Nike’s net income rose 23% to $1.18bn, or $1.34 per share, in the fourth quarter, higher than the $1.19 analysts on average had expected.

Reuters/New York

Nike reported a better-than-expected profit for the ninth straight quarter as the world’s largest sportswear maker sold more products at higher prices and benefited from increased sales in its owned stores and internet business.
Shares of the company, already up 19% this year, rose 7.5% in extended trading after it also posted a better-than-expected rise in “futures orders” growth.
New footwear launches in the basketball, running, and sports categories are helping Nike draw customers toward higher-priced products and its direct-to-consumer (DTC) channel, while the “athleisure” trend is driving sales of athletic apparel.
The push drove a 90 basis-point increase in gross margins to 47.5% in the first quarter ended August  31.
The company has also managed to gain traction among younger customers by leveraging social media and its mobile apps.
Investments in product innovation and gathering feedback and data on customers’ fitness activities are also helping Nike get ahead of its rivals, Edward Jones analyst Brian Yarbrough said, calling the first-quarter results “extremely impressive”.
The company’s orders scheduled for delivery from September through January, a gauge of demand it calls “worldwide futures orders”, rose 17%, excluding currency changes, at the end of the first quarter.
Analysts on average had expected futures orders growth to slow to 10.3% from 13% at the end of the fourth quarter, according to Consensus Metrix.
Nike said futures orders grew 27% in China, excluding currency changes, versus analysts’ estimates of a 15.8% rise.
Revenue from North America, Nike’s largest market, rose 8%. Footwear sales, the largest source of revenue, increased 9%.
The company said net income rose 23% to $1.18bn, or $1.34 per share, in the quarter, higher than the $1.19 analysts on average had expected.  Revenue rose 5.4% to $8.41bn, also beating the average analyst estimate of $8.22bn, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.