NEW YORK, January 1, 2026, 10:15 ET — Market closed
- Nike shares rose about 4% in the last session after an SEC filing showed CEO Elliott Hill bought roughly $1 million of stock.
- Hill purchased 16,388 Class B shares at a weighted average price of $61.10 and reported holding 241,587 shares after the trade.
- Investors are watching for margin and China-demand signals after Nike’s recent quarterly update flagged tariff costs and discounting pressure.
Nike Inc. shares climbed about 4% on Wednesday, Dec. 31, after a regulatory filing showed Chief Executive Elliott Hill bought about $1 million worth of the sportswear maker’s stock.
The stock last traded at $63.71, up $2.55 from the prior close, in the final U.S. trading session of 2025.
The insider buy matters now because investors have been looking for concrete signs of conviction as Nike works through a reset that has weighed on profits. Open-market insider buying — when executives or directors purchase shares with their own money — is often read as a confidence signal, though it is not a forecast.
Nike has been under pressure since its December earnings update, when it flagged margin headwinds tied to tariffs and discounting, while sales in China continued to weaken. Shares fell sharply on that report, and the stock’s rebound since then has depended largely on evidence that demand and pricing are stabilising.
A Form 4 — the SEC filing that discloses insider trades — showed Hill bought 16,388 Class B shares on Dec. 29 at a weighted average price of $61.10. The filing, dated Dec. 30, reported Hill held 241,587 shares after the transaction.
The move came as broader U.S. trading volumes stayed light into the holiday and major indexes ended 2025 lower. Reuters reported U.S. markets are closed on Thursday for New Year’s Day.
Hill’s purchase follows recent insider buying at Nike’s board level. Apple CEO Tim Cook, a longtime Nike director, bought about $3 million of Nike shares last week, Reuters reported.
“For Tim Cook to be an inside buyer is a modest positive,” David Sowerby, portfolio manager at Ancora Advisors, said in the Reuters report. Reuters
Nike’s turnaround plan has leaned on rebalancing its product mix toward core sports categories and rebuilding ties with wholesale partners, after the company pushed hard into selling direct-to-consumer — meaning sales through Nike’s own stores and websites rather than third-party retailers.
The strategy has carried a near-term cost. In the quarter ended Nov. 30, Nike’s gross margin fell 300 basis points — or three percentage points — while sales in China dropped 17% for a sixth straight quarterly decline, Reuters reported.
Before the next session on Friday, Jan. 2, traders will look for follow-through above the $64 area after Wednesday’s intraday high of $64.19. A slide back toward roughly $62 would put Wednesday’s low of $61.96 back in view.
On the U.S. calendar, weekly jobless claims are due at 8:30 a.m. ET and construction spending at 10:00 a.m. ET on Jan. 2, according to the New York Fed’s economic indicators calendar.
Next week brings the ISM manufacturing survey on Jan. 5 and the U.S. employment report for December on Jan. 9, releases that can move consumer stocks if they shift expectations for interest rates.
For Nike, the next major checkpoint is its next quarterly report, expected on March 19, according to Yahoo Finance’s earnings calendar. Investors will be watching for any easing in margin pressure and signs that China demand is stabilising, alongside updates on tariff impacts and promotions.
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