Business

NASA’s live programming will start streaming on Netflix this summer.
The content will remain on the NASA app.
Rocket launches are happening more often than ever.

Workers repaint the NASA logo on the Vehicle Assembly Building at the Kennedy Space Center on May 28, 2020 in Cape Canaveral, Florida.
Joe Raedle | Getty Images

NASA’s live programming, including rocket launches, spacewalks and views of Earth from space, will begin streaming on Netflix this summer.
NASA said the move is part of its effort to reach a global audience, according to a press release. The agency noted that the content will remain free and ad-free on the NASA app and website, where it already has live programming.

NASA+ launched in 2023 as a way to give the public easier access to space content.
“The National Aeronautics and Space Act of 1958 calls on us to share our story of space exploration with the broadest possible audience,” Rebecca Sirmons, general manager of NASA+, said in the release.
NASA did not disclose financial details of the deal.
The partnership comes as there has been a surge in commercial rocket launches, led by Elon Musk’s SpaceX. SpaceX has had 81 launches in the first half of 2025, according to Space Explored. It also continues to be the only U.S. company with a spacecraft that’s certified to bring astronauts to the International Space Station.
Meanwhile, NASA has been supporting missions in low-Earth orbit.
Shares of Netflix, which has more than 700 million users, have been trading at all-time highs. The streaming service is up almost 51% since the beginning of the year. More

The WNBA announced on Monday it has awarded three new expansion teams to Cleveland, Detroit and Philadelphia.
The new franchises will grow the league to 18 teams over the next five years.
WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert called it a “truly monumental day” for the league.

Napheesa Collier, #24 of the Minnesota Lynx, scores the game-winning basket during the game against the New York Liberty in Game 1 of the 2024 WNBA Finals at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York, on Oct. 10, 2024.
Nathaniel S. Butler | National Basketball Association | Getty Images

The WNBA announced on Monday it has awarded three new expansion teams to Cleveland, Detroit and Philadelphia, growing the league to 18 teams over the next five years.
WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert called it a “truly monumental day” for the league.

“These are proud cities with powerful sports legacies, each one rich in basketball tradition,” she said. “This is a bold step forward as we grow our footprint.”
The league currently has 13 teams, with franchises in Toronto and Portland set to join in 2026.
The Cleveland team will begin play in 2028, followed by Detroit in 2029 and Philadelphia in 2030. Each team will pay $250 million in franchise fees to join the league, according to a person familiar with the terms who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss nonpublic details. Those fees would represent a historic high for the WNBA.
The league has been looking at the expansion process for more than two years. More than a dozen cities submitted bids, including Kansas City, St. Louis, Austin, Houston, Miami, Denver and Charlotte, North Carolina.
The league said Monday each location was selected after analyzing market viability, infrastructure and local support. Engelbert said Houston, specifically, is one the league will continue to have its eye on for future expansions.

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“Today marks a transformative day in Cleveland’s sports history,” said Nic Barlage, CEO of the Rock Entertainment Group, which owns the NBA’s Cleveland Cavaliers and other professional sports teams in the city.
This would not be Cleveland’s first foray into professional women’s basketball. The city hosted one of the WNBA’S original franchises, the Cleveland Rockers from 1997 to 2003. That team folded after seven seasons as the team’s owner, Gordon Gund, cited low attendance and said he could not find a way to make the team profitable.
The Detroit WNBA ownership group is led by Tom and Holly Gores, owners of the Detroit Pistons.
“This is a huge win for our city,” said Arn Tellem, the vice chairman of the Detroit Pistons basketball franchise. “It’s much bigger than basketball.”
The Detroit team will return women’s basketball to the city after a roughly two-decade hiatus. The Detroit Shock played from 1998 to 2009, winning three championships and setting records for attendance before moving to Tulsa, Oklahoma.
The Philadelphia team will be owned by Harris Blitzer Sports & Entertainment, owner of the Philadelphia 76ers, which includes Josh Harris, David Blitzer and David Adelman. Comcast holds a minority stake in the team.
Harris, co-founder and managing partner of HBSE, said bringing the WNBA to the city “wasn’t just a nice-to-have, it was an obligation.”
Disclosure: Comcast owns NBCUniversal, parent company of CNBC. More

when you think about your next career move, you may well have your sights set on a higher salary, a new skill or just a shorter commute. When Salar al Khafaji, a Dutch entrepreneur, was thinking about his next venture, he had slightly different criteria. More

