Nike Stock Fell After Earnings: Sales Down 4%, China Down 26%, and a Layoff Plan With No Number
- 🔑 Nike’s revenue for the quarter ended August 31, 2026 was $11,213 million, down 4% as reported and 5% currency-neutral, while net income was $712 million, down 2%. This was a sales problem rather than a profit collapse: pretax income was $921 million against $922 million a year earlier.
- Greater China revenue fell 26% on a currency-neutral basis (22% as reported) to $1,180 million, and Converse fell 28% to $263 million. By our own subtraction of two reported figures, China accounts for $332 million of the $507 million total revenue decline, about 65%.
- Nike’s Pace program targets about $2.5 billion of cumulative savings through fiscal 2031 against about $1.0 billion of pre-tax charges, primarily employee-related. Nike disclosed no job count. The CEO said the work will result in fewer roles, with decisions beginning in calendar 2027.
- NIKE Direct sales fell 8% and digital fell 13%, so the direct channel is still shrinking. Wholesale also slipped 1%, because North America wholesale rose 9% while Greater China wholesale fell 28%. One quarter does not show whether this is a lasting direction.
- Nike shares closed at $35.15 on October 1 and at $33.87 on October 2, the first session after the results, down 3.6%. Every price here is a dated close, and this page contains no forecast, price target or analyst rating.
- Nike said on October 1 that it expects fiscal 2027 revenue to decline by a high-single-digit percentage and adjusted diluted EPS of $1.15 to $1.35, which excludes about $0.15 of Pace restructuring expense. These are the company’s expectations, not ours, and are not compared with analyst estimates here.
Nike stock fell after a quarter in which sales dropped 4%, Greater China dropped 26%, and the company announced a cost-cutting plan, Pace, without saying how many jobs it will cost. Profit was about flat, so this was a sales problem rather than a profit collapse.
Every business figure below comes from Nike’s own release and filing, and every share price is a dated closing price.
How far did Nike stock fall after earnings?
Nike shares closed at $33.87 on Friday, October 2, 2026, down 3.6% from $35.15 on Thursday, October 1, the session before the results. Nike released its fiscal 2027 first-quarter results after the market closed on October 1.
Friday’s close was the lowest since September 2013 on a split-adjusted basis, and the shares are down about 47% since the last close of 2025 ($63.71 on December 31), counting price only and not dividends. During Friday’s session the stock opened near $32.55 and traded as low as $31.97 before recovering, which is why reported moves for the day varied with the hour. The close is the figure used here.
A one-day move cannot be pinned on one line of the release. It carried a sales decline, a full-year revenue expectation from Nike and a restructuring plan, all covered below.
What did Nike report for the quarter?
Revenue for the quarter ended August 31, 2026 was $11,213 million, down 4% as reported and 5% currency-neutral, while net income was $712 million, down only 2%.
| Metric | Q1 FY27 | Change |
|---|---|---|
| Revenue | $11,213m | −4% |
| Gross margin | 42.8% | +60 bps |
| Pretax income | $921m | flat |
| Net income | $712m | −2% |
| Diluted EPS | $0.48 | from $0.49 |
Nike attributes the 60-basis-point gross-margin gain primarily to lower warehousing and logistics costs. Selling and administrative expense fell 3% to $3,910 million: overhead dropped 6%, while demand creation, driven by marketing for key sports events, rose 5%.
That is close to the reverse of the picture in our earlier FY2026 analysis , where sales were holding while profit fell by roughly a third in each of three quarters. This time sales fell and profit barely moved.
Where did the sales decline come from?
Mostly Greater China, where revenue fell 26% on a currency-neutral basis, and Converse, which fell 28%.
| Region | Sales | Reported | Neutral |
|---|---|---|---|
| North America | $5,127m | +2% | +2% |
| EMEA | $3,176m | −5% | −5% |
| Greater China | $1,180m | −22% | −26% |
| Asia Pacific & Latin America | $1,463m | −2% | 0% |
| Converse | $263m | −28% | −28% |
Our own subtraction of two figures Nike reports puts numbers on it. Total revenue fell $507 million from $11,720 million, and Greater China accounts for $332 million of that, about 65%. Converse accounts for $103 million. Against the NIKE Brand decline of $410 million, which excludes Converse, China’s share is about 81%. These are our calculations, not company statements.
Greater China’s earnings before interest and taxes fell 34%, to $248 million from $377 million.
Which parts of Nike are weakest?
Nike named three: NIKE Sportswear, Jordan Brand and Greater China. In its prepared remarks for the October 1 call, Nike said Sportswear, just under half of the quarter’s revenue, was down low double digits, including a planned cut of nearly 50% in Dunk revenue worth roughly $200 million. Jordan Brand, 13% of the business, was down in the mid-teens as Nike reduces retro releases. In China, Nike said cleaning up its digital distribution would take multiple seasons.
Nike also said its Performance business grew high single digits, helped by the World Cup.
Is Nike’s direct-to-consumer reversal continuing?
Partly: NIKE Direct fell another 8%, but this time wholesale slipped too, by 1%. NIKE Direct was $4,142 million, with digital down 13% and Nike-owned stores down 5%. Wholesale was $6,804 million.
The split by region matters. North America kept the FY2026 pattern: wholesale up 9%, direct down 6%. In Greater China, wholesale fell 28% and direct fell 13%. One quarter does not settle whether the shift is a direction or a phase.
What is Pace, and how many jobs will it cost?
Pace is Nike’s new operating-model program, and Nike has not said how many jobs it will cost: neither the release nor the SEC filing gives a headcount.
What Nike did disclose:
- About $2.5 billion in cumulative savings through fiscal 2031, before charges and reinvestment.
- About $1.0 billion in pre-tax charges through fiscal 2031, primarily employee-related, on top of about $0.3 billion of severance recognized in fiscal 2026. About $0.3 billion is expected in fiscal 2027.
- Four elements: a modernized supply chain, a new campus in India, a realignment into three geographies, and further streamlining of the organization.
CEO Elliott Hill told employees the work will result in “fewer roles across Nike.” Decisions on affected roles begin in calendar 2027, and he said media figures are speculative because Nike does not yet know the number or location of roles. Nike’s call remarks put the move to the three geographies (the Americas; Asia Pacific and Greater China; Europe, Middle East and Africa) in fiscal 2028.
Earlier rounds in 2026 had numbers. Reports at the time put January’s cut at about 775 distribution-center jobs and April’s at about 1,400 roles, mostly in technology. Pace has no number, and we do not estimate one.
What has Nike said about the rest of fiscal 2027?
On October 1, Nike said it expects fiscal 2027 revenue to decline by a high-single-digit percentage and adjusted diluted EPS of $1.15 to $1.35. The adjusted figure is a non-GAAP measure that excludes about $0.15 of Pace restructuring expense, and Nike expects a tax rate in the mid-20% range. Fiscal 2027 ends May 31, 2027.
Those are Nike’s expectations as of October 1, not ours. We do not forecast the stock, and we do not compare Nike’s figures with analyst estimates.
What happens next?
Nike’s Investor Day is scheduled for November 16-17, 2026. The company said it will share more on its next phase of growth, its financial plan and how Pace supports it. Its fiscal second-quarter report has normally come in late December.
For the full-year picture that preceded this quarter, see our FY2026 analysis . This page describes what was published and is not investment advice.