Market Currents

• Thursday, December 17, 2009

• 16:27 PM Nike (NKE): Finished its fiscal second quarter having purchased $2.9B in shares under a $3B repurchase program; when it wraps, the company will start on a four-year $5B repurchase program authorized last year. Shares now +2.5% AH. (PR) 2 Comments
• 16:17 PM Nike (NKE): FQ2 EPS of $0.76 beats by $0.05. Revenue of $4.4B (-4%) in-line. Gross margins 44.5% vs. prior-year 44.7%. Worldwide futures orders of $7B up 4% from prior year; North American futures orders down 4%. Shares +1.4% AH. (PR) Comment!
• 00:10 AM Notable post-market earnings: ACN, DRI, NKE, ORCL, PALM, RIMM, TTWO Comment!

• Thursday, December 10, 2009

• 08:23 AM Sources say Gillette (PG) may renegotiate its corporate sponsorship of Tiger Woods. On Tuesday, Gatorade (PEP) dropped the golfer despite intense lobbying from his agent. Contrary to reports that the break was strictly about poor sales, a company insider says Gatorade seized on the scandal to break from a deal that had already gone bad. Nike (NKE) is said to be backing Tiger, but his deal with Accenture (ACN) is also thought to be on shaky ground. Comment!

• Tuesday, December 8, 2009

• 16:49 PM Big changes at Tiger Woods Inc. after reports of extramarital affairs: Marketers have pulled all ads related to the golfer from prime-time TV, which touches a number of affiliated brands ([[ACN]], [[AXP]], [[ERTS]], [[NKE]], [[PEP]]). Gatorade (PEP) has discontinued its "Tiger Focus" sub-line - though that plan was in place before Woods' Nov. 27 car accident. Comment!

• Wednesday, September 30, 2009

• 09:27 AM Nike (NKE) is entering a "favorable basketball product cycle" driven by players with star power not seen since Michael Jordan, Goldman says, lifting shares to Buy after yesterday's earnings beat. Sounding a bullish tone, firm adds, "With the first sign of sales stabilization this quarter, we expect investors’ perspective to shift from downside risks to upside opportunities." NKE +6.5% premarket. 1 Comment

• Tuesday, September 29, 2009

• 16:17 PM Nike (NKE): FQ1 EPS of $1.04 beats by $0.07. Revenue of $4.8B (-12%) vs. $4.9B. Future orders down 6%. Shares +0.7% AH. (PR) Comment!
• 00:10 AM Notable earnings after Tuesday's close: DRI, JBL, MDRX, MU, NKE, WOR, ZZ Comment!

• Thursday, June 25, 2009

• 14:53 PM V-shaped recovery... W... U...? On Nike's (NKE) FQ4 conference call, CEO Mark Parker advocates the swoosh - a quick drop followed by a measured yet consistent recovery. 3 Comments
• 09:00 AM Premarket gainers: JAZZ +47%. TWB +20%. HTZ +10%. BBBY +5%. LEN +4%. SLM +4%. JEF +4%.
  Losers: INSM -48%. RHT -6%. HEB -5%. PAYX -5%. NVLS -5%. NKE -5%. MTL -5%. CTIC -4%. FSLR -4%. AIB -4%. Comment!

• Wednesday, June 24, 2009

• 16:26 PM Nike (NKE): FQ4 EPS of $0.99 beats by $0.03. Revenue of $4.7B (-7%) vs. $4.72B. Says worldwide futures orders down 12% to $7.8B. Shares -5% AH. (PR) Comment!
• 00:10 AM Notable earnings after Wednesday's close: BBBY, NKE, PAYX, RHT Comment!

• Thursday, May 14, 2009

• 18:11 PM Nike (NKE) to reduce its workforce by 5%, or 1,750 jobs worldwide. In February, Nike said it would cut jobs. Comment!

• Tuesday, May 12, 2009

• 11:56 AM Nike (NKE) -4.3% after Sterne Agee downgrades shares to Sell. Firm's checks indicate more apparel is being sold at greater discounts, which will pinch margins or lead to bloated inventories or both. Also notes competitors are seeing significant weakness in Eastern Europe and Asia, from where Nike derives 46% of its revenue. Comment!

• Thursday, March 19, 2009

• 09:01 AM Premarket losers: ARE -9%. GGP -8%. DDR -7%. NKE -4%. FDX -4%. JAVA -3%. UPS -3%.AU -3%. Comment!

• Wednesday, March 18, 2009

• 16:23 PM Nike (NKE): FQ3 EPS of $0.99 beats by $0.20. Revenue of $4.44B (-2.3%) vs. $4.48B. Future orders from March-July are 10% lower than same period last year. (PR) Comment!