JD Sports Fashion PLC (LSE:JD.), the UK’s biggest sportswear retailer, and Frasers Group PLC (LSE:FRAS), which owns Sports Direct, were prominent risers in the FTSE 100 today boosted by better-than-expected earnings and revenue from US giant, Nike Inc (NYSE:NKE).
“To take an adage from the sporting world – form is temporary, class is permanent. Nike may have had a tough time, but it remains the dominant player in what is, with Adidas trailing a little behind, a duopoly in the sportswear and trainers market” commented Ross Mould at AJ Bell.
JD Sports was top of the FTSE 100 risers, up 6.6%, while Frasers rose 2.2%, as investors took heart from the news.
Victoria Scholar, head of investment, interactive investor said: “Nike has proven that the sheer force of its brand and the strength of its product line are resilient to the challenging macroeconomic headwinds that have plagued US retail this year.”
Second quarter reported revenues were $13.3bn, up 17% year-on-year with Nike Direct sales grew 16% at $5.4bn.
Analysts at Peel Hunt said “the read-across to JD is obvious and there is a "shout out" to them in the conference call as a key partner.”
On JD Sports they added: “We believe that the trend seen in 1H has probably broadly continued in 2H and that the update in mid January will likely be at least solid.”
“The shares however discount bad news, and therein lies a major opportunity.”
Over in Europe, Adidas, up 6.7% and Puma, up 8.4%, also rose strongly after the figures.