Nike stock price witnessed a bumper opening on Friday as it surged 15% in early trading, a day after announcing its plans to shift the production away from China.
The rally in Nike stock price came amid strong momentum on Wall Street with benchmark indices nearing record highs.
The S&P 500 climbed 0.4% on Friday to close at a record 6,168.60, edging past its previous all-time high of 6,147.43 set on February 19.
The Nasdaq Composite also set a new record, gaining 0.3% to finish near 20,218. Meanwhile, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose by 156 points, or 0.4%.
3 reasons why Nike stock is rising today?
The investors seem happy about Nike reducing its dependence on China.
The news comes as a relief amid rising uncertainty around US President Donald Trump’s tariff plans and China’s strong response to the same.
Although President Donald Trump has announced a trade deal with China, investors remain cautious, knowing that with Trump in office, agreements can unravel at any moment.
Secondly, Nike reported its quarterly earnings on Thursday and the numbers were above market expectations.
Nike reported quarterly earnings of $0.14 per share, beating the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $0.12.
However, that’s a sharp drop from the $1.01 per share it posted in the same quarter last year. These figures exclude one-time items.
The latest results reflect a positive earnings surprise of 16.67%.
In the previous quarter, Nike was projected to earn $0.28 per share but delivered $0.54 instead, marking a surprise of 92.86%.
The company has consistently outperformed earnings expectations, beating consensus EPS estimates in each of the past four quarters.
For the quarter ending May 2025, Nike generated $11.1 billion in revenue, topping analyst forecasts by 3.56%.
This, however, was down from $12.61 billion in the same period a year earlier. Notably, Nike has exceeded revenue expectations in three of the last four quarters.
The market’s reaction to these numbers and the stock’s near-term direction will largely hinge on insights from the company’s earnings call.
The third and final reason behind Nike’s surge today seems to be increased investor confidence as the company has made a turnaround from sluggish demand in recent quarters.
The turnaround has been fueled in part by new CEO Elliott Hill, who is working to regain lost ground in the running market through fresh product launches.
Nike has ramped up investment in key lines like the Pegasus and Vomero, while aggressively clearing out aging inventory such as the Air Force 1 and Air Jordan 1.
As part of a broader overhaul, Hill is also focused on rebuilding ties with wholesale partners and increasing Nike’s footprint in brick-and-mortar retail.
Nike stock: What analysts say?
Nike is currently viewed favorably by most analysts, with the overall consensus landing at a “Moderate Buy,” according to MarketBeat.
The average price target stands at $78.04.
Data from Public.com shows that out of 55 analysts, 38% have given Nike a Strong Buy rating, 25% recommend a Buy, 33% suggest holding the stock, and only a small fraction (4%) advise selling or strong selling.
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