NIKE Highlights Running Growth, Sport Offense Reset at Annual Meeting

Key Points

• NIKE is restructuring around its “Sport Offense” model, shifting about 8,000 employees into sport-focused teams to better connect athlete insights, product development, marketing and operations.
• Running is a key growth engine: the performance business grew by mid-single digits in fiscal 2026, while NIKE Running posted double-digit growth for five consecutive quarters and gained market share in Western Europe and North America.
• Despite progress in running, wholesale and football, NIKE said results remain below its objectives, with challenges in Sportswear, Jordan Streetwear, Greater China and Converse. The company plans to provide more details at its Nov. 16–17 Investor Day, while shareholders rejected proposals on charitable-support discrimination and emissions-target reporting.

NIKE NYSE: NKE used its 46th annual shareholder meeting to outline progress in its business reset, emphasizing a sport-focused operating model, growth in performance categories and efforts to improve its marketplace execution.

Executive Chairman Mark Parker said shareholders voted on six proposals, including director elections, executive compensation, auditor ratification, an amended employee stock purchase plan and two shareholder proposals. The company later reported that all 11 director nominees were elected, PricewaterhouseCoopers was ratified as the independent auditor for the current fiscal year, and the amended and restated employee stock purchase plan was approved. The shareholder proposals concerning charitable-support discrimination and environmental targets were not approved.

Parker also thanked departing director John Rogers for eight years of service, adding that Rogers will remain an adviser to the company.

Leadership and operating-model changes

President and CEO Elliott Hill said NIKE has spent fiscal 2026 strengthening the business foundation through its “Win Now” strategy and its new “Sport Offense” operating model. The company shifted roughly 8,000 employees into vertical sport teams, a move Hill said is intended to connect athlete insights more closely with product development, marketing, marketplace execution and operations.

“When we focus on sport, we win,” Hill said, describing the model as a way to create more distinct products and move more quickly across sports categories.

NIKE also introduced Dave Denton, who had joined the company a few weeks earlier as chief financial officer. Denton said his initial meetings across the company highlighted employees’ focus on athletes, innovation and the global reach of the NIKE, Jordan and Converse brands.

Performance growth and marketplace efforts

Hill said NIKE’s performance business grew by mid-single digits during fiscal 2026, while NIKE Running grew at a double-digit rate. He pointed to running as an early example of the Sport Offense model at work, saying the business produced five consecutive quarters of double-digit currency-neutral growth by the end of fiscal 2026 and added roughly $1 billion in revenue over that period.

According to Hill, NIKE gained five points of running market share in statement footwear across Western Europe and North America, more than any other top-five brand in those markets.

Global football also showed momentum, he said. By the first week of the World Cup, NIKE’s “Rip the Script” campaign had received 1.5 billion views, while the Mercurial became NIKE Direct’s fastest-selling 24-hour cleated-footwear launch.

Wholesale revenue rose 4% for the fiscal year, led by double-digit growth in North America, Hill said. The company refreshed more than 15,000 spaces at wholesale doors worldwide and updated more than 150 NIKE Direct stores with sport-led experiences.

Hill said overall results remain below the company’s objectives. NIKE Sportswear and Jordan Streetwear remain challenged, while Greater China and Converse are undergoing resets. The company reduced classic footwear franchises by more than $2 billion in fiscal 2026, tightened product buys and is seeking to reposition its sportswear offerings around community, innovation and sport.

China, capital allocation and innovation

Addressing shareholder questions, Hill said NIKE remains committed to the Chinese consumer and is working to regain market share through sport. The company is cleaning up the Greater China marketplace, improving digital and physical storefronts, and empowering local teams to develop more locally created products and consumer storytelling, he said.

Denton said NIKE’s capital-allocation priorities include continued investment in the brand, athlete service, innovation and long-term growth while preserving financial flexibility. He said the company returned approximately $2.4 billion to shareholders through dividends last year.

Hill said NIKE remains confident in its innovation pipeline, citing NIKE Mind, AeroFit, ongoing development of NIKE Air and an upcoming ACG outdoor-running platform called Radical Air. He said future innovation will be more explicitly sport-led rather than developed simply for novelty.

NIKE plans to provide additional details about its strategy and next phase of growth at its Investor Day on Nov. 16 and 17.

Shareholder proposals rejected

Shareholders rejected a proposal requesting a report on discrimination in charitable support. Inspire Investing Portfolio Manager and Director of Corporate Engagement Tim Schwarzenberger presented the proposal, which focused on NIKE’s partnerships and practices related to gender ideology and transgender medical interventions for minors. The board had recommended a vote against the proposal.

Shareholders also rejected a Green Century Capital Management proposal seeking a report on how NIKE intends to meet its existing science-based emissions-reduction targets. Green Century Shareholder Advocate Giovanna Eichner argued that greater disclosure was needed regarding supply-chain emissions, climate initiatives and progress toward the company’s 2030 targets. NIKE’s board also recommended a vote against that proposal.

About NIKE (NYSE:NKE)

Nike, Inc NYSE: NKE is a global designer, marketer and distributor of athletic footwear, apparel, equipment and accessories. Founded in 1964 as Blue Ribbon Sports by Phil Knight and Bill Bowerman and renamed Nike in 1971, the company is headquartered near Beaverton, Oregon. Nike develops and commercializes products across performance and lifestyle categories for sports including running, basketball, soccer and training, and is known for signature technologies and design-driven product lines.

The company markets products under several primary brands, including Nike, Jordan and Converse, and sells through a combination of wholesale relationships, branded retail stores and direct-to-consumer channels such as company-operated stores and digital platforms (e.g., Nike.com and mobile apps).

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