By Nicholas P. Brown and Ananya Mariam Rajesh
(Reuters) -New Nike CEO Elliott Hill’s plan to refocus on sports that are core to its brand like basketball and running allayed some investor worries on Friday, but Wall Street initially was taking a wait-and-see approach to the promised comeback.
The longtime Nike executive returned to the company in October to steer a turnaround that investors hope will help reverse several quarters of weak sales and revive the Nike brand, which has taken a hit as rivals step in with more innovative footwear.
In his first public address as CEO on a post-earnings call on Thursday, Hill said Nike had “lost its obsession with sport” and vowed to put it back on track after a period where its focus on direct-to-consumer sales left it with high inventories, necessitating steep discounting.
Shares of Nike, which have lost about half of its value in the last three years, were down 1.5% on Friday morning. The company is valued at a discount to its peers and it has struggled to match upstart rivals.
“The recovery is going to be a multi-year process, but he(Hill) seems to be going back to the roots, back to Nike being Nike,” said John Nagle, chief investment officer at Kavar Capital Partners, which owns Nike shares.
“(Hill plans to shift focus) away from some of the streetwear and fashion that had taken over the brand, the heavy discounting and the neglect of retailers. Just taking it back to what worked,” Nagle said.
Still, at least 10 brokerages cut price targets on the stock, with some analysts pointing to the lack of a clear timeline for Nike’s return to growth.
“Nike will turn but the turn will take time,” wrote Barclays analyst Adrienne Yih, as “the reset actions will take a material toll on profit margins and sales growth”.
Nike’s forward price-to-earnings ratio for the next 12 months, a benchmark for valuing stocks, was 27.53, compared with 33.47 for Deckers and 32.32 for Adidas.
Morgan Stanley’s Alex Straton said Nike’s trajectory is likely to get worse before it can get better as the inflection point for growth remains uncertain.
Hill said a lack of newness led Nike to rely on promotions and plans to sell more products at full price on its website and app.
Nike in the past year has lost out to rival brands, including Roger Federer-backed On and Deckers’ Hoka, who lured consumers with fresher and more innovative styles.
Hill is also looking to reverse certain strategy missteps under the former CEO that soured its relations with retailers such as Foot Locker.
Earlier this month, Foot Locker CEO Mary Dillon said Hill was “taking the right actions for the brand” and the retailer was “working closely” with Nike to emphasize newer sportswear styles, including Vomero and Air DT Max.
“A rudderless ship now has a rudder, and a sailor who knows how to drive it,” said Eric Clark, portfolio manager at the Rational Dynamic Brands fund that owns Nike shares.
(Reporting by Nicholas P. Brown in New York and Ananya Mariam Rajesh in Bengaluru; Writing by Aishwarya Venugopal; Editing by David Gaffen and Arun Koyyur)