Moderna said its experimental mRNA-based flu vaccine produced a stronger immune response than a currently available shot for the virus in a late-stage trial.
The positive data pave the way for Moderna to apply for approval of its standalone flu vaccine, called mRNA-1010, later this year.
The results also clear a path forward for Moderna’s combination jab targeting Covid-19 and influenza after the company voluntarily withdrew its application for U.S. approval of that shot.

The Moderna Inc. headquarters in Cambridge, Massachusetts, on March 26, 2024.
Adam Glanzman | Bloomberg | Getty Images

Moderna on Monday said its experimental mRNA-based flu vaccine produced a stronger immune response than a currently available shot in a late-stage trial, clearing a path forward for the product and the company’s separate combination flu and Covid jab.
Moderna in May voluntarily withdrew an application seeking approval of its combination shot targeting Covid-19 and influenza, saying it had plans to resubmit it with efficacy data from the phase three trial on its stand-alone flu vaccine. That decision came after discussions with the Food and Drug Administration, which is grappling with a massive overhaul under Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., a prominent vaccine skeptic.

With the new data, the company plans to resubmit the application for the combination vaccine and file for approval of its stand-alone flu shot later this year, Stephen Hoge, the company’s head of research and development, said in an interview.
If regulators approve the flu vaccine, the company can then advance the combination shot, Hoge said. He added that Moderna expects approvals for both shots next year pending reviews.
Moderna shares climbed nearly 3% in premarket trading Monday.
Hoge said the combination jab simplifies vaccination, which will “help the health-care system” by reducing the workloads of doctors and nurses, slashing costs, and improving uptake among patients.
The company so far appears to be the front-runner in the race against Pfizer and Novavax to bring a combination shot to the market. While Moderna does not have specific revenue projections for its individual products, Hoge said Covid, flu and respiratory syncytial virus are each multibillion-dollar markets.

“We’re obviously hoping that our products allow us to earn our fair share of them,” he said.

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The phase three trial followed more than 40,000 adults ages 50 and above, who were randomly assigned to receive a single dose of Moderna’s shot, called mRNA-1010, or a standard competitor vaccine. Moderna’s shot was 26.6% more effective than the other vaccine in the overall study population. 
The mRNA-1010 jab also demonstrated strong efficacy for each of the major influenza strains in the shot, including A/H1N1, A/H3N2 and the B/Victoria lineages. Moderna said the vaccine’s benefit was consistent across different age groups, people with various risk factors and previous vaccination status against the flu. 
In adults ages 65 and older, the shot was 27.4% more effective than the standard flu vaccine. 
The efficacy results are “a significant milestone in our effort to reduce the burden of influenza in older adults,” Moderna CEO Stephane Bancel said in a release. “The severity of this past flu season underscores the need for more effective vaccines.”
Moderna cited data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention showing that seasonal flu-related hospitalizations and outpatient visits reached a 15-year high during the 2024 to 2025 season of the virus. More than 600,000 Americans were hospitalized due to flu-related illness last year, according to the CDC. 
The mRNA-1010 vaccine’s safety data was consistent with previous results from another phase three study on the shot. 
Shares of Moderna were down more than 30% for the year entering Monday, fueled in large part by a string of moves by the Trump administration to change vaccine policy and undermine immunizations. The administration in May canceled a contract awarded to Moderna for the late-stage development of its bird flu vaccine for humans. 
When asked about the uncertain regulatory environment in the U.S., Hoge said Moderna is engaging closely with the FDA to understand what its requirements are and how to satisfy them.
“I believe, as relates to flu, I think we’ve got a pretty clear path,” he said.

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Nike confirmed that the largest financial impact from its turnaround plan is now in the past, boosting investor confidence that the company’s results will soon stabilize.
A number of Wall Street banks, including HSBC, issued bullish commentary on the stock the morning after it released fiscal fourth-quarter results, with some saying key strategies are showing signs of progress.
While Nike’s turnaround is showing signs of life, the company couldn’t say when it will return to growth.

