- Nike (NYSE:NKE) opens up 3.69% after FQ3 results satisfy investors. The company is also catching some positive spins from sell-side analysts on the quarter.
- Nomura reiterates a Buy rating and lifts its price target to $74, pointing to the "cleaner" inventory position and subsiding F/X pressures.
- Telsey Advisory keeps an Outperform rating and $77 price target, noting the accelerating pace of Nike's improvement in North America and "strong slate" of innovation.
- Stifel Nicolaus and Bloomberg Intelligence both like the early reception to Nike's new products and see opportunities to scale up the introductions. "There is clearly more excitement from consumers out there about the new styles than a year ago," notes BI analyst Chen Grazutis on Nike's assortment.
- Nike's lifestyle air platform in particular seems to be gaining momentum. CEO Mark Parker explained the positive reception of the platform on the earnings conference call (transcript) last night.
- Parker: "Both the Air Vapormax and the Airmax 270 are fueling energy across our Nike Air family of products. With more air innovation in the pipeline, we now expect to grow the Nike Air business by several billion dollars over the next few years. The greater scale of these platforms will create greater impact on our business into Q4 and beyond."
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