In this articleNKE your favorite stocksCREATE FREE ACCOUNTA man shops for shoes at a Nike outlet store in Los Angeles on April 10, 2025.Frederic J.
Brown | Afp | Getty ImagesNearing the one-year mark in new Nike CEO Elliott Hill's turnaround plan, and at a time of rising tariffs on retail goods made in Asia, the prices on ducts across core Nike apparel and footwear haven been rising.Across nearly 3,300 SKUs (stock keeping units) analyzed by DataWeave from online channels in the period from September 2024 to September 2025, footwear prices rose 17%, apparel rose 14%, and equipment and tection prices rose 18%.A month-by-month analysis shows a moderate price increase across all in October 2024, and team/league apparel jumping the most, but since then price increases in this category have been at a slower pace.
The big move up in prices began in January 2025, when prices for the accessories and equipment/tection increased by over 10%, ed by footwear with double-digit price increases (11%).
From February to September 2025, prices rapidly increased across many ducts."This steady upward movement shows Nike is leaning on pricing power in its core performance , even as external pressures such as tariffs and channel shifts compress margins," said Karthik Bettadapura, co-founder & CEO, of DataWeave.
"The more modest 9 percent lift in team and league apparel indicates consumers in this segment are more price sensitive than in others," Bettadapura said.The pricing data suggests Nike is being selective with its price increases, tecting its strongest ducts while testing where higher prices can hold without losing demand, according to DataWeave."In practice, Nike's pricing architecture reflects a targeted apach, reinforcing brand value in performance while using select motions to maintain accessibility," Bettadapura said.
"If they sustain this discipline, Nike can balance fitability with consumer perception in a market where shoppers are increasingly attuned to both value and innovation.In the second half of 2024, Nike suffered a sharp downturn, its steepest sales decline since the pandemic.
In September of last year, the company announced Hill's return as CEO.
In June of last year, the retailer had forecast a significant decline in sales, leading the the management change and a plan to focus back on the fundamentals that had long defined the and made it the market leader in sneakers and athletic apparel.Price increases were part of the plan, with many ducts seeing bumps in May, according to previous CNBC reporting.In its most recent quarter, Nike posted surprise sales growth, a sign the turnaround plan was working, but also forecast weak holiday shopping months, suggested a bumpy road to recovery."It's gonna take a while," Hill said in an exclusive interview with CNBC's Sara Eisen on Monday.
"It's not linear.
But it is a portfolio, and ultimately the goal is to have the entire portfolio all working together to drive the revenue and the fit that we hope to der for all of our investors." watch now5:1705:17Nike CEO: 'Sport offense' will help make us more competitiveSquawk on the StreetThe company said in its most recent earnings that it expected tariffs to cost it $1.5 billion and hit its gross margin by 1.2 percentage points in its current fiscal year 2026, an increase from the $1 billion and 0.75 percentage point gross margin impact it has forecast in June.One of the ways Nike, along with other U.S.
importers, navigated the tariffs is through frontloading.According to ImportGenius, which tracked the imports of Nike from January 2025 to October, the company pulled forward imports in three distinct periods: February (3,173 TEUs) to April (4,427 TEUs) before April 2 global tariffs were first announced by President Trump; May (3,622 TEUs) through June (4,690), a periodduring which a temporary tariff truce was announced with China; and a third import wave from July (3,624 TEUs) through September (4,203 TEUs).Nike's supply chain is diversified, but with the expansion of the trade war globally, the company is now paying layers of tariffs on its entire supply chain.
According to Panjiva, the port of origin of Nike import shipments for 2025 is broken down among a variety of countries: Indonesia (37.9%), Vietnam (25.7%), China (10.4%), India (6.8%), Pakistan (5.7%), Jordan (5.6%), and Israel (2.3%).On the recent earnings call, chief financial officer Matt Friend cited a variety of headwinds for gross margin, including higher wholesale discounts, higher discounts in Nike factory stores, increased duct costs including new tariffs, and channel mix headwinds.Bill Simon, former CEO of Walmart tells CNBC there have certainly been component price increases that are putting upward pressure on costs of goods sold, the direct costs associated with ducing a good, but the level of price increases over the past year suggests other factors at play as well.
"Many companies have been able to mitigate substantial portions of the impact so far," said Simon.
"Others have not been able to do that for various reasons."Simon added tariffs should be thought as being applied to the component parts of ducts, not on the final retail price."For example, there's no tariffs on fit margin," said Simon.
"A retail sales price for a pair of Nike of $100 would include 50% margin for the retailer (as well as additional margin for Nike).
Also, shipping, logistics cost, etc., are not subject to tariffs," he said.While Simon stressed that he has no direct knowledge of Nike strategy so can only analyze the pricing within a broader retail context, he said even if the entirety of the COGS were hit, meaning they were unable to mitigate any of the impact, a 17% price increase would seem "excessive.""If that's the case, there is ly some other reason for price increases of this magnitude," he added.Under Hill, Nike has been cutting down on motions as part of his turnaround plan, citing excessive online discounting.
Last December, the company said the online would return to "a full-price model," but it would be required to first sell off inventory.
Friend said on the most recent earnings call that the company continues to take steps to reposition Nike Digital as a full price , but organic traffic continues to decline double digits.
"With a in the prior year that was more concentrated on classic footwear franchises and sneaker launch, as well as a higher mix of off-price sales, traffic comps will remain under pressure," he said.
"We do not expect Nike Direct to return to growth for Fiscal 26," he added.Christina Fernández, senior re analyst at retail re firm Telsey Advisory Group, said Nike has been increasing prices on footwear and apparel, but according to its re, other retail brands have raised prices even more, for example, 50% of footwear maker On's U.S.
volumes saw a $10 price increase in July, compared to $5 increases on comparable Nike ducts. She added that the overall pricing dynamics in retail remain fluid.
Adidas, for example, has not raised priced much yet, according to Fernandez, and regular motions remain a feature of this time period.Overall, Telsey's tracking across a limited sample of 76 sporting goods items since mid-April shows apparel prices have increased 3%, footwear prices have increased 1% and hardlines/equipment prices have increased 7%.
But that will trend higher.
"We do expect more price increases to flow through the remainder of this year and in the first half of 2026," she said.watch now4:2604:26Nike's focus on 'offense' in earnings sets up the next leg in its story, says JPMorgan's Matt BossClosing Bell