S&P Raises NIKE Inc. (NKE) from 'A+' to 'AA-'; Outlook Stable

Standard & Poor's Ratings Services said today it raised its corporate credit rating on Beaverton, Ore.-based NIKE Inc. (NYSE: NKE) to 'AA-' from 'A+'. The outlook is stable. We also raised our unsecured debt rating to 'AA-' from 'A+'.

"The one notch upgrade reflects our view that NIKE's financial policy will remain "conservative" and that credit measures, supported by consistently solid operating performance, will remain strong," said credit analyst Linda Phelps. "We believe NIKE's strong credit metrics and liquidity provides good cushion given the highly competitive nature of the company's business, susceptibility of its products to changing consumer preference, and the possibility of modest changes to the company's longer-term financial policy, as we are uncertain what change in financial advice might arise if the company's founder relinquishes his currently significant control. Accordingly, we are revising our financial risk descriptor to "minimal" from "modest"."

Our rating outlook on NIKE is stable. We expect NIKE's credit measures to remain very strong while supporting the company's ongoing growth initiatives. Additionally, we believe NIKE's operating performance will be relatively stable. Read More :  Nike Inc.

NIKE Inc. (NYSE:NKE) – New Puma CEO seeks to return company to sporting roots

Germany’s Puma will return to its sporting roots to restore growth to the struggling brand whose profits crashed 70 percent last year, the group’s new chief executive said. Puma ranks a distant third in the sports apparel industry behind Nike and Adidas and CEO Bjoern Gulden’s turnaround plan breaks with the company’s efforts over two decades under former chief Jochen Zeitz to strike a chord with fashion-led consumers. “We are a sports company, not a sports lifestyle company,” Bjoern Gulden told journalists, speaking in public for the first time since taking the helm in July. Gulden wants Puma, which is 84 percent owned by French luxury group Kering, to go back to its roots in football and athletics, sports he thinks it has neglected.

  

Nike, Inc. (NKE), currently valued at $68.12B, began trading this morning at $75.59. Shares have traded today between $75.58 and $76.63 per share with a one year range of $44.83 to $77.66. NKE shares are currently priced at 25.17x this year’s forecasted earnings, which makes them relatively inexpensive compared to the industry’s 33.79x earnings multiple. Read More : Nike, Inc. (NKE)

A Day in the Life of Nike CEO Mark Parker

WERE YOU TO RUN into Mark Parker, Nike's NKE -1.38%  CEO, on the company's pristine Beaverton, Oregon, campus, you might mistake him for one of the 21 PhDs who work in the athletic powerhouse's top-secret research lab.

Creative-casual duds (blazer, polo, jeans, Nike Roshe sneakers) and a professorial bearing (quiet intonation, short beard, slight stoop) make it difficult to square this somewhat unassuming figure with his position as the fourth-highest-paid head executive in the country. A fanatical devotion to sneaker design and a technical fluency rare among CEOs propelled the 58-year-old Nike lifer to the top perch of the footwear and apparel giant, which has reached annual revenues of $24 billion, up 60 percent since he was appointed in 2006. Nike CEO Mark Parker

Nike Names New Vice President of Action Sports

NIKE, Inc. (NKE) announced that effective immediately Scott LeClair, 47, currently the Brand’s VP and GM of Nike Skate and Nike Snow, will become Nike’s new Vice President of Action Sports. He will be responsible for leading the category as well as for Hurley International, LLC. Nike veteran Roger Wyett, 56, who was previously in the role, has decided to retire.

LeClair joined Nike in 1992 and has led Nike’s skate and snow business since June 2012. He has held previous roles in North America and was GM of Nike’s West Territory based in Los Angeles, before moving to Japan to lead the running category and then the merchandising function. He will report to Jayme Martin, VP & GM of Global Categories.

“We’re very pleased that Scott will lead us forward. He is a proven leader with strong brand expertise and his deep knowledge of Action Sports will be instrumental as we continue to build our business globally. Read More : Nike Sport

NIKE, Inc. Announces Target for FY17 Revenues of $36 Billion

NIKE, Inc. NKE +1.09%  today provided an overview of its progress on key strategic initiatives to achieve sustainable, profitable long-term growth. During an investor meeting at its world headquarters in Beaverton, Ore., the Company stated it expects to deliver revenues of $30 billion by fiscal year 2015, at the top end of its previously announced fiscal year 2015 target range of $28-30 billion and shared a new fiscal year 2017 revenue target of $36 billion. Additionally the Company reaffirmed its long-term financial model of high single-digit revenue growth, mid-teens earnings per share growth and expanding returns on capital.

"NIKE, Inc. is designed to win. We've never been better positioned to capitalize on the opportunities ahead of us," said NIKE, Inc. President and CEO Mark Parker. "We have a strong management team and we are accelerating our innovation agenda to create products and services that drive growth in the marketplace, deliver exciting retail experiences globally and expand the capabilities of our powerful supply chain. We will continue to serve the athlete, reward our shareholders, manage risk, and lead our industry." Read more.

Nike's Move app brings Fuelband skills to your iPhone 5s

During the iPhone 5s launch, Apple decided to show off its fancy new M7 co-processor with Nike+ Move. The free fitness app brings FuelBand-esque features to your smartphone, without the need to buy a $150 wearable.

Nike was keen to stress that the app is only an "introductory experience," so if you still want to brag about how much of an athlete you are, you're still gonna wanna splash out on an SE. Read More : Nike's

NIKE Inc. (NYSE:NKE) – Nike Golf’s Lightest Carry Bag Ever: The Nike Sport Lite

New bag weighs in at less than four pounds. Golfers are always striving to keep their numbers low, and Nike Golf designers took that same approach when it came to crafting the new Nike Sport Lite carry .

Nike, Inc. (NKE), with a current market cap of $67.71B, started trading this morning at $76.04.
A quick look at the market, the company’s traded between $75.14 to $76.25 and has traded between $44.83 and $76.89 over the past 12 months.

NKE shares are currently priced at 24.96x this year’s forecasted earnings, which makes them relatively inexpensive compared to the industry’s 30.04x forward p/e ratio.

And for income investors, the company pays shareholders $0.84 per share annually in dividends, yielding 1.10%.

Consensus earnings for the current quarter by the 26 sell-side analysts covering the stock is an estimate of $0.58 per share, which would be $0.01 better than the year-ago quarter and a $0.03 sequential decrease. The full-year EPS estimate is $3.05 which would be a $0.36 improvement than last year’s full-year earnings. Read more : Nike, Inc. (NKE)

Nike, Inc. Dividend Stock Analysis

NKE is trading at a premium to all four valuations above. The stock is trading at a 79.2% premium to its calculated fair value of $42.24. NKE did not earn any Stars in this section.

NKE earned two Stars in this section for 1.) and 2.) above. A Star was earned since the Free Cash Flow payout ratio was less than 60% and there were no negative Free Cash Flows over the last 10 years. The stock earned a Star as a result of its most recent Debt to Total Capital being less than 45%. The company has paid a cash dividend to shareholders every year since 1984 and has increased its dividend payments for 11 consecutive years. NIKE.