By Richa Naidu and Aishwarya Venugopal
CHICAGO (Reuters) - Strong online sales and demand from Chinese shoppers and students heading back to school are expected to have helped Nike (N:NKE) swing back to a profit in the first quarter, a sequential improvement from the surprise loss it posted in July, according to Refinitiv.
With malls and department stores like J.C. Penney (N:JCP) shutting shops due to COVID-19 lockdowns, people turned to e-commerce, buying significantly more products directly from Nike's website. In the fiscal fourth quarter, Nike reported a 75% rise in online sales and Wall Street analysts expect this to continue - at least nine have raised their price targets on the stock in the last two weeks.
E-commerce sales are now nearly a third of Nike's total revenue – a goal Nike had previously set for 2023. Nike's first-quarter adjusted sales in China are also expected to have grown by more than 10% as official lockdowns there all but ended.
Particularly in North America, sales in the global athletic footwear and apparel industry have picked up, and Nike will get a boost from the new back-to-school dynamic, said Wedbush analyst Christopher Svezia.
Portland, Oregon-based Nike is expected to post a net profit of $729 million in the most recent quarter, versus a loss of $790 million in the fourth quarter, according to Refinitiv.
To save costs and target investment online this year, the company said in July it would cut corporate jobs starting Oct. 1 and end nine major retail contracts, including deals with department store Dillard's (NYSE:DDS) and Amazon.com-owned (O:AMZN) shoe retailer Zappos. Nike in July scrapped plans to open a major shoe plant in Arizona in favor of investments elsewhere.
The company has invested this year in marketing itself as a supporter of high-profile social and political movements like Black Lives Matter and Time to Vote, and launched a new maternity line and several inclusive ad campaigns.