Nike, Inc. (NKE) Stock Price & How to Invest

Nike is the world's largest athletic footwear and apparel company, designing, marketing, and selling shoes, clothing, and equipment under the Nike and Jordan brands, plus Converse. Nike does not own most of its manufacturing: it outsources production to contract factories largely in Asia and focuses on design, branding, and marketing, where its swoosh logo and athlete endorsements give it unrivaled brand power. Revenue comes from two channels: wholesale (selling to retailers like Foot Locker and Dick's Sporting Goods) and Nike Direct (its own stores, the Nike app, and Nike.com), the latter carrying higher margins and direct customer relationships. The Jordan Brand is a major profit engine on its own. Nike's competitive advantages are its brand, scale, marketing reach, and innovation in performance products. In recent years the company has worked through challenges including a costly shift toward direct-to-consumer that strained wholesale partnerships, inventory and discounting issues, and competition from newer brands. Founded in 1964 (as Blue Ribbon Sports) and headquartered in Beaverton, Oregon, Nike is a large-cap consumer brand with a 24-year dividend-growth streak, undergoing a turnaround under CEO Elliott Hill.

The turnaround has taken longer than investors hoped. Fiscal 2026 (ended May 31, 2026) revenue was about $46.4 billion, roughly flat with fiscal 2025 and well below the $51 billion of fiscal 2024, and net income slipped to about $3.1 billion. In the fiscal first quarter of 2027 (ended August 31, 2026), revenue fell about 4.3% to roughly $11.21 billion and Greater China sales dropped about 22%, though gross margin improved about 60 basis points to roughly 42.8% and EPS of $0.48 edged past the $0.44 consensus. Management now expects fiscal 2027 revenue to decline by a high-single-digit percentage, with operating profit falling faster and adjusted EPS of $1.15 to $1.35, and it has said discounting to clear excess wholesale inventory will weigh on margins. The stock closed at about $37.51 on October 16, 2026, down about 41% year to date and about 44% over one year, near the low end of a 52-week range of roughly $31.97 to $70.44. A November investor day, where management plans to present a five-year financial framework, and the usual November dividend decision are the next markers; fiscal second-quarter results are expected around mid-December.

Nike has faced disappointing growth, inventory and discounting pressure, and self-inflicted wounds from an overaggressive direct-to-consumer pivot that alienated wholesale partners. Revenue fell about 4.3% in the August 2026 quarter, Greater China dropped about 22%, and fiscal 2027 guidance calls for a high-single-digit sales decline with operating profit falling faster. Competition has intensified from established rivals (Adidas, Puma) and fast-rising challengers (On, Hoka, New Balance) that have taken share, particularly in running. Dividend coverage has thinned: fiscal 2026 free cash flow of about $2.18 billion fell short of roughly $2.41 billion in dividends, and the payout ratio is near 79% of trailing earnings, so the size of the November dividend decision is a real question. The business is exposed to consumer-spending cycles, China demand and geopolitical risk, currency swings, and supply-chain and tariff exposure given Asian manufacturing. A turnaround takes time and is not guaranteed; margins can stay pressured during the reset.

36 analysts publish price targets on NKE, averaging $37.67 against a $37.13 price as of October 2026, or +1.5%. The published targets run from $19.00 to $94.00, a wide spread, and the ratings split 10 buy, 25 hold, 7 sell. Over the last six months there have been 0 raises and 12 cuts among the published actions. A price target is what an analyst published on a date, not a prediction, and sell-side ratings skew positive across the whole market.

Read the full NKE forecast and price target for the target table, the recent rating actions by firm, and how the consensus has shifted.

We give no verdict on Nike, Inc.. Both cases are real, which is why the question is contested at all, so here is the strongest version of each.

The case for buying. Dominant global brand. Nike's swoosh is one of the most recognized logos in the world, backed by decades of athlete endorsements and marketing. The most optimistic published target, $94.00, assumes this works close to its best case.

