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 and Dividend Aristocrat undergoing a turnaround.

Nike has faced disappointing growth, inventory and discounting pressure, and self-inflicted wounds from an overaggressive direct-to-consumer pivot that alienated wholesale partners. Competition has intensified from established rivals (Adidas, Puma) and fast-rising challengers (On, Hoka, New Balance) that have taken share, particularly in running. 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. The stock has de-rated from prior highs, and while the brand remains powerful, restoring growth, full-price selling, and innovation credibility is an execution challenge under new leadership.

34 analysts publish price targets on NKE, averaging $50.52 against a $38.12 price as of September 2026, or +32.5%. The published targets run from $23.00 to $94.00, a wide spread, and the ratings split 11 buy, 25 hold, 3 sell. Over the last six months there have been 0 raises and 9 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, $23.00, 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): ~$48 billion
• Gross margin: ~43-44% (pressured by discounting; targeted to recover)
• Operating margin: ~10-12%
• EPS (TTM): ~$3.00, down from prior peaks
• P/E (TTM): ~25x
• Dividend yield: ~2%, a Dividend Aristocrat with decades of increases
• Nike Direct share: Roughly 40%+ of revenue
• Free cash flow: Several billion annually

Nike trades at a valuation that has compressed from its premium highs, reflecting slowing growth, margin pressure, and competitive share losses, balanced against an iconic brand and a long dividend-growth record. The multiple embeds expectations for a turnaround in growth and margins. It has historically re-rated when innovation and full-price selling recovered and stayed subdued during execution stumbles.

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 (XLY), 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 and Dividend Aristocrat whose investment case now hinges on a turnaround in growth, margins, and wholesale relationships rather than its former premium momentum. In a portfolio it behaves as a large-cap consumer holding with dividend-growth support and execution risk, sensitive to discretionary spending, China demand, and tariffs, less defensive than its Aristocrat label 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.