Nike's earnings were higher than expected, but the stock fell as the company said it was withdrawing its financial forecasts for the full year and postponing what would have been the first investor day in seven years.
The maker of athletic gear is in the midst of switching chief executives. Current CEO John Donahoe is retiring later this month and will be succeeded by company veteran Elliott Hill, Nike said in September. Because of the transition, Nike pulled its full-year guidance, although it provided what it called "additional color" to help investors understand management's latest view of what is happening with the business.
"Looking forward, our revenue expectations have moderated since the start of the year, given traffic trends on Nike digital, retail sales trends across the marketplace, and final order books for spring," said Matthew Friend, Nike's chief financial officer, on an earnings call Tuesday.
Guidance issued with the company's June earnings report called for full-year revenue to be down by a percentage in the mid-single digits, with the first half down in the high single digits.
Gross margins will decline throughout the year compared with the prior year as the company makes a push for newness and innovation, Friend added.
While the company withdrew its full-year forecast, it intends to keep providing quarterly guidance, Friend said. For the second fiscal quarter, the three months through November, Nike expects revenue to be down by 8% to 10% compared with last year, he said. Analysts polled by FactSet were expecting a roughly 7% decline. Gross margins will fall by 1.5 percentage points because of higher markdowns.
Nike also said it was postponing its previously announced investor day, scheduled for November. The stock was down 5.3% in after-hours trading.
The company reported earnings of 70 cents a share, ahead of the consensus call for 52 cents among analysts tracked by FactSet. The outperformance stemmed from an overall improvement in gross margin, which increased 1.2 percentage points to 45.4% thanks to lower production costs and price increases from last year.
Compared with Nike's performance a year ago, however, even the earnings beat looks a bit soft.
Net income fell 28% year over year to $1.1 billion this quarter. Revenue was 10% lower than a year ago, falling to $11.6 billion, roughly in line with expectations. Direct-to-consumer sales declined 13% year over year, while wholesale revenue fell 8%.
"Nike's first quarter results largely met our expectations. A comeback at this scale takes time, but we see early wins -- from momentum in key sports to accelerating our pace of newness and innovation," Friend said. "Our teams are energized as Elliott Hill returns to lead Nike's next stage of growth."
Investors had been invigorated by Hill's appointment in hopes the executive could help Nike correct course and bring back the company's winning streak. Nike shares have rallied 10% since the Sept. 19 announcement, while the S&P 500 has ticked up just about 1.6%. The stock is still down 18% this year.
Many analysts had been bracing for a soft first quarter from Nike. The company has been steadily losing market share to competitors, which has taken a toll on sales growth across its global markets. First-quarter revenue declined in all four of Nike's main global divisions, with North America seeing the biggest shortfall, down 11% from a year ago.
Even analysts who are upbeat on the stock had set a low bar for the report. Deutsche Bank analyst Krisztina Katai, for instance, lowered her first-quarter sales and gross margin forecasts last week, though she reiterated a Buy rating and slightly increased her price target to $95 from $92.
In the longer term, however, Katai was optimistic that Hill will help turn the company around. "We think a narrative of gradual improvement will be well received, which should put shares on an upward trajectory as NKE charts a course for renewed growth and market leadership," Katai wrote last week.
Jefferies analyst Randal Konik had a more tempered view after the report was released. He noted that the company has many issues ahead, and that the new CEO hasn't even started yet, so it will take time before his initiatives help improve performance. The big sales decline in North America may also suggest that Nike's market-share losses are growing.
The bottom line, he wrote, is that the "deck [is] not cleared yet."