The case against. Nike has faced disappointing growth, inventory and discounting pressure, and self-inflicted wounds from an overaggressive direct-to-consumer pivot that alienated wholesale partners. The most pessimistic target, $19.00, is roughly what NKE is worth if this bites instead.

Read the full bull and bear case on NKE, including what would have to change to break either one. Walnut is not an investment adviser.

No. Nike, Inc. (NKE) has not split its stock in the last 10 years. That is a statement about the window we check rather than about the company’s entire history, so an older split is possible. It also matters less than it once did: fractional shares mean a high price per share no longer keeps smaller investors out, which removed most of the practical reason to split.

A simple financial snapshot. These are approximations and refresh quarterly; for current figures see Nike, Inc.'s investor relations page or your broker.

• Revenue (TTM): ~$45.9 billion (latest quarter -4.3% YoY)
• Gross margin: ~43% TTM (~42.8% in Q1 FY2027, +60 bps)
• Operating margin: ~8%
• EPS (TTM): ~$2.08; FY2027 adjusted EPS guidance $1.15-1.35
• P/E (trailing / forward): ~18x / ~23x
• Dividend: $0.41 quarterly ($1.64/yr), ~4.4% yield, 24 straight annual increases
• Market cap: ~$56 billion (share price ~$37.51, Oct 16, 2026)
• Free cash flow: ~$1.8 billion TTM; ~$2.2 billion in FY2026

Nike's valuation has compressed sharply, to about 1.2 times sales, as revenue shrinks and earnings fall. The forward P/E of about 23 times is higher than the trailing 18 times because analysts expect fiscal 2027 EPS to drop about 17% to roughly $1.28 before recovering, so the stock is cheap on sales but not on near-term earnings. The 36 analysts covering it lean Hold with a mean target near $37.67, about where the shares trade, and the November investor day is the next chance for management to reset the long-term targets.

If you want NKE exposure as part of a larger bundle rather than directly, these ETFs hold it meaningfully. Weights are approximate and refresh quarterly.

These are the investment theses NKE naturally fits into. Each links to a full theme guide listing every other stock that belongs and the ETFs commonly used as a passive proxy.

Other names that sit close to NKE: same theme, named as a direct competitor, or held beside it in the same funds. Each entry says which. Worth a look if you are thinking about diversification within a thesis rather than concentration on one ticker.

There are three common ways to get NKE exposure. Buy shares (or fractional shares) directly at any major broker. Hold an ETF that includes it (SDY), which spreads the position across many companies. Or build it into a focused thematic portfolio, so NKE sits alongside other stocks that express the same thesis.

Walnut takes the portfolio route. Describe a thesis where NKE fits (for example “AI infrastructure” or “dividend-growth large-caps”) and the AI proposes 5 to 6 constituents with target weights. You review the plan and fund it through your own broker when you're ready.

New to this? Start with how to invest in stocks, see how to analyze a stock with AI, or compare the best AI stock analyzers.

Nike (NKE) is an iconic consumer-discretionary brand with 24 straight years of dividend increases whose investment case now hinges on a turnaround in growth, margins, and wholesale relationships rather than its former premium momentum. Management guides fiscal 2027 revenue down by a high-single-digit percentage and adjusted EPS to $1.15 to $1.35, and the stock has fallen about 44% over the past year to a market cap near $56 billion. In a portfolio it behaves as a large-cap consumer holding with a high yield and real execution risk, sensitive to discretionary spending, China demand, and tariffs, and less defensive than its dividend record alone suggests.

Whether NKE is worth buying today depends more on your time horizon and what you already hold than on any single call. We walk through valuation, what would have to go right, and the risks in is NKE a buy or a sell?, and where the stock could go from here in the NKE stock forecast.

For income investors, whether NKE pays a dividend and how the payout looks is covered in does NKE pay a dividend? And to weigh NKE against a peer, read the full side-by-side comparisons: NKE vs AMZN and NKE vs COST.