Nike’s “Just Do It” ad slogan on Feb. 5, 2025, in London, England.
Richard Baker | In Pictures | Getty Images

Nike stock soared 17% on Friday after the company said the worst of its struggles are behind it, following a better-than-feared fiscal fourth-quarter earnings report. 
Nike on Thursday reiterated it would take the biggest financial hit from its turnaround plan during the quarter, soothing investors who worried President Donald Trump’s tariff hikes on key Nike manufacturing hubs like China and Vietnam would derail the company’s comeback.

Nike posted a poor fourth quarter, as sales dropped 12%, net income plunged 86% and profit margins dwindled. But CEO Elliott Hill stressed the company has emerged from the worst of its slump, and the slide in sales and profits would begin to moderate in the quarters ahead. 
“The results we’re reporting today in Q4 and in FY25 are not up to the Nike standard, but as we said 90 days ago, the work we’re doing to reposition the business through our ‘Win Now’ actions is having an impact,” said Hill on an earnings call, referencing the name of the company’s turnaround plan. “From here, we expect our business results to improve. It’s time to turn the page.” 
With few details about the progress of Nike’s turnaround strategies in the company’s earnings release, the company’s shares initially fell when it posted results after the closing bell Thursday. By the end of an hourlong call with Nike executives and Wall Street analysts, the stock had surged more than 10% in extended trading.
Beyond assuring investors that the turnaround plan is working, Hill shared promising updates on new product launches and Nike’s efforts to win back wholesale partners, which have been key areas of focus since he took over in October. 
Hill shared details behind Nike’s decision to begin selling on Amazon for the first time since 2019 and its push to win over female shoppers, another priority for the company. 

During the quarter, the company launched products in more than 200 women’s led shops, including Aritzia, and released its collection with WNBA star A’ja Wilson, which Hill said sold out in three minutes. 
By Friday morning, the stock climbed even higher after numerous banks issued bullish commentary on the company. HSBC upgraded Nike to buy from hold, its first buy rating on the stock in 3½ years. 
HSBC also raised its price target to $80, implying 28% upside from Thursday’s close. 
“Long in the making but we think the inflection is finally here,” analyst Erwan Rambourg wrote in a research note. “We think there is more than tangible evidence that Nike has a path to see its sales rebound in the not-too-distant future, and its margins to be repaired, and this despite an unfavorable tariff headwind.” 
Nike’s results show the company is rebounding on a timeline Wall Street likes. But don’t call it a comeback just yet. 
The sneaker giant is trying to grow again at a shaky time for the economy, as weaker consumer sentiment, rising debt, tariffs and mass deportations raise questions about spending and GDP.
Nike still expects sales to decline in its current quarter by a mid-single-digit percentage, in line with Wall Street expectations of a 7% drop, according to LSEG.
It also has more work to do to clear out stale lifestyle inventory from its classic Dunks and Jordan lines. Those efforts to liquidate old inventory have hit profit margins and sales because Nike has had to rely on deep discounts, clearance channels and the off-price sector to clear out that glut. 
In fiscal 2025, which ended last month, sales for classics like the Air Force 1, Air Jordan 1 and Dunks declined more than 20% compared with the year-ago period. In the fourth quarter, that accelerated to 30%, which impacted sales by nearly $1 billion, finance chief Matt Friend said. 
Air Force 1 inventory levels have started to stabilize but Nike is still working to clear out supply of its Dunk franchise, which will affect the company’s profits through the first half of its current fiscal year, said Friend.
Both Hill and Friend said Nike’s profits will be under pressure through the first half of fiscal 2026 as it works through its inventory and contends with higher costs from tariffs. They said they expect profits to improve in the second half of the year. 
However, when it comes to actual sales growth, it’s still too early to tell when the company will stop shrinking. 
When asked if there are any scenarios where the company could get back to revenue growth this year, Hill declined to share a timeline. 
“Just because of everything that’s going on, we’re going to take it 90 days at a time,” said Hill. “We believe full recovery will take time.”
Correction: This article has been updated to correct the spelling of Aritzia.

