NKE Stock Heads For Its Worst Year Ever: Nike’s 45% Plunge Tests Investor Patience As China And Core Brands Weaken

Nike’s weak China sales, struggling brands, and analyst downgrades are raising doubts about the company’s turnaround.

• Nike shares have fallen more than 45% this year, putting the stock on track for its worst year ever.
• Nike’s Q1 2027 results pushed shares down over 5% last week. 
• Analysts lowered Nike’s price targets as concerns about its slow recovery grow. 

Nike Inc. (NKE) shares are on pace for their weakest year ever, falling more than 45% as investors lose confidence in the company’s recovery plan. Continued weakness in China, pressure on the Sportswear and Jordan businesses, and a slow turnaround are adding to concerns ahead of Nike’s November investor day. 

Nike’s long-running dominance in athletic footwear is facing one of its toughest periods, with the company’s shares falling to historically weak levels against the broader U.S. stock market. Nike has now fallen behind the S&P 500 on a total-return basis over a period stretching back to July 1993. The stock has also dropped more than 45% so far this year, putting it on track for its weakest annual performance as a public company.

NKE stock inched 0.8% higher in Monday’s premarket. The stock is tracking its fifth straight year of losses. 

Nike’s Core Brands Face Pressure

Nike’s fiscal first-quarter (Q1) 2027 results caused over a 5% weekly decline. Management has identified some encouraging trends in areas such as running and football, but those gains have not offset weakness in major parts of the portfolio.

The company is reducing its reliance on heavily promoted, high-volume footwear products as it attempts to strengthen the Nike brand. That strategy has weighed on key businesses, particularly Sportswear and Jordan, adding pressure as the company works through its reset.

China Remains A Major Challenge

Nike’s problems also extend beyond the U.S. Greater China revenue declined 26% year-on-year. 

“We're taking deliberate actions to strengthen those businesses, but realizing the full benefit of those efforts will take time,” said CEO Elliott Hill during the Q1 earnings call. 

“As we announced in July, we are activating a plan to clean up the digital side of this market. We are eliminating distribution through channels that are not aligned with our marketplace strategy, which will decrease the deep discounting of our brands. We will anchor NIKE's and Jordan's digital marketplace in China around fewer, higher-quality experiences through the official NIKE flagship storefronts on Tmall, JD and Douyin alongside NIKE.com and the NIKE app.” 

Wall Street Cuts Nike’s Price Targets

Analysts lowered their Nike price targets. Truist cut its price target to $29 from $42, Williams Training downgraded the stock a ‘Hold’ rating with a $30 target, and Evercore ISI slashed its price target to $28. 

Evercore pointed to Nike’s revenue outlook of a high-single-digit percentage fall through fiscal 2027. Management says the turnaround will take time, making the recovery harder to predict ahead of its investor day in November. 

NKE Stock: Retail Stance 

However, on Stocktwits, retail sentiment around the stock remained in ‘extremely bullish’ territory. 

A user said, “$NFLX & $NKE Lots of support at the current levels. You may be crazy if you don’t tuck these cash cows away into your IRA!”

Another user said, “As investors realize that this is a Trump-approved stock, there will be a new crop of buyers layering into this trade that were never there before, creating buying pressure.”

NKE stock has crashed 52% in the past twelve months. 

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