Company Targets Revenues of $27 Billion and More than $12 Billion of Cumulative Cash Flow from Operations by 2015 [Text of Press Release Beneath the Cut]

NEW YORK (May 5, 2010) – Today NIKE, Inc. (NYSE: NKE) unveiled its strategy and key initiatives to achieve sustainable, long-term growth across its global portfolio of brands and businesses. During its investor meeting in New York, the Company announced a revenue target of $27 billion by the end of fiscal 2015 based on growth expectations across its portfolio, which includes the NIKE Brand, Cole Haan, Converse, Hurley, Jordan Brand, NIKE Golf and Umbro. Additionally, the Company believes it can generate over $12 billion of cumulative free cash flow from operations through 2015. Both goals extend NIKE, Inc.’s long-term financial model of high single-digit revenue growth, mid-teens earnings per share growth, and expanding returns on capital.*

“We’ve never been more inspired, innovative and aligned to achieve our goals,” said NIKE, Inc. President and CEO Mark Parker. “We have powerful competitive advantages in our portfolio – innovative and compelling products, brands that are distinct and relevant to their consumers, and the world’s greatest athletes and teams. Our focus is to build, fuel and accelerate the power of our portfolio.”*

The NIKE Brand is the most powerful asset in the NIKE, Inc. portfolio, accounting for approximately 85 percent of total revenue. NIKE, Inc.’s Other Brands continue to increase their contribution to the Company’s overall growth strategy. “With our acquisition of Umbro, NIKE has extended its position as the biggest football Company in the world,” Parker said. “Hurley continues to outperform everyone in its market; Cole Haan has tremendous opportunity for growth; and Converse, nearly a $1 billion business, has developed strategies to double its revenue by 2015.”*

NIKE Brand Overview
NIKE Brand President Charlie Denson provided an overview of how NIKE’s consumer-focused category strategy is driving growth through increased market place capacity and penetration, “NIKE is the most connected, authentic and distinctive brand in the industry.” Denson continued, “Our consumer focused strategy enhances our ability to deliver great product and elevated consumer experiences which will help grow the NIKE Brand to approximately $23 billion by the end of fiscal 2015.”*

NIKE Brand – Category Offense

• Action Sports – comprised of NIKE 6.0 and NIKE SB, is the fastest growing category within the Nike Brand. The Company anticipates doubling its current estimated $390 million business by 2015.**

• Athletic Training – started more than 20 years ago with the advent of NIKE cross training. This business, estimated at $1.4 billion, continues to redefine performance with key innovations like NIKE Pro base layer apparel and the Trainer1 shoe.**

• Basketball – led by the strength of the Jordan Brand and excellent opportunities in the United States and China, NIKE’s basketball business is currently at approximately $1.7 billion in revenue.**

• Football – with NIKE Brand Football revenue of approximately $1.7 billion, the Company is launching its largest-ever presence at a World Cup including new footwear, national team kits, and NIKE Football+.**

• Running – with approximately $2.1 billion in revenue, NIKE’s original category continues to be the source for key innovations including Flywire, Lunar Cushioning, and Nike+ enabled footwear. Nikeplus.com is the world’s largest running club with close to 3 million registered members and Lunar Glide continues to expand the category’s growth opportunities.**

• Sportswear – the Company’s largest category at about $4.9 billion continues leveraging new performance ideas from the six sports categories as well as franchise products like the Air Force 1 (which sells 15 million pairs a year 25 years after its debut).**

• Women’s Training – with nearly $740 million in sales and the number one position in women’s training footwear in the U.S. and the top five European markets, a new generation of NIKE Free footwear – designed to strengthen the body and improve fitness by activating the core – in concert with the Company’s strongest ever apparel offering continues to drive growth in this category.**

NIKE Brand – Geographic Opportunities
The Company announced plans to grow the NIKE Brand in all six of its geographies including driving mid single-digit growth through broader expansion in its developed geographies (North America, Western Europe, and Japan), targeting an additional $3.0-3.5 billion of annual revenue by the end of fiscal 2015. Additionally, NIKE plans to invest aggressively in its developing market geographies (Greater China, Central & Eastern Europe, and Emerging Markets) targeting low double-digit growth and an additional $3.0-3.5 billion of annual revenue by the end of fiscal 2015.

