Shares in Nike (NKE:NYSE) surged on Wall Street after the world’s biggest sportswear company announced (19 September) that Elliott Hill was coming out of retirement to take over as chief executive amidst slowing revenue growth, intense competition from Adidas (ADS:ETR), On Running and Hoka and concerns about the success of its pivot to direct-to-consumer sales.

First quarter results on 1 October will provide a swansong for John Donahoe, who retires on 13 October 2024 after a rocky stint running the iconic American sportswear firm, though he will remain an advisor until January 2025 to ensure a smooth transition.

Investors will hope first-quarter sales were no worse than the 10% plunge Nike guided to at the fourth-quarter results in June, when it also slashed its full-year 2025 guidance due to ‘uneven consumer trends’ around the globe with sales proving stubbornly soft in China.

An investor day on 19 November 2024 will provide the first opportunity for Hill, a 32-year Nike veteran who retired in 2020, to set out his strategy for turning round the sneakers-to-soccer balls titan which is in the middle of a restructuring having lost sight of innovation.

Challenges facing product guy Hill following his four-year Nike absence include rising competition, reinvigorating innovation and the need to rebuild relationships with wholesale retail partners.

Nike’s adjusted earnings per share of $1.01 for the fourth quarter to May 2024 beat the 83 cents expected by Wall Street thanks to its cost-cutting drive, but revenue of $12.61 billion was shy of the $12.84 billion analysts were looking for, while revenue in North America, the Oregon-based behemoth’s biggest market, came in below market expectations at $5.28 billion. 

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