New York — Friday, December 26, 2025 (2:05 p.m. ET): Nike, Inc. stock is trading in a thin, post‑Christmas market session with major U.S. indexes near record territory. In midday action, Nike (NKE) is hovering around $60.40, up about 0.7% on the day, as investors weigh a headline-grabbing insider purchase, management’s “comeback” narrative, and renewed debate over how quickly margins can recover amid tariffs and a still-challenging China backdrop. [1]
Nike stock price check: where NKE is trading right now
As of the latest trade, NKE is at about $60.40, with an intraday range of roughly $59.94 to $60.92 and volume around 14.8 million shares—a level that fits the “holiday-thin” liquidity theme across U.S. equities today. [2]
That price area is notable because Nike has been trying to stabilize after a volatile stretch following its most recent earnings update and subsequent analyst recalibrations. [3]
The market backdrop: “Santa Claus rally” meets quiet liquidity
Nike is trading against a year-end tape defined by light participation and index levels near records. Reuters described U.S. stocks as hovering near all‑time highs in thin post‑Christmas trading, with investors still focused on AI leadership, rate expectations, and positioning into year-end. [4]
The “Santa Claus rally” window—often cited as the last five trading days of December plus the first two of January—has also been front and center in market commentary this week. CBS News (via AP) noted the seasonality and emphasized that volumes tend to be thin even when the period is historically constructive for equities. [5]
For Nike investors, that matters: lower liquidity can exaggerate intraday moves, so price action around technical levels can look “louder” than the underlying fundamentals may justify.
Why Nike stock has been in focus: Tim Cook’s $3 million buy
One of the most important Nike-specific catalysts this week has been a major insider purchase by Apple CEO Tim Cook, a long-time Nike board member. Reuters reported that Cook bought about $3 million worth of Nike shares—50,000 shares at $58.97—nearly doubling his personal stake. [6]
The move stood out not only for the size but also for the signaling value. Reuters quoted Jonathan Komp (Baird Equity Research) describing Cook’s purchase as a positive signal for Nike’s progress under CEO Elliott Hill and the company’s “Win Now” actions. [7]
Reuters also highlighted a more cautious take from David Sowerby (Ancora Advisors), who framed the insider buying as “a modest positive” while pointing to lingering concerns around innovation, inventory, and share losses to competitors. [8]
Translation for investors: insider buys don’t “fix” fundamentals by themselves, but they can reset sentiment—especially when they arrive after a difficult earnings reaction and during a liquidity-thin holiday tape.
What Nike just reported: fiscal 2026 Q2 results and the key pressure points
Nike’s latest official update—its fiscal 2026 second quarter (ended Nov. 30, 2025)—captured both stabilization and strain:
- Revenue:$12.4 billion (about +1% reported, flat currency-neutral)
- Wholesale revenue:$7.5 billion (+8%)
- Nike Direct revenue:$4.6 billion (-8%)
- Gross margin:40.6% (down 300 basis points)
- Diluted EPS:$0.53
- Net income:$792 million (down 32%)
- Inventory:$7.7 billion, down 3% year over year (Nike cited fewer units, partially offset by higher product costs tied in part to tariffs) [9]
The geographic detail continues to matter. In Nike’s divisional tables, Greater China total revenue fell 17% year over year for the quarter—one of the most closely watched fault lines in the Nike story. [10]
On messaging, CEO Elliott Hill positioned the turnaround as ongoing, saying Nike is “in the middle innings of our comeback,” while CFO Matthew Friend emphasized real-time decision-making in a “dynamic operating environment.” [11]
Guidance: what management is telling investors about the next quarter
For many shareholders, the single biggest takeaway from Nike’s latest earnings cycle has been the forward setup, not the backward-looking beat.
A detailed earnings-call transcript carried by Investing.com reports Nike expects:
- Fiscal Q3 revenue:down low single digits
- Fiscal Q3 gross margin:down ~175–225 basis points
- Management also described tariffs as a meaningful headwind; the transcript cites commentary that, excluding tariff-related impacts, gross margin expansion would have been positive in Q3. [12]
Investor’s Business Daily also summarized Nike’s Q3 outlook as low-single-digit revenue declines, with continued pressure in China and Converse, but modest growth expected in North America. [13]
This is the crux of the bull/bear tug-of-war: can Nike regain pricing power and normalize promotions fast enough to rebuild margin, while also reigniting demand in Greater China?
Analyst forecasts and price targets: a wide range, and a market looking for proof
Nike’s analyst tape right now is best described as “divided.” There are credible signs of brand resilience, but also active skepticism on timing and margin repair.
