Nike's Sales Exceed Expectations, Stock Dives on Earnings Miss

Nike's stock slid about 3% after the company reported lower-than-expected profits for the fourth quarter, despite sales that surpassed Wall Street expectations. The decline in profits was attributed to higher product input costs, elevated freight and logistics costs, higher markdowns, and unfavorable changes in net foreign currency exchange rates. Gross margins also fell to 43.6% from 45% in the year-earlier period. However, Nike showed signs of recovery in Greater China, with sales exceeding analyst expectations and inventories remaining flat, indicating improvement in the company's inventory glut.