Updated from Tuesday, Sept. 29
NEW YORK ( TheStreet) -- Nike's ( NKE) stock is still running up a day after the footwear and athletic apparel company reported better-than-expected quarterly results. Shares spiked 8% to $64.80 in Wednesday afternoon trading, as it exceeded Wall Street's profit and futures expectations. Sell Nike!: Against the Grain
In the first quarter, the company earned $513 million, or $1.04 a share, compared with $510.5 million, or $1.03 a share, in the year-ago period. Analysts expected Nike to earn 97 cents a share. Revenue, however, sank 11.6% to $4.8 billion from $5.43 billion a year earlier. The biggest sales declines were seen in Europe, with Western Europe down 18% and Central and Eastern Europe off 33%. North American revenue slipped 5% to $1.8 billion. Worldwide futures orders, a key indicator for the company, dropped 6% to $6.2 billion, but excluding currency charges, the figure was down by 4%. Analysts were calling for a drop of 5%, excluding exchange rates. In fact, solid futures orders led Sterne Agee to upgrade the company to neutral from sell. Inventories, meanwhile, fell 7% compared with last year's period. While Nike forecasts a decline in revenues for the full fiscal year, it expects sales to improve in the second half. -- Reported by Jeanine Poggi in New York Follow TheStreet.com on Twitter and become a fan on Facebook.
