Nike Inc. (NYSE: NKE) is scheduled to release its fiscal third-quarter results after the markets close on Thursday. Consensus estimates call for $0.65 in earnings per share (EPS) and $9.61 billion in revenue. EPS of $0.68 and $8.98 billion in revenue were posted in the same period of last year.

In the previous quarter, Nike brand revenues increased 14% to $8.9 billion on a currency neutral basis, while revenues from Converse increased 6% to $425 million.

And during the second quarter, Nike repurchased a total of 16.1 million shares for roughly $1.3 billion as part of its four-year, $12 billion program.

Merrill Lynch is a big bear when it comes to Nike. The brokerage firm has an Underperform rating with a $60 price target, and it said in a recent report:

We expect sales and earnings growth to decelerate on market share pressures and intensifying competition. We see downside to NKE’s current P/E multiple given market share pressure in the U.S. and difficult International comparisons, which offset strong direct-to-consumer momentum and strength in China.

Excluding Wednesday’s move, Nike had outperformed the broad markets, with its stock up 18% year to date. In the past 52 weeks, the stock was up 33%.

A few other analysts weighed in on Nike ahead of the report:

• Goldman Sachs has a Neutral rating and an $85 price target.
• JPMorgan has an Overweight rating with a $90 target price.
• Canaccord Genuity has a Buy rating with a $96 price target.
• Needham has a Buy rating with a $92 price target.
• Credit Suisse has an Outperform rating and a $100 target.

Shares of Nike were last seen down about 1% at $86.49, in a 52-week range of $63.21 to $88.59. The consensus price target is $89.85.

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