Nike‘s running business has been a bright spot, but analysts still want to see more from the brand.
During the fourth quarter conference call Tuesday, chief executive officer Elliott Hill said “Running grew $5 billion — $1 billion over the last five quarters, and we gained five market share points.”
He also noted that those five quarters were “consecutive quarters of double-digit growth in Nike Running,” and that the points gained in the running market share in statement footwear during Fiscal Year 2026 across Western Europe and North America was “more than any other top five brand.”
Building on that momentum, Hill said Nike launched the After Dark Tour in Shanghai, which will reach seven cities this fall.
“Last year, 50,000 runners joined and one-third were first-time runners. And with our expanded reach, we expect even more impact,” Hill said. “Being more local matters. It deepens connection, it builds loyalty and it creates a pull makret for our brands and products.”
Hill added: “As we strengthen Nike Inc.’s foundation, we’re taking decisive action across our supply chain to lower cost, streamline operations and rightsize our distribution network to match the demand ahead.”
While the Nike Running playbook has led the way in its turnaround efforts, Hill also spoke about efforts to sharpen its focus with consumers.
“We’ve had great response with the sharp, sharp focus on the consumer, whether it’s product, whether it’s in the investments we’ve made on the ground in retail,” he said, citing to the growth in Nike Running as proof that focus strategy is working.
For the three months ended May 31, net income was $1..07 billion, or 72 cents a diluted share, from $211 million, or 14 cents, in the same year-ago period. Revenues slipped 1 percent to $10.97 billion from $11.1 billion. Total Nike brand revenues — including sales of Jordan Brand shoes — for footwear slipped 1 percent to $7.10 billion from $7.19 billion in the same year-ago quarter. For the full year, footwear revenue was essentially flat at $29.53 billion from $29.51 billion.
BNP Paribas analyst Laurent Vasilescu noted that for Nike Running, “We know from the prior earnings calls that running grew high-single-digit percent in the fourth quarter of Fiscal 2025, and over 20 percent in the [first three quarters] of Fiscal 2026 and then slowed to up middle-single digits in the [fourth quarter].”
While the category is just over $5 billion in revenue across the past five quarters, his estimate over a four-quarter basis is the Nike Running is at $4.4 billion, or 10 percent of overall company revenues.
“Nike Running was $4 billion on a wholesale equivalent basis in Fiscal Year 2021, which by our wholesale equivalent math gets us to $5.5 billion reported revenues,” he said. “Simply put, Nike Running is still not where it was in Fiscal Year 2021 despite years of inflation and a multi-year running boom.”
He believes that there’s “excessive hope in Nike turning around with just 10 percent of the business returning to where it was in Fiscal Year 2021,” and is hoping that Nike will provide more clarity when it holds its Investor Day in November.
Hill did say on the call that the company has dedicated teams in its Sport Offense initiative going against each consumer category from from basketball to football and other sports, noting that the company sees “momentum gaining in training, tennis, golf and outdoor.”
He also noted that in the second half of fiscal year 2027, which starts next January, the sportswear division “is going to introduce more than a dozen new footwear styles. And it’s not just going back to the Vault and doing old retro shoes. It is leveraging innovation, and you’ll see some newness and freshness coming in new silhouettes.”
Hill added that the team is moving quickly to reposition the business to be “more community-driven on the ground, working with local creators, authentic storytelling and product. We’re investing in accelerating our local product creation as well. You’ll see us leverage that more around the world.” He did note that it would take some time to scale up, but reiterated confidence that this repositioning was the right track.
Meanwhile, a new Vomero Plus 2 shoe is coming this fall. Other product introductions in the quarter inclded the Pegasus 42 running shoe and the latest iterations of the Mercurial soccer boot.
While Nike lowered its first half sales outlook, that should be offset by stronger gross margin. And Nike said gross profit is now expected to increase beginning in the fiscal first quarter, one quarter ahead of plan.