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Ram CEO Tim Kuniskis has a plan to turn around Stellantis’ truck brand that includes bringing back Hemi V-8 engines, mechanical bulls and many other untraditional marketing techniques.
Kuniskis said he’s “flying without a parachute,” since unretiring last year, while going all in on a renaissance for Ram.
Ram’s sales have declined by 38% since a record year in 2019, including a 41% downfall in highly important full-size pickup trucks.

Stellantis’ Ram display is seen at the New York International Auto Show on April 16, 2025.
Danielle DeVries | CNBC

AUBURN HILLS, Mich. — Ram CEO Tim Kuniskis reemerged from a seven-month retirement late last year saying he “missed the fight” and admitting the Stellantis brand was getting smashed in the marketplace by its competition.
Kuniskis walked on stage during a media event as the speakers blared Detroit rapper Eminem singing “Guess who’s back, back again.” He promised an aggressive turnaround for the embattled truck brand that will extend through 2026.

The plan includes more than 25 announcements through next year. Thus far they have included a return to NASCAR with mechanical bull rides and a new race truck, the resurrection of Hemi V-8 engines with a new “Symbol of Protest,” and, most recently, a new industry-leading powertrain warranty for its Ram products.
Since returning after a CEO shake-up, Kuniskis is invigorated. He’s “flying without a parachute,” as he recently described it, while playing with borrowed time and house money since his unretirement. He’s going all in to launch a renaissance of Ram, which has experienced a 38% sales decline since its record year back in 2019.

Ram Trucks CEO Tim Kuniskis inside the brand’s Ram 1500 NASCAR Truck Series concept.
Stellantis

“I have perfect clarity of my return because, after I left and had a chance to rest, I realized I didn’t need to leave, I just needed a break. Then I was itching to come back,” Kuniskis told CNBC during a recent interview in his relatively undecorated office. (He gave many of his career keepsakes away when he retired.) “We have a window of opportunity here to fix a lot of stuff, and some people are stressed out by that opportunity, and some people are fueled by it. Luckily, our team is fueled by it.”
Kuniskis, who was leading Ram and Dodge upon his retirement mid-last year, said an array of issues led to the brand’s current situation, including the automaker’s pricing, model launch cadence and, most importantly, problems with a redesign of its Ram 1500. That redesign led to production issues that are still being worked out more than a year after the vehicle’s launch.
“We tried to do too many things at once,” Kuniskis said of the Ram 1500. “We literally changed everything instead of doing a cadence of the changes.”

Kuniskis didn’t touch on the larger issues Stellantis was dealing with under former Stellantis CEO Carlos Tavares, who left the automaker in December. Kuniskis was recruited back to Ram amid the change in leadership.

Turnaround plan

Stellantis reveals its Ram 1500 NASCAR concept at the Michigan International Speedway in June 2025.
Stellantis

Ram is one of the most crucial of Stellantis’ 14 brands — if not the most important. It competes in the highly profitable full-size pickup truck market and industry experts said its success is key to the company reestablishing itself in the commercial sales market.
“It’s kind of the backbone of their business,” said Joseph Yoon, consumer insights analyst at CarMax’s data and consumer car shopping site Edmunds.com. “The market share is hugely important.”
Market share for the Ram 1500 in the U.S. full-size pickup truck market has plummeted from 17.8% in 2019 to 8.4% through roughly the first half of this year, according to Edmunds.

Ram’s sales of full-size trucks, which includes the 1500 and larger versions, have declined 41% from 2019 through 2024, according to company data, allowing competitors such as General Motors and Toyota Motor to increase sales during that time.
While it’s early into the turnaround plan, which goes into next year, Ram has already resurrected its popular Hemi V-8 engine; reintroduced lower-priced pickup truck models; announced a return to NASCAR; and introduced a 10-year/100,000 limited powertrain warranty for new trucks across its lineup, among other things.
Kuniskis has said further announcements could encompass several new potential vehicles, including a passenger van and midsize pickup truck that’s expected in 2027. He’s also launched a “Nothing Stops Ram” marketing campaign and delayed the brand’s electrified pickup trucks amid low market demand.
“There’s always a method to the madness,” Kuniskis said. “There’s always a business reason behind something that seems like fun.”

