Nike faces earnings pressure as UBS cuts price target

Retail & Consumer Retail Edited by: Angela Harmantas 12:22 Fri 18 Sep 2026 --> Disclaimer No investment advice About this content Editorial Standards & Policies Share article About this content × About Read more About the publisher Proactive financial news and online broadcast teams provide fast, accessible, informative and actionable business and finance news content to a global investment audience. All our content is produced independently by our experienced and qualified teams of news journalists. Proactive news team spans the world’s key finance and investing hubs with bureaus and studios in London, New York, Toronto, Vancouver, Sydney and Perth. We are experts in medium and small-cap markets, we also keep our community up to date with blue-chip companies, commodities and broader investment stories. This is content that excites and engages motivated private investors. The team delivers news and unique insights across the market including but not confined to: biotech and pharma, mining and natural resources, battery metals, oil and gas, crypto and emerging digital and EV technologies. Use of technology Proactive has always been a forward looking and enthusiastic technology adopter. Our human content creators are equipped with many decades of valuable expertise and experience. The team also has access to and use technologies to assist and enhance workflows. Proactive will on occasion use automation and software tools, including generative AI. Nevertheless, all content published by Proactive is edited and authored by humans, in line with best practice in regard to content production and search engine optimisation. Nike Inc ( NYSE:NKE XETRA:NKE ) View Price & Profile Nike faces earnings pressure as UBS cuts price target Published: 12:22 18 Sep 2026 EDT Nike Inc. (NYSE:NKE, XETRA:NKE) faces weaker earnings expectations as UBS cut its price target by 13% to $42, citing deteriorating global sales trends ahead of its first-quarter report. UBS expects first-quarter earnings for financial year 2027 to miss consensus by $0.05 per share, with implied second-quarter guidance of $0.31 to $0.43 against consensus of $0.53. The broker’s new financial year 2027 earnings estimate is $1.30 per share, below the roughly $1.55 it identified as buy-side consensus. UBS flagged the risk that management could reset expectations lower for that financial year in the upcoming report, ahead of November’s investor day. Its target cut reflects a 13% reduction in its FY2029 earnings estimate to $2.00 per share, valued at 21 times earnings. UBS channel checks suggest Nike’s global sales growth trend deteriorated over the past three months. The broker estimates US direct-to-consumer sales fell by a mid-single-digit percentage in the first quarter, versus consensus expectations of a 0.4% decline. It also flagged pressure on direct-to-consumer sales in Europe, the Middle East and Africa, European wholesale trends and sales in China. UBS pricing data indicated higher promotional activity than a year earlier in Nike’s direct-to-consumer channel during the first quarter. The broker maintained its "neutral" rating because it expects Nike to perform in line with peers over the next 12 months. The shares traded at $35.89, down 1%, on Friday afternoon. Continue reading