Nike will release its fiscal first-quarter earnings report on Thursday after market close, as the sportswear retailer continues its turnaround efforts under Chief Executive Officer Elliott Hill.
Analysts surveyed by LSEG expect earnings per share of 43 cents on revenue of $11.32 billion.
For the second fiscal quarter, consensus estimates project revenue of about $11.79 billion, with an expected annual total of $45.31 billion.
China Weakness and North America Pressure
The report arrives amid operational pressure, including a 12% quarterly sales decline in China and underperformance in North America, where revenue fell to $4.83 billion.
Nike management previously signaled that revenues for the first half of fiscal 2027 would remain largely flat.
Evercore ISI analyst Michael Binetti outlined the headwinds in a recent research report.
"Nike's last guidance gave visibility to revenues decelerating from -1% year over year in F4Q26 to down low/mid-single digits in F1Q27, and then decelerating further from that in F2Q27," Binetti said.
He added that Nike has already lowered its embedded China assumptions and discussed improving innovation for Spring 2027.
Binetti also noted that since the F4Q call, the brand has seen cancellations or negative order revisions from retailers for Spring 2027, which he believes will translate to further negativity in Nike's F2H27 revenue outlook.
He further said upcoming leadership transitions and strategic meetings could shape how executives communicate short-term expectations to investors.
"While Nike has hinted that it would likely not reintroduce annual guidance until the November analyst day, we think with a new CFO joining, it might make sense to signal F2H27 revenues lower on this call," Binetti said.
Recent operational changes include the transition of the chief financial officer role to David Denton in August, following the previous tenure of Matt Friend.
Nike previously received a brief financial boost from a $986 million tariff refund during its preceding quarter, adding 52 cents per share to earnings.
Broader macroeconomic headwinds and category sluggishness recently prompted Bank of America analysts to downgrade Nike stock from neutral to underperform.
The equity has dropped more than 40% year-to-date and remains down over 50% from its 12-month peak.
Nike executive management will conduct an analytical conference call at 5 p. m.
ET to detail the complete financial results.