UBS: “Neutral” stance, $62 target, brand signals improving
UBS maintained a Neutral rating with a $62 price target, citing takeaways from its global sportswear survey. UBS said Nike’s brand remains strong and improving year over year, and highlighted that consumers report Nike product availability is better—an effect UBS links to Hill’s renewed emphasis on wholesale distribution. [14]
Multiple banks trimming targets after earnings
That same UBS write-up lists a series of post-earnings adjustments across Wall Street, including target cuts or revisions from Truist, Piper Sandler, BofA Securities, and others, reflecting continued China and Converse headwinds even as North America shows comparatively better momentum. [15]
Wells Fargo and the bullish camp
On the more constructive side, coverage notes have pointed to a potential inflection as Nike works through internal disruptions and inventories. Investor’s Business Daily referenced Wells Fargo optimism around margin improvements and growth returning by fiscal 2026, even while acknowledging the near-term pressure points. [16]
Separately, a Nasdaq.com item (sourced to Fintel) said Wells Fargo maintained an Overweight stance, and it cited an average one-year price target around $85.01 (with a wide dispersion of forecasts). [17]
Where “consensus” sits in market-data summaries
Market-data aggregators show a generally positive but not unanimous Street posture. For example, StockAnalysis lists an average price target around $78.65 (roughly 30% upside from around $60) and an overall “Buy” consensus in its compiled analyst view. [18]
What this means: Nike is no longer trading like a “clean” growth compounder. It’s trading more like a turnaround-with-a-brand-moat—and in that regime, time-to-recovery drives valuation as much as the recovery itself.
Valuation snapshot: what investors are paying for Nike’s turnaround
At around $60, Nike’s market profile looks like this (per StockAnalysis market data):
- Market cap: about $89B
- P/E ratio: about 35
- Dividend: about $1.64 annualized, roughly 2.7% yield
- 52‑week range: about $52.28 to $82.44 [19]
That valuation tells two stories at once:
- The brand still earns a premium multiple relative to many apparel peers.
- The market is still “pre-paying” for recovery—meaning Nike has less room for execution stumbles than a single-digit P/E cyclical would.
What’s changing under CEO Elliott Hill: “Win Now” and the wholesale reset
Nike’s near-term narrative is tightly tied to CEO Elliott Hill and his “Win Now” effort. Business Insider reported that Hill’s strategy focuses on rebuilding Nike’s sports identity and improving execution, including efforts to repair wholesale relationships—an important shift after Nike’s earlier push toward direct-to-consumer dominance. [20]
UBS’s survey-based commentary similarly points to improved product findability and stronger sports credibility perceptions—data points that, if sustained, can support a better revenue and margin mix over time. [21]
What investors should watch for the rest of today’s session
Because it’s 2:05 p.m. ET and the NYSE core session is still open, today’s close can matter more than usual, especially with thin liquidity:
- Closing auction behavior (3:50–4:00 p.m. ET): holiday imbalance can create sharp prints into the bell
- Any new analyst notes hitting the tape late-day
- Macro-sensitive rotation: Nike sits in consumer discretionary—often sensitive to rates, the dollar, and risk appetite [22]
If you’re planning the next session: what to know before the next trading day
Even though the market is open right now, many readers will see this after hours. Here’s the practical checklist to carry into the next session:
1) Know the NYSE schedule and “normal” hours
The NYSE core trading session runs 9:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. ET, with pre-opening beginning early in the morning (and holiday exceptions). NYSE’s official hours and calendar page is the best source to confirm early closes and holidays. [23]
2) Watch for filings tied to insider activity
After a headline insider buy like Tim Cook’s, investors often monitor for:
- additional Form 4 disclosures from directors/executives
- follow-on commentary from analysts who cover governance signals [24]
3) Track margin drivers: tariffs, promotions, and inventory
Nike’s own commentary and transcript details put tariffs and gross-margin pressure at the center of the next-quarter debate, alongside promotional intensity and digital/Direct trends. [25]
4) Keep an eye on the macro calendar into year-end
Reuters’ “week ahead” coverage flagged that the market is watching rate expectations closely, including upcoming Fed communications. For discretionary names like Nike, rates and consumer confidence can influence the multiple investors are willing to pay while they wait for operational recovery. [26]
Bottom line: Nike stock is stabilizing, but the next leg depends on margins and China
Nike’s stock is acting constructively today near $60, supported by a broadly firm year-end market and a confidence-boosting insider purchase. But the stock’s next sustained move is likely to hinge on two questions investors keep circling:
- Can Nike rebuild gross margin despite tariff pressure and elevated demand-creation spend? [27]
- Can the company arrest the slide in Greater China while wholesale reacceleration offsets Direct softness? [28]
With Wall Street price targets stretching from the low $60s to the $80s (and beyond), Nike is entering 2026 as a stock that can reward patience—but one that is also demanding clearer proof that the “comeback” is translating into durable profitability. [29]
References
1. www.reuters.com, 2. www.reuters.com, 3. www.reuters.com, 4. www.reuters.com, 5. www.cbsnews.com, 6. www.reuters.com, 7. www.reuters.com, 8. www.reuters.com, 9. investors.nike.com, 10. investors.nike.com, 11. investors.nike.com, 12. www.investing.com, 13. www.investors.com, 14. www.investing.com, 15. www.investing.com, 16. www.investors.com, 17. www.nasdaq.com, 18. stockanalysis.com, 19. stockanalysis.com, 20. www.businessinsider.com, 21. www.investing.com, 22. www.nyse.com, 23. www.nyse.com, 24. www.reuters.com, 25. www.investing.com, 26. www.reuters.com, 27. www.investing.com, 28. investors.nike.com, 29. www.investing.com
