3 key takeaways from Nike’s Q4 earnings report

Nike Inc (NYSE: NKE) reported its financial results for the fiscal fourth quarter on Thursday that topped Wall Street estimates. The company attributes its hawkish performance to higher whole shipments.

1. Financial performance

Nike swung to $1.51 billion of profit in the quarter that concluded on 31^st May. In the same quarter last year, it had reported $790 million of loss instead. On a per-share basis, the American multinational earned 93 cents in the fourth quarter versus the year-ago figure of 51 cents of per-share loss.

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Nike generated $12.34 billion of sales in Q4 – a close to 100% annualised growth from last year’s $6.31 billion. According to FactSet, analysts had forecast the company to post $11 billion of sales in the recent quarter. Their estimate for per-share profit stood at 51 cents.

2. Other notable figures

Other notable figures in Nike’s earnings report on Thursday include $4.5 billion of direct sales, or a 73% annualised growth. Digital sales in the fourth quarter were up 41% on a year over year basis. At 45.8%, the gross margin jumped 850 basis points in Q4.

According to the sports apparel, footwear, equipment, and accessories manufacturer, its reported revenue for fiscal 2021 printed at $44.5 billion. Its fourth-quarter revenue was 141% up in North America and 124% up in EMEA.

In separate news from the United States, Darden Restaurants also published its quarterly financial results on Thursday.

3. CFO Matt Friend’s remarks

Commenting on the quarterly financial update on Thursday, CFO Matt Friend said:

“NIKE’s brand momentum is a testament to our authentic consumer connections, digital strength and continued operational execution. As we advance our consumer-led digital transformation, we are building a new financial model that will continue to fuel long-term sustainable, profitable growth for NIKE.”

The news comes weeks after the Bank of America rated Nike Inc at ‘Neutral’.

Impact on the share price

Nike shares were reported about 5% up in after-hours trading on Thursday. Including the price action, the stock is now exchanging hands at $140 per share that matches the price at which it had started the year 2021.

Nike has recovered from a low of $68 per share in March 2020 when the impact of the Coronavirus pandemic was at its peak. At the time of writing, the Beaverton-headquartered company is valued at $211 billion and has a price to earnings ratio of 63.07.