Nike Is Down 46.84% and on Pace for Its Worst Year on Record. Two Lessons to Act On Before Dec. 31.
Two quarters of shrinking revenue in a row, and now Nike says it’s going to get smaller on purpose; the stock is on pace for its worst year on record. A household name can halve in a year — which is why concentration limits and a year-end tax-loss review exist.
By Sean Anees Saifi · Capital Wealth · Published Sunday, October 4, 2026 · Source: The Wall Street Journal, Friday, October 2, 2026, whose market figures are the Thursday, October 1 close (Business & Finance)
Key Points
Coming off two straight quarters of falling revenue, Nike sees sales declining again this fiscal year and plans fewer jobs, a slimmer operation and merged regional businesses; decisions on which jobs go begin in calendar 2027.
The stock closed Friday at $33.87, down 46.84% this year, after setting a new 52-week low of $31.97; at Thursday’s after-hours price the Journal put it on pace for its worst year on record. Its 52-week high was $76.97.
Chief Executive Elliott Hill, a Nike sales intern in 1988 who returned from retirement to run it in October 2024, is still working on China, Nike Sportswear and Jordan.
U.S. sales rose a tepid 2%, and Dick’s Sporting Goods said classic Air Force Ones had a sluggish quarter. Nike already cut 800 warehouse jobs and 1,400 corporate jobs this year.
Nike is held at weight in one model book; nothing added.
−46.84%
Nike’s stock, year to date through Friday’s close
$33.87
Friday close, after a new 52-week low of $31.97
$76.97
Nike’s 52-week high — more than double Friday’s close
1,400
Corporate jobs cut this year, plus 800 in warehouses
Nike has already cut 800 warehouse jobs and 1,400 corporate ones this year; decisions on the next round begin in calendar 2027.
In one line: Nike’s plan to shrink and its stock’s 46.84% slide are a live lesson in single-stock risk — and, for taxable accounts, a reason to review harvestable losses before Dec. 31.
“The entire planet knows Nike,” the Journal’s Ben Cohen wrote in this weekend’s paper. True — and the planet just heard Nike (NKE) say it intends to get smaller. Revenue has fallen two quarters running, the company sees more decline this fiscal year, and the plan is fewer jobs, a slimmer operation and merged regional businesses. At Thursday’s after-hours price, Hanna Krueger and Katherine Hamilton reported, the shares were on pace for their worst year on record; they closed Friday at $33.87, down 46.84% for the year, after setting a new 52-week low of $31.97.
Chief Executive Elliott Hill — a Nike sales intern in 1988 who came out of retirement to take the top job in October 2024 — told employees the work will mean fewer roles, with decisions starting in calendar 2027. “We do not yet know the number of roles or specific locations of positions,” he wrote. Nike’s already cut 800 warehouse jobs and 1,400 corporate ones this year. The sore spots: China, its second-biggest market, where it missed a sporting boom that lifted upstarts On (ONON) and Hoka; the Sportswear lifestyle line; and Jordan. U.S. sales rose a tepid 2%, and Dick’s Sporting Goods (DKS) said in September that Air Force Ones in classic red, blue and black had a sluggish quarter.
Famous isn’t a floor
Friday’s close is less than half the stock’s 52-week high of $76.97. The stock table now shows a 4.8% dividend yield, which mostly tells you the price fell, not that the payout got better. None of this is a forecast — Hill’s turnaround may take hold, or it may not. It’s simply proof that a household name can lose half its value inside a year.
Our read
Two planning lessons, Investments/Risk (IN04) first. A blue chip is a reputation, not a promise. If one stock is a big slice of your net worth — especially your employer’s, so your paycheck and your portfolio ride the same news — a year like Nike’s is the case for setting a ceiling on any single position and trimming toward a loss you could live with. Nike employees holding shares or restricted stock are in exactly that spot.
Then Tax. In a taxable account, selling a loser before Dec. 31 turns a paper loss into a realized one that can offset gains elsewhere, with limited use against ordinary income and the rest carried forward. Mind the wash-sale rule: buy the same stock, or something substantially identical, within 30 days before or after the sale — your IRA included — and the loss is disallowed: deferred into the new shares in most cases, lost outright if the buyback happens in an IRA. Losses inside retirement accounts don’t count at all. Nike is held at weight in one model book; nothing added, and we’re watching. Year-end is when the umbrella goes on sale — don’t wait for the December downpour.
What It Means For Your Portfolio
Watch — no adds; review taxable losses before Dec. 31
Nike held at weight in one model book, nothing added; for readers, it’s a prompt to cap single-stock exposure and review harvestable losses in taxable accounts before Dec. 31.
General planning principles, not advice for anyone in particular. List every position in your taxable accounts that sits below its cost basis, and ask whether selling one would offset gains you’ve already realized this year. If you want to stay invested in the theme, a broadly diversified fund isn’t substantially identical to a single stock — but check the wash-sale window across all your accounts, including IRAs, before you buy anything back.
If one company — especially your employer — makes up a large share of your net worth, set a written ceiling and a schedule for trimming toward it. The tax bill on a gain is a reason to plan a sale, not a reason to avoid one.
