Nike says strong demand boosts sales, profit in 2Q; results top Wall Street forecasts

Nike Inc. says strong consumer demand helped boost its second-quarter revenue and profit.

The athletic shoe and clothing company reported late Thursday that it earned $655 million, or 74 cents per share, for the period that ended Nov. 30. That's up 23 percent from the $534 million, or 59 cents per share, earned last year. Revenue jumped 15 percent to $7.38 billion from $6.43 billion.

Nike's profit got a boost from the strong sales growth, improved margins and fewer outstanding shares.

The results topped Wall Street expectations. Analysts surveyed by Zacks Investment Research were anticipating earnings of 70 cents per share on revenue of $7.16 billion.

Nike also said that its worldwide futures orders, which are orders scheduled for delivery from December through April, rose 7 percent. Analysts watch that number closely as an indicator of demand for the current quarter.

But the futures order included a drop in Japan and emerging markets.

Investors, apparently spooked by that blip on the radar, sent shares of Beaverton, Oregon-based Nike's shares down 2.5 percent in extended trading to $94.65.

Through the close of trading Thursday, Nike's have risen 23 percent since the beginning of the year, while the Standard & Poor's 500 index has climbed 12 percent.

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Elements of this story were generated by Automated Insights using data from Zacks Investment Research. NKE stock research report from Zacks.

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Keywords:Nike,Earnings Report