By Dhirendra Tripathi
Investing.com – Nike (NYSE:NKE) jumped 12% in Friday’s premarket trading as the company swung back to profit in the fourth quarter on a near-doubling of revenue.
The company also forecast fiscal 2022 revenue will topg $50 billion, more than analysts’ estimate of $48.46 billion, according to Refinitiv.
Nike's digital sales boomed and so did its membership model, as consumers bought more sportswear, shoes and comfortable clothing. The Jordan brand also continued to resonate with its fans.
Net income for the quarter ended May 31 was $1.5 billion, and diluted earnings per share was $0.93 compared to a net loss for the fourth quarter of 2020 of $790 million and a net loss per share of $0.51.
Revenue rose 96% to $12.3 billion and was 21% higher compared to the fourth quarter of 2019, the last quarter before the start of the pandemic.
Operating overhead expense increased 16% to $2.7 billion as wage-related expenses weighed and the company invested more in technology.
Pointing out to continuing strong demand, the company said its inventory at the end of May was down 7% from a year ago.
Nike’s optimism is in line with what its rivals, Adidas (OTC:ADDYY) and Puma, have also outlined.
At Adidas (DE:ADSGN), net income from continuing operations is projected to increase to a level of between 1.25 billion euros and 1.45 billion euros ($1.48 billion and $1.72 billion) from 461 million euro in 2020.
Puma (DE:PUMG) expects “at least moderate sales growth with upside potential” to “mid-teens sales growth” for the full year.
Adidas stock rose 5.3% to a new post-pandemic high in Germany on Friday while Puma stock rose 1.7% to a new all-time high.