Part of Ram’s new marketing efforts include a return to NASCAR truck racing, where race fans can “Ride the Hemi” – a mechanical bull ride that looks like the brand’s new “Symbol of Protest” Hemi logo that features the engine with a ram’s head.
Stellantis

Part of that “fun” includes a return to NASCAR truck racing, where fans can “Ride the Hemi” – a mechanical bull ride that looks like the brand’s new “Symbol of Protest” logo that features the engine with a ram’s head. If riders can stay on for 15 seconds, they receive a special-edition T-shirt that can’t be purchased.
Its splashy return to NASCAR earlier this month in Michigan also included a new truck design, as well as a vehicle doing doughnut burnouts.
Kuniskis declined to disclose sales targets for the Ram brand or its full-size pickup trucks, but he said the company is aiming for a market share somewhere between 20% and 29.9% for its full-size trucks by the end of the plan. Ram Trucks had a roughly 17% share of the U.S. full-size pickup truck market in 2024, according to industry data.
“I know exactly where we want to be and what our expectations are,” he said. “I should legitimately have a market share that starts with a two. … That’s a starting point for us.”

Part of Ram’s new marketing efforts include a return to NASCAR truck racing, where race fans can “Ride the Hemi” – a mechanical bull ride that looks like the brand’s new “Symbol of Protest” Hemi logo that features the engine with a ram’s head.
Stellantis

But Kuniskis said market share is only one metric and that plant utilization and profits are also important. While Ram’s overall sales are down, he said retail sales — a closely watched metric — are expected to be up by about 28% through the first half of the year.
“You don’t want to chase share just for the sake of chasing share,” he said. “I want to have all plants running at full capacity to maximize my efficiency.”

‘Last Tenth LFG’

Kuniskis wears a black band on his left wrist with white lettering that reads “Last Tenth LFG.”
The first part has been a mantra of Kuniskis’ for years to push his top lieutenants to perform as best as they can. The latter part is an acronym with many meanings, including “let’s freaking go.”
“When you were in school, they told you ‘Get an ‘A,’ everything will be great. You’ll be successful in life.’ Not true. Not true,” Kuniskis said. “They remember the guy that way pushed beyond just getting an ‘A’ in school and did something different, push that last tenth.”

Ram CEO Tim Kuniskis handed out “Last Tenth LFG” bracelets to his team and dealers as a symbolic gesture of the brand’s turnaround.
Stellantis

Kuniskis handed out the wristbands to his team as well as the brand’s dealers during his return to an annual dealer conference in January as a way to regain the trust of retailers after years of contentious relations over incentives, products and price increases.
So far it seems to be working, according to Michael Bettenhausen, a dealer in Illinois who chairs the Stellantis National Dealer Council.
“Everything that Tim has showed us has us convinced that the brand is on a path to get back to the volumes that we’ve seen from years past,” Bettenhausen said. “We’re really excited that Tim is leading this charge. It’s really remarkable.”
Bettenhausen also said the full-size pickup truck market is key to the success of the company and its dealers. It is made up of buyers who often have generational loyalties to a brand and act as ambassadors for it.
“Customer loyalty is a huge part of that business,” Yoon said. “For a lot of these people, it doesn’t matter if their brand is objectively the best product or not. It’s just that whatever the automaker is doing, they feel like it’s best for them.”

Ram 1500 extended range hybrid pickup, set to come to market in early 2026, will have the longest driving range the company has ever offered in a light-duty truck, up to 690 total miles between its gas engine and battery power.
Ram | Stellantis

Bringing back the automaker’s well-known Hemi V-8 may have been a good start, as Kuniskis said the company received 12,000 Hemi orders on the first day pickup trucks with the engine were available for dealers to order.
As the Hemi returns, Ram’s electrification plans, including a new plug-in truck and an all-electric model, are being delayed. Kuniskis declined to discuss production timing for the all-electric model, which was initially expected last year. He said the plug-in model — known as an extended-range electric vehicle, or EREV — will begin production this year but declined to specify when consumer sales will begin.
Kuniskis said he believes the EREV will be more of a differentiator in the market and more important in the brand’s turnaround plan through 2026.
“I’m really bullish on the year. I’m really proud of how we started this year and that’s just using traditional tactics,” Kuniskis said. “We haven’t gotten to the new stuff yet.” More