NIKE, Inc. – Direct to Consumer
In discussing its Direct to Consumer business, the Company outlined plans to open approximately 250-300 new NIKE-branded stores worldwide over the next five years to elevate the consumer experience and position the brand in the world’s premium shopping locations, as well as drive accelerated growth in digital commerce, leveraging the explosive growth of NIKEiD. Given these efforts, NIKE, Inc. expects mid-teens growth in its Direct to Consumer Business which should contribute an additional $2.2-2.6 billion by 2015.

Also highlighted was an increased focus on working with retail partners to create more elevated and differentiated consumer experiences including execution of category-segmented concepts within key markets. NIKE’s wholesale business model is expected to continue to be the primary driver of long-term growth, with retail partners still expected to account for more than 80 percent of the Company’s overall business by 2015.

To build and strengthen its global retail presence, NIKE, Inc. announced plans to invest $500-600 million in capital over the next five years to develop the Direct to Consumer business and build capabilities to support both owned and wholesale retail productivity and performance.

NIKE, Inc. – Other Businesses
In discussion of its Other Businesses, which includes Cole Haan, Converse Inc., Hurley International LLC, NIKE Golf, and Umbro Ltd., the Company announced a low double-digit growth target which should contribute an additional $1.5-2.0 billion of revenue by the end of fiscal 2015.

NIKE, Inc. – Long-term Financial Objectives
Chief Financial Officer Don Blair gave an overview of the Company’s performance against its long-term financial model, highlighting delivery of strong performance through good and bad market environments. “Our long-term financial model helps us stay focused on driving sustainable, profitable growth, powerful cash generation, and preserving a very strong balance sheet, all of which gives us tremendous flexibility to invest in our business and generate extraordinary shareholder value.” Primary financial objectives through 2015 included the following:

* High single-digit revenue growth (average annual rate)
* Mid-teens Earnings Per Share growth (average annual rate)
* Return on Invested Capital of 25%
* Increasing dividends within a target calendar year payout range of 25-35% of trailing four quarter earnings per share

Meeting Presenters and Content
Additional presenters from NIKE, Inc’s senior management included: Gary DeStefano, President of Global Operations; Trevor Edwards, Vice President of Brand and Category Management; Willem Haitink, Vice President and General Manager of NIKE China; Jeanne Jackson, President of Direct to Consumer; Eunan McLaughlin, President of NIKE Affiliates; Jan Singer, Vice President of Global Footwear; Michael Spillane, CEO of Converse; and Eric Sprunk, Vice President of Merchandising and Product.

NIKE, Inc. invites investors and the media to view the replay of Web cast and slides from the event at www.nikebiz.com/investors. An archived audio replay in downloadable MP3 format will also be available within 24 hours after the event on the Company’s Web site and will be accessible through midnight, August 5, 2010.

About NIKE, Inc.
NIKE, Inc. based near Beaverton, Oregon, is the world’s leading designer, marketer and distributor of authentic athletic footwear, apparel, equipment and accessories for a wide variety of sports and fitness activities. Wholly-owned Nike subsidiaries include Cole Haan, which designs, markets and distributes luxury shoes, handbags, accessories and coats; Converse Inc., which designs, markets and distributes athletic footwear, apparel and accessories; Hurley International LLC, which designs, markets and distributes action sports and youth lifestyle footwear, apparel and accessories; and Umbro Ltd., a leading United Kingdom-based global football (soccer) brand. For more information, visit www.nikebiz.com/investors.

* The marked paragraphs contain forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially. These risks and uncertainties are detailed from time to time in reports filed by NIKE, Inc. with the S.E.C., including Forms 8-K, 10-Q, and 10-K. Some forward-looking statements in this release concern changes in futures orders that are not necessarily indicative of changes in total revenues for subsequent periods due to the mix of futures and “at once” orders, exchange rate fluctuations, order cancellations and discounts, which may vary significantly from quarter to quarter, and because a significant portion of the business does not report futures orders.

