Nike’s new CEO has a big uphill struggle ahead

• Elliott Hill is preparing to start as the CEO of Nike amid revenue decline and market challenges.
• Nike’s Q1 fiscal 2025 earnings report shows a 10% revenue drop to $11.6 billion.
• It seems like Nike is shifting focus from retro styles to a running-focused brand.

Nike’s new CEO will have several challenges to overcome when he takes over in less than two weeks.

The sportswear giant brought veteran employee Elliott Hill out of retirement to lead the company through turbulent times, and he has his work cut out for him. Nike released its first-quarter fiscal 2025 earnings report on Tuesday, and revenue declined 10% from the previous year to $11.6 billion.

Hill, who’s scheduled to start as CEO on October 14, wasn’t present for Tuesday’s earnings call. Nike withdrew full-year guidance and said it would provide quarterly guidance instead.

Shares fell as much as 8% as Nike delivered the results during post-market trading. Hill’s first quarter as CEO will give some indication of how the sports apparel company plans to turn its dip in sales around in the coming years.

During the earnings call, Nike asserted that it was a running brand — adding that it’s been “intentionally reducing the proportion of our business” that’s driven by retro styles like Air Force Ones or Dunks.

“Newness and innovation” sound like they’ll be pillars of Hill’s first several months as CEO. His start date is less than two weeks away, and he’s preparing for the role amid a port strike that could send the US economy into a downward spiral if lasts longer than four weeks.

The strike has affected ports from Maine to Texas, and analysts predict that it could cost the US billions each day due to supply chain disruptions.

“A comeback at this scale takes time, but we see early wins — from momentum in key sports to accelerating our pace of newness and innovation,” Matthew Friend, executive vice president and CFO, said.