Luxury real estate brokers are seeing more all-cash offers, especially from ultra-wealthy clients, per a new survey of Coldwell Banker brokers.
Brokerage president Jason Waugh said high interest rates and real estate’s appeal as a safe haven during economic volatility are driving this trend.
While high-end buyers aren’t shying away from big-ticket purchases, their wish-lists have gotten longer.

View of luxury waterfront homes and boats along the intracoastal waterway near Jupiter Inlet in Jupiter, Florida in Palm Beach County
Ryan Tishken | Istock | Getty Images

A version of this article first appeared in CNBC’s Inside Wealth newsletter with Robert Frank, a weekly guide to the high-net-worth investor and consumer. Sign up to receive future editions, straight to your inbox.
Economic uncertainty is creating a divide in the luxury real estate market between ultra-rich buyers and the merely wealthy, according to a new report from brokerage Coldwell Banker.

 A survey of some 200 agents specializing in luxury property found that ultra-wealthy buyers, defined as individuals worth at least $30 million, are still making big-ticket purchases despite trade war and recession fears. They are also driving a substantial rise in all-cash offers. Meanwhile, affluent but less wealthy buyers are more sensitive to interest rates and are acting more cautiously, according to the report.
Just over half of the surveyed agents said they had seen a slight or substantial increase in cash purchases by clients in 2025. Only 3.9% reported a decrease in those buyers in the first five months of 2025, while 45.4% said cash purchases had held steady, according to the report.
Jason Waugh, president of Coldwell Banker Affiliates, told Inside Wealth that high interest rates are a major factor behind the surge.
“Cash provides a buyer with control. It provides leverage, speed and security,” he said. “But it’s really the elevated borrowing costs that continue to remain so high. Why absorb those costs if you have the cash to close on a real estate purchase, right?”

Waugh, who got his broker license nearly 32 years ago, said real estate can be more attractive during times of economic uncertainty. Just over two-thirds of surveyed agents reported that affluent clients were maintaining or increasing their exposure to real estate, while only 11.3% said clients’ interest had decreased in favor of equities and other financial assets. The remaining 20.6% of agents said clients had put plans on hold due to economic or stock market uncertainty.

“It’s been a roller coaster, and the business is cyclical. I think at the end of the day, real estate is a hard asset that can preserve wealth and is a hedge against inflation,” he said. “I think that data really confirms that narrative that folks see real estate as a great way to to accumulate wealth even in the the most uncertain and volatile economic environment we’ve navigated in well over a decade.”

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That said, while luxury home sales rose overall in the first five months of 2025, they took a hit in May, the first full month after April’s stock market dip. The report, citing data from the Institute for Luxury Home Marketing, said luxury single-family home sales dipped 4.7% year over year while attached property sales plummeted by 21.1%.
Agents are also seeing more clients reduce list prices in 2025 compared to recent years, according to Waugh. The median sold prices for luxury single-family and luxury-attached properties currently stand at $1.7 million and $1.25 million, respectively, according to the Institute for Luxury Home Marketing.
Waugh added that buyers at all price points are more discerning than they were a few years ago. They’re now asking for top-end appliances like smart fridges, spa-level amenities, and indoor-outdoor living features from a fireplace to a whole kitchen.
First-time luxury buyers are especially choosy, he said.
“They may be stretching themselves, given the current rate environment, so they’re going to be a lot more discerning in terms of evaluating where they live, the amenities, the condition of the property at move in,” he said. “It’s a completely new environment this year than the prior couple years.” More

Nike reported better than expected fiscal fourth-quarter earnings and revenue.
The company expects tariffs will cost it $1 billion in the current fiscal year before price increases and supply chain shifts.
The sneaker giant said it took its biggest financial hit yet from its turnaround plan during the period, but expects sales and profit declines to moderate moving forward.

