Nike Is Strongest Performing Dow Stock of 2015

By Douglas A. McIntyre Updated Jan 13, 3:49PM EST · Published Dec 22, 9:55AM EST

Follow 24/7 Wall St. on Google

This post may contain links from our sponsors and affiliates, and Flywheel Publishing may receive compensation for actions taken through them.

Nike Inc. (NYSE: NKE) shares have advanced 35% in 2015, the strongest of any stock in the Dow Jones Industrial Average. Its performance compares to an overall Dow performance of 3.2%.

Nike, among other strengths, is the number one maker of athletic apparel in the United States. In its most recent fiscal year, it posted revenue of $30.6 billion, up 10% from the previous year. Net income rose 22% to $3.27 billion. Over $13.7 billion of its revenue came from North America, follow by Western Europe at $5.7 billion.

Footwear constituted $18.3 billion in Nike’s last quarter.

When Nike reported its annual revenue, management hinted this year will be strong:

“Fiscal 2015 was an outstanding year for NIKE,” said Mark Parker, President and CEO, NIKE, Inc. Our consistent growth is fueled by our connection to the consumer and our ability to deliver innovation at an unprecedented pace and scale. At no time in our history has the growth potential been greater for NIKE.”

Nike’s most valuable asset is its brand. According to the Interbrand’s list of the world’s most valuable brands, Nike ranked 17th with a brand value of $23.1 billion, up 16% from the previous year. Nike’s market capitalization is $110 billion.
[recirclink id=303970]
Nike has bolstered its brand with huge endorsement deals with some of the world’s premier athletes. Several of these have been rumored to top $100 million. First among these is by consensus history’s greatest basketball player, Michael Jordan. The company also has an endorsement partnership with LeBron James, the NBA’s premier player, as well as with Tiger Woods, arguably the greatest golfer in history, and tennis standouts Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal.

Nike’s shares have risen 204% over the past five years to $130. Over the same period, the S&P 500 is higher by 61%. Is it any wonder? It would be hard to find a company that dominates its industry more than Nike does.

About the Author Douglas A. McIntyre →

Douglas A. McIntyre is the co-founder, chief executive officer and editor in chief of 24/7 Wall St. and 24/7 Tempo. He has held these jobs since 2006.

McIntyre has written thousands of articles for 24/7 Wall St. He is an expert on corporate finance, the automotive industry, media companies and international finance. He has edited articles on national demographics, sports, personal income and travel.

His work has been quoted or mentioned in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Los Angeles Times, The Washington Post, NBC News, Time, The New Yorker, HuffPost USA Today, Business Insider, Yahoo, AOL, MarketWatch, The Atlantic, Bloomberg, New York Post, Chicago Tribune, Forbes, The Guardian and many other major publications. McIntyre has been a guest on CNBC, the BBC and television and radio stations across the country.

A magna cum laude graduate of Harvard College, McIntyre also was president of The Harvard Advocate. Founded in 1866, the Advocate is the oldest college publication in the United States.

TheStreet.com, Comps.com and Edgar Online are some of the public companies for which McIntyre served on the board of directors. He was a Vicinity Corporation board member when the company was sold to Microsoft in 2002. He served on the audit committees of some of these companies.

McIntyre has been the CEO of FutureSource, a provider of trading terminals and news to commodities and futures traders. He was president of Switchboard, the online phone directory company. He served as chairman and CEO of On2 Technologies, the video compression company that provided video compression software for Adobe’s Flash. Google bought On2 in 2009.