Ahead Of Nike's Q4 Results

(RTTNews) - Athletic footwear and apparel retailer NIKE Inc. (NKE) will be releasing its Q4 financial results after the bell on Thursday, June 28, 2018.

Year-Ago Numbers:

Revenues - $8.4 billion Net income - $1.1 billion EPS - $0.68.

The Beaverton, Oregon-based company now sees "a significant reversal of trend in North America, as momentum accelerates through the scaling of new innovation platforms and differentiated NIKE Consumer Experiences expand across the marketplace."

In Focus:

Wall Street analysts estimate earnings of $0.64 per share on revenue of $9.41 billion for the quarter. The company expects Q4 reported revenue to grow in the high single digit range, reflecting continued strength in its international geographies and the reversal of trend it is building in North America.

NIKE remains focused on consumer demand to drive strong sustainable profitable growth over the long-term. Also, the company said it remains confident that it "will deliver on the growth and profitability expectations that we have previously communicated for fiscal year 2018 excluding the one-time impact of U.S. tax reform."

Nike North America revenue is now projected to be roughly flat to prior year in Q4 and return to growth in the first half of fiscal year '19.

For fiscal 2019, the company currently expects reported revenue growth in the mid to high single-digit range citing continued international momentum and its return to growth in North America.

Sees Strong Gross Margin Expansion...

The company expects fourth-quarter gross margin to be roughly flat to very slightly up versus the prior year, demonstrating "progressively stronger currency neutral gross margin expansion that will be almost fully offset by transactional FX headwinds albeit lesser transactional FX headwinds than in prior quarters."