Nike CEO to retire after four years at the helm

TheStreet’s Conway Gittens brings you the biggest news of the day, including what investors are watching and Nike getting a new CEO.

Transcript

00:00I'm Conway Gittens reporting from the New York Stock Exchange. Here's what we're watching on the street today.

00:04Wall Street is focused on corporate news. FedEx posted disappointing quarterly profits

00:09thanks to a drop in demand for its fastest shipping options. The package delivery industry is still grappling with a slowdown

00:15from the heady days of the pandemic when everyone was stuck at home and having everything delivered.

00:23Turning to another big corporate headline of familiar faces coming back to take over the top spot at Nike.

00:29Elliott Hill is returning as CEO

00:32replacing outgoing chief executive John Donahoe. Hill has a storied career at the athletic gear company.

00:38He started as an intern back in 1988 and stayed until he retired 32 years later. During that time

00:45he helped Nike retain its dominance,

00:48overseeing commercial and marketing operations for both the Nike brand and the lucrative Jordan moniker.

00:54He also oversaw departments in both Europe and in North America.

00:58Hill will need all that expertise to help lift Nike out of a funk. Under his predecessors rule,

01:04Nike focused less on the innovative designs famous for sparking lines at sneaker debuts rivaling any other product except the iPhone.

01:12That left the door open for its main rival Adidas to regain momentum. At the same time a number of upstarts like

01:19Hoka and On came nipping at its heels.

01:22Another misstep, Nike started reserving products for direct-to-consumer sales from its own website.

01:28Creating a rift with major retail partners like Foot Locker. The end result, sales in its biggest market North America

01:35fell for the fiscal year and the company warned of more weakness ahead.

01:39Investors are happy with Hill's return. Shares of Nike popped on the news, but are down 20% year to date.

01:48That'll do it for your daily briefing from the New York Stock Exchange. I'm Conway Gittins with the street.