** Category Revenue references are approximate, based on current estimated size and wholesale revenue only. The Company has provided these numbers to provide context regarding the approximate sizes of the businesses Forward looking growth statements are made only as of the date hereof, and are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially. The Company undertakes no obligation to update or revise these forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

While there’s no official confirmation yet from the Swoosh or Camp Tebow, it looks like Tim Tebow has signed an apparel and footwear deal with Nike for a little under $300,000/year, although certain incentives could dramatically increase that sum. While his ability to play QB at the NFL level is a huge question mark, thus meaning Nike may have just signed a 4th-round pick for $300K, Tebow’s legacy is exceeded only by his popularity and this could wind up being quite a bargain for the Swoosh if either or both carry over at all to the pro level. Plus it only takes one team to fall in love with him, so I’d virtually guarantee he doesn’t slip past the second round. (And he could definitely go in the first.) Anyway, while this hasn’t been confirmed by Tebow’s people yet, I’d expect that confirmation by tomorrow. AP Photo by Dave Martin.

So at some point in the very near future I’m going to start doing a newsletter. This is a good thing because all media is good, and media that is delivered to you for free is better. Everyone knows this. It’s why RSS feeds get us all warm and tingly. Also, I’ll be conveniently summing up information for you in a small space, and will have an easier format for reminding you of release dates or amending/updating information, as well as a good method to run some contests when I decide to do so in the near future. And emails are easier to deal with from a mobile device than is a not-so-mobile-friendly blog. (Depending on what kind of phone you have of course.) And you can marvel at my stunning rhetoric and the superior vernacular unique to NikeBlog.com. So point being: you should sign up for the newsletter. I’ll wait to send it out until I have enough enrollments to necessitate it, but it doesn’t look like that will take too long. And feel free to comment below or drop me a line if there’s a particular type of information or feature you’d like to see included in the newsletter. You can always click on the little image to the left to sign up, or click here if you’re averse to scrolling over six inches.

EVH Sues Nike: Dunk design infringes on guitar?

Eddie Van Halen is suing Nike, claiming the Beaverton boys infringed upon his trademark black/red-white design when they created a Nike Dunk with similar stylings on the midsole. ELVH (Eddie Van Halen’s company) is seeking financial damages and destruction of the shoes. For their part Nike says the shoe is not significantly similar to the ELVH design, they haven’t used the Van Halen name in any branding/marketing efforts and the lawsuit has no merit.

I find this whole situation very irritating. The “logo” doesn’t seem all that unique, so claiming that the inch-and-a-half tall design on the midsole is infringing upon the trademark that covers Eddie’s entire guitar is a bit much. It just seems like Eddie’s not selling records these days, and rather than getting a job at Subway to make ends meet he’d rather ask Nike to pay his bills. And isn’t this something of a slippery slope for him? His ELVH brand shoe—which looks nothing like the “Van Halen” Nike Dunk—is below and has an eerie similarity to the Nike-owned Converse All-Star. Significantly moreso than the Nike Dunk does to the Van Halen guitar.

Pictures from EVHGear.com and The Press Play Show.

Eddie Van Halen Shoes

Any publicity is good publicity, right? I suppose that’s Nike’s thought here. They’ll be paying the University of Washington Huskies (whose football team is 0-10 and whose basketball team just lost to Portland) $33.8 million over 10 years to gird their athletes’ loins in the Swoosh. The agreement dictates that Nike will provide UW with $2.6 million per year in equipment as well as annual cash payments of $725,000 for their 23 programs. I presume most of them are more successful than their football team. Incentives included, the deal could be worth as much as $39 million.

On a related topic, Washington will meet Washington State Saturday in the Apple Cup, which this year is the Super Bowl of Inferiority. Will UW go winless (losing to Cal is a foregone conclusion)? Is WSU really as bad as they looked in the numerous games in which they gave up 60+ points? Only time will tell, although NikeBlog is predicting a game in which inexplicably both teams are able to lose.

from lasvegasvegas.com

From norcalblogs.com

Nike has filed a patent infringement lawsuit against Wal-Mart Inc. The lawsuit, filed Monday in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, alleges that Wal-Mart is selling Nike Shox-like shoes, complete with the coil design, that infringe upon two design patents issues to Nike in 2004.

This comes on the heels of a similar lawsuit. In May, a Portland federal jury awarded Adidas over $300 million in damages when it was found that Payless Shoes had infringed upon the shoe company’s three stripe trademark. That figure is thought to be the most ever awarded for trademark infringement. However Wal-Mart of course, is one of the richest companies in the world and may see fit to not go so quietly into the night. Anyway, I find this really interesting as it’s essentially two companies with unlimited resources going head-to-head. I’ll update if any news breaks.