:max_bytes(150000):strip_icc()/GettyImages-2236638228-2e0dc7a9f07349a9842cf7f1bad17ce7.jpg "How the Sneaker Stock Is Approaching Break-Even")
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Key Takeaways
- Nike’s stock remains well below its 2023 close, but they’ve nearly reached break-even for 2025 as more investors have bought into the company’s turnaround plan.
- Now some analysts think the stock can keep climbing—and perhaps snag a triple-digit price tag again for the first time since early last year.
Nike has just about done it.
By that, we mean neither teamed up with a Kardashian nor reworked the brand’s legendary tagline—though that stuff is happening too. We’re talking about the sneaker and athleticwear company’s shares, which finished 2024 above $75 apiece and closed below $54 in April, have almost round-tripped, finishing Tuesday just under $71.
They’re still more than a third below where they ended 2023, recalling the steep drop that led to the replacement of Nike’s (NKE) CEO with Elliott Hill, the current chief, and well off 2021’s record highs. But there’s optimism behind the shares that has some analysts looking toward triple-digit prices for the stock for the first time since March 2024.
Why This News Is Significant
Nike remains one of the world’s best-known brands, but the company has had to fight especially hard for its share of consumer dollars lately, illustrating how even the most storied companies can grow stale. Now the widely held stock, a Dow component, has climbed its way back toward break-even for 2025, with some investors saying its turnaround is more than a fad.
Hill was brought back after a bad fiscal fourth quarter and downbeat outlook had investors fleeing the iconic company’s stock. Investors, it now appears, have bought back in ahead of another quarterly update set for next week.
Wall Street analysts, too, are increasingly on board. Their mean price target, recently above $80, is only a 13% premium to Tuesday’s close, and more now say things have improved.
Baird analysts on Monday called Nike a “fresh pick,” citing the possibility of guidance-beating result—the company on a June conference call said it expected fiscal first-quarter revenue to fall in the “mid-single digits”—and upbeat signals about inventory, sales quality and product innovation as “key indicators the turnaround is real.” They have an $88 price target on the stock.
Bank of America, which has a slightly more cautious $84 target, expects the latest results to reflect a solid back to school season but also trimmed projected gross margins, citing tariff concerns.
There’s still a range of outlooks on the shares. Several analysts tracked by Visible Alpha are currently calling for the stock to fall, though “buy” ratings are still the most common. On the bull side, Baird’s target is the highest around; Morgan Stanley on Monday lifted its target, but only to $70.
Baird, for its part, thinks the longer-term outlook could have the shares back above $100 apiece. The stock, its analysts wrote, “can work toward the low-to-mid $100/share range over 18-24 months.”
