NIKE (NYSE:NKE) Raised to Buy at Freedom Broker

Posted by Stanley Muller on Oct 2nd, 2026

NIKE (NYSE:NKE – Get Free Report) was upgraded by Freedom Broker from a “sell” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note issued on Friday, Benzinga reports. The firm presently has a $51.00 price objective on the footwear maker’s stock, down from their prior price objective of $54.00. Freedom Broker’s price target indicates a potential upside of 50.51% from the company’s current price.

A number of other brokerages also recently commented on NKE. Benchmark upgraded shares of NIKE to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 22nd. Morgan Stanley set a $27.00 price target on NIKE and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Friday. Piper Sandler set a $28.00 price objective on NIKE and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their price target on NIKE from $45.00 to $37.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday. Finally, Bank of America reissued an “underperform” rating and issued a $24.00 price target (down from $30.00) on shares of NIKE in a report on Friday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have issued a Buy rating, twenty-two have given a Hold rating and seven have given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, NIKE currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $42.12.

Read Our Latest Analysis on NKE

NIKE Price Performance

NKE stock traded down $1.26 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $33.88. 141,630,248 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 24,034,107. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40, a quick ratio of 1.36 and a current ratio of 1.96. The stock has a market cap of $50.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.21, a PEG ratio of 2.43 and a beta of 1.09. NIKE has a fifty-two week low of $31.97 and a fifty-two week high of $74.78. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $39.04 and its 200-day moving average price is $42.94.

NIKE (NYSE:NKE – Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, October 1st. The footwear maker reported $0.48 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.43 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $11.21 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.32 billion. NIKE had a return on equity of 16.54% and a net margin of 6.70%.NIKE’s revenue was down 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.49 EPS. NIKE has set its FY 2027 guidance at 1.150-1.350 EPS. Research analysts predict that NIKE will post 1.61 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, COO Venkatesh Alagirisamy sold 3,671 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $37.59, for a total transaction of $137,992.89. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer owned 104,862 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,941,762.58. This trade represents a 3.38% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CFO Matthew Friend sold 2,463 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $41.60, for a total transaction of $102,460.80. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 82,165 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,418,064. This represents a 2.91% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold a total of 14,974 shares of company stock worth $600,126 over the last 90 days. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of NIKE

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Confluence Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of NIKE by 873.8% during the third quarter. Confluence Investment Management LLC now owns 2,720,616 shares of the footwear maker’s stock valued at $96,310,000 after purchasing an additional 2,441,233 shares in the last quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. increased its position in NIKE by 8.5% during the 2nd quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 106,883 shares of the footwear maker’s stock valued at $4,388,000 after purchasing an additional 8,338 shares during the period. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. grew its holdings in NIKE by 214.0% during the 2nd quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 32,596 shares of the footwear maker’s stock worth $1,338,000 after acquiring an additional 22,215 shares during the period. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of NIKE by 98.4% during the 2nd quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 2,202,581 shares of the footwear maker’s stock worth $90,416,000 after buying an additional 1,092,282 shares in the last quarter. Finally, State Street Corp increased its position in NIKE by 6.8% in the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 63,598,789 shares of the footwear maker’s stock valued at $2,636,104,000 after buying an additional 4,052,428 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 64.25% of the company’s stock.

NIKE News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting NIKE this week:

Positive Sentiment: NIKE reported fiscal first-quarter EPS of $0.48, above the $0.43 analyst consensus. Bernstein said the post-earnings decline has made the shares “de-risked” and maintained a bullish view, while BTIG retained a buy rating despite lowering its price target to $50. Bernstein says Nike stock now de-risked
Positive Sentiment: Management launched the Pace restructuring program, targeting approximately $2.5 billion in savings. Although the plan involves further job cuts, investors could eventually view the cost reductions and a leaner operating model as supportive of margins and cash flow. NIKE fiscal 2027 first-quarter results
Positive Sentiment: NIKE’s new Caitlin Clark signature shoe reportedly sold nearly out shortly after launch, offering a potential product and marketing catalyst as the company seeks to regain consumer momentum. Nike’s Caitlin Clark shoes nearly sold out
Neutral Sentiment: Analyst opinion is divided. Needham maintained a hold rating, while Stifel and Baird lowered their targets to $36; Citi cut its target to $32 and JPMorgan moved to underweight with a $33 target. These actions indicate limited confidence in a near-term recovery, although some targets remain above or near the current valuation.
Negative Sentiment: First-quarter revenue fell 4.3% year over year to $11.21 billion, missing the $11.32 billion consensus estimate. EPS was helped by cost controls, but the revenue shortfall suggests demand remains weak. Nike quarterly sales miss estimates
Negative Sentiment: NIKE expects fiscal 2027 revenue to decline by a high-single-digit percentage and provided EPS guidance of $1.15–$1.35, well below the roughly $1.66 analyst expectation. Management specifically cited deeper resets in Sportswear, Jordan and Greater China, where local competition and digital-market challenges continue to pressure sales. NKE earnings call flags deeper reset
Negative Sentiment: Further layoffs are expected in 2027 after workforce reductions earlier this year, reinforcing concerns that the turnaround is worsening before it improves. Analysts and investors are now pricing in a longer recovery timeline and continued pressure on earnings.

NIKE Company Profile

(Get Free Report)

NIKE, Inc is a global sportswear company that designs, develops, markets and sells athletic footwear, apparel, equipment, accessories and related services. Its products are marketed under the NIKE, Jordan and Converse brands and are used across a broad range of sports and lifestyle activities, including running, basketball, football, training and outdoor pursuits.

The company distributes its products through a combination of wholesale partners, NIKE-owned retail stores and digital platforms.