Brean Capital’s Eric Tracy expressed continued concern regarding Nike Inc (NYSE: NKE)'s ongoing cyclical slowdown in North America, which offsets international growth
levers to a large extent while upside catalysts appear to be limited over the near term.
Tracy maintains a Hold rating on the company.
Risk/Reward Balanced
Although the recent pullback has improved the risk/reward profile, the analyst believes a combination of near-term headwinds and
limited upside catalysts create a relatively balanced risk/reward.
Q2 Guidance Achievable
Tracy also pointed out that management set a low bar
for Q2, and the revenue +MSD guidance was achievable, despite checks suggesting domestic trends continue to be choppy and
several of the recent Jordan launches have received tepid responses.
Growth in North American
futures significantly decelerated in Q1, driven by a market resent, although the analyst believes Nike’s revenue growth could
outperform over the next few quarters, catalyzed by the at-once/reorder business and the growing DTC mix.
Margin Pressure
In addition, gross margin pressure is expected to continue into the second half and remain a headwind through FY 2017, “with
pressure going beyond discrete items (FX, shift of operating overhead into COGS, higher mix of off-price sales) called out in
1Q.”
Tracy noted that checks also indicated promotional activity had been stepped up during the holiday season.
At last check in Monday's pre-market session, Nike shares were slightly up (up 0.06
percent) at $50.95.
Latest Ratings for NKE
Date |
Firm |
Action |
From |
To |
Dec 2016 |
Cowen & Co. |
Downgrades |
Outperform |
Market Perform |
Dec 2016 |
HSBC |
Upgrades |
Hold |
Buy |
Nov 2016 |
Wedbush |
Initiates Coverage On |
|
Neutral |
View More Analyst Ratings for
NKE
View the Latest Analyst Ratings
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