While a recent slowdown in consumer spending has threatened to curtail U.S. retail sales, Nike’s first quarter fiscal earnings indicated that the world’s largest sporting retailer has been largely unphased. Sales in the US fell by a marginal 2%, with the company making no mention of demand concerns during its latest earnings call.
“We continue to see consumer demand for our brands and for our products to be very, very strong,” CFO Matthew Friend confirmed to investors, affirming his belief that consumers will remain resilient. Furthermore, the company expects sales to rise during the upcoming holiday shopping season.
Nike shares rose by over 6% on Friday following the positive assessment. Barclays consumer discretionary senior analyst Adrienne Yih feels that while consumers may disregard certain brands when their spending power is limited, they will continue to show loyalty to their favorite brands. “their favorite brand they continue to spend at,” Yih observed, adding that “I think that’s what you’re seeing with the power of Nike being the No. 1 brand both domestically and globally.”