Nike is still dominating in the North American market, however, at least some analysts have noticed shortcomings for the sportswear brand as one of its main competitors continues to grow.
Reuters found that Nike missed the mark on it's fourth-quarter revenue expectations, which rose nearly 6% to $8.24 billion, when expected to rise 9% to $8.28 billion. Similarly, analysts predicted that Nike's North American "future orders" demand for June through November would be 9%, however, 6% was the reality at the end of the fourth quarter, according to the same report.
Brian Yarbrough, analyst for Edward Jones, told The Fashion Law, "You are seeing more people moving towards Adidas," which is no surprise considering the German-made brand continues to deliver A1 collaborations. As of late, Adidas has teamed up with Palace, Pharrell, Raf Simons, not to mention its Yeezy stores will be coming soon.
Nike's competitors continue to strategize; The Fashion Law reported that Adidas has increased marketing spending and has begun an agreement with Wang Jianlin’s Dalian Wanda Group Co. in China to expand soccer and basketball in the country, which the brand can then capitalize on. Key sponsorship deals with athletes like Steph Curry, despite his trash sneaker release, have lead to some growth for Under Armor.
Nike is not facing a death sentence at the moment, obviously, but their rivals are staging some fierce competition during a bad market period. Perhaps we'll see some extreme Nike heat being dropped in the near future, like their collab with Olivier Rousteing and Riccardo Tisci.
A representative for Nike did not immediately return a request for comment.
