Nike reported higher profits due to cost-cutting efforts Thursday, but shares fell sharply on the company’s tepid outlook despite a hoped-for boost from the upcoming Olympic Games.
The sports giant, which has been criticized in recent times over a lack of innovation and strategic stumbles, reported a dip in quarterly revenues as executives cited a number of headwinds.
These included a drop in Nike’s lifestyle business, a decline in digital sales and weakness in some key markets such as China, said Chief Financial Officer Matthew Friend, adding that these factors influenced Nike’s dampened fiscal 2025 projections.
“We are managing a product cycle transition with complexity amplified by shifting channel mix dynamics,” Friend told analysts on a conference call. “A comeback at this scale takes time.”
Nike reported profits of $1.5 billion in the fiscal fourth quarter of 2024 ending May 31. That’s a surge of 45 percent from the year-ago …