Nike price target lowered to $79 from $88 at Stifel

Stifel analyst Jim Duffy lowered the firm’s price target on Nike to $79 from $88 and keeps a Hold rating on the shares. The firm’s Back to School athletic footwear survey suggests broad-based competitive pressures in the U.S. market, notes the analyst, who sees risk to both prevailing guidance for FY25 revenue and the prevailing market expectations for an inflection to revenue growth in fiscal Q4 given Nike’s footwear share loss, “rapidly waning relevance of core franchises,” and lacking indicators that newness is resonating in the market. In that context, the firm is “proactively cutting” estimates for FY25 and FY26 footwear revenue and earnings power, the analyst tells investors.