A FIFA World Cup advantage and new launches were supposed to put Nike back in the picture heading into the company’s fiscal ****, but outgoing CFO Matthew Friend said that the sportswear giant is now expecting revenue to be down low to mid-single digits even as margins expand and North America growth seems to see a healthy rise.
He noted that the second quarter will have a sequential deceleration from the first quarter in **** due to some unique factors equating to a multi-point headwind, including higher digital promotions in the prior year in Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) and timing of North America wholesale shipments.
“Nike might be a little healthier than it once was, but it has still ended its fiscal year with a whimper rather than a bang. All of this underlines that the turnaround is taking longer than anticipated and is only delivering in fits and starts,” GlobalData Managing Director of Retail Neil Saunders said.
