads into 2026 under scrutiny for a turnaround.
The timing matters. Nike enters the new year with investors looking for evidence that its reset can revive demand without further squeezing profitability, especially as costs and promotions remain a drag.
Analysts’ 2026 outlooks also diverge. Bulls point to the scope for a rebound if Nike stabilizes margins and inventory, while more cautious calls see a slower recovery as the company reshapes its sales channels and product mix.
A filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission showed Hill bought 16,388 shares of Nike Class B common stock on Dec. 29 at a weighted average price of $61.10, taking his direct holdings to 241,587 shares.
A separate SEC filing showed Nike director Tim Cook bought 50,000 Class B shares on Dec. 22 at a weighted average $58.97, lifting his stake to 105,480 shares.
Wall Street’s broader view remains constructive, but not unanimous. MarketBeat data shows Nike carries a Moderate Buy consensus based on 38 analyst ratings, with an average 12-month price target of $75.84 — about 19% above the Dec. 31 close of $63.72.
A price target is an analyst’s estimate of where a stock could trade in roughly a year, and Nike’s targets span a wide range — from $35 to $115 — underscoring disagreement about how quickly performance improves in 2026.
Stifel reiterated a Hold rating and a $65 price target after Nike filed its fiscal second-quarter 10‑Q after the market close on Dec. 30, Investing.com reported. A 10‑Q is a quarterly report companies file with regulators.
Stifel flagged healthier inventory in North America and ongoing channel realignment there, but said stabilizing market share could take until calendar 2027. It kept the Hold rating amid what it described as premium valuation and execution risk.
Nike has been leaning harder on marketing as it tries to claw back market share lost to newer brands such as On Holding and Deckers’ Hoka, Reuters reported. LSEG data cited by Reuters showed marketing spend is expected to top $5 billion in 2026, up from $4.68 billion in fiscal 2025, while higher tariffs — which Nike last quarter pegged at $1.5 billion for the year — have weighed on margins; demand in China has also been uneven as the company faces strong local competition including Anta.
In its latest quarterly results, Nike said second-quarter revenue rose 1% to $12.4 billion, while gross margin fell 300 basis points to 40.6%, which it attributed primarily to higher tariffs in North America. A basis point is one-hundredth of a percentage point.
“NIKE is in the middle innings of our comeback,” Hill said in the earnings release. Nike also said its “demand creation” expense — the company’s term for marketing — rose 13% to $1.3 billion in the quarter. Nike Investors
With U.S. markets closed on Thursday for the New Year’s Day holiday, investors’ next chance to test the 2026 thesis will come when trading resumes on Friday. For Nike, the near-term focus remains whether new product and marketing spending can translate into more full-price demand, while costs and China trends do not worsen.