A shopper walks past a Nike store, as global markets brace for a hit to trade and growth caused by U.S. President Donald Trump’s decision to impose import tariffs on dozens of countries, in the King of Prussia Mall in King of Prussia, Pennsylvania, U.S., April 3, 2025.
Rachel Wisniewski | Reuters

Nike on Thursday said it expects sales and profit declines to moderate ahead, after the sneaker giant took its biggest financial hit yet from its turnaround plan during its fiscal fourth quarter.
While the worst could be behind the company, it has new challenges like tariffs to face, making a tough turnaround that much more difficult. On a call with analysts, finance chief Matt Friend called the duties a “new and meaningful” cost. 

“With the new tariff rates in place today, we estimate a gross incremental cost increase to Nike of approximately $1 billion” in its current fiscal year 2026, Friend said. 
He added that the company intends to “fully mitigate” that cost over time as it tweaks its supply chain, works with its factory and retail partners and implements price increases. 
Currently, about 16% of its supply chain is in China and it expects to reduce that to the high single digit percentage range by the end of its current fiscal year, which is expected to end next summer. 
“Despite the current elevated tariffs for Chinese products imported into the United States, manufacturing capacity and capability in China remains important to our global source base,” said Friend. 
Friend said the company will consider cost cuts but its highest priority remains stabilizing its business, which requires investment. 

Once those efforts are implemented, Friend said the financial impact to fiscal 2026 gross margin is expected to be 0.75 percentage points, with a greater impact expected in the first half.
While Wall Street’s expectations were low coming into the report, Nike beat estimates on the top and bottom lines.
Here’s how the company did for the three-month period ended May 31, compared with estimates from analysts polled by LSEG:

Earnings per share: 14 cents per share vs. 13 cents estimated
Revenue: $11.10 billion vs. $10.72 billion estimated

The company’s reported net income for the quarter was $211 million, or 14 cents per share, compared with $1.5 billion, or 99 cents per share, a year earlier. 
Sales dropped to $11.10 billion, down about 12% from $12.61 billion a year earlier.  
Last quarter, Nike warned that its fiscal fourth quarter would be the low point of its turnaround but in the months since, conditions worsened, leaving investors wondering if more pain was still to come.
In a press release, Friend confirmed that the fiscal fourth quarter will see the “largest financial impact” from its turnaround and headwinds are expected to moderate moving forward. 
On a call with analysts, CEO Elliott Hill said it’s time to “turn the page.”
“The results we’re reporting today in Q4 and in FY25 are not up to the Nike standard, but as we said 90 days ago, the work we’re doing to reposition the business through our ‘Win Now’ actions is having an impact,” said Hill. “From here, we expect our business results to improve.”
For the current quarter, Nike expects sales to decline by a mid-single digit percentage, in line with expectations of down 7%, according to LSEG. It expects its gross margin to be down between 3.5 and 4.25 percentage points, including 1 percentage point from the tariff rates currently in place today.
Nike shares initially dropped after its report was released but moved about 10% higher during the company’s conference call.
During the quarter, Nike’s profits fell by a staggering 86% as it worked to clear out stale inventory, woo back wholesale partners and reset its digital business. The largest hit to margins came from Nike’s use of discounts and clearance channels to offload inventory, coupled with its shift back to wholesale, which is a less profitable channel than selling directly on its website and stores.
The company has warned the strategy would lead to lower near-term profits, but would leave the business in a healthier position in the long term. 
During the quarter, Nike Direct revenue, representing stores, wholesale and its website, fell 14%, led by a 26% drop in digital sales and a 9% decline in wholesale. 
Nike stores, however, were a bright spot. During the quarter, sales at Nike stores rose 2%. 
Foot traffic data at Nike stores has been declining since October, but those figures also indicate that conditions could be improving, according to Placer.ai, an analytics firm that uses anonymized data from mobile devices to estimate overall visits to locations. 
Monthly visits to Nike stores dropped 10.2% in April compared to the previous year, but that decline narrowed to 3.2% in May, according to Placer.ai. 
Revenue fell in all regions during the quarter, but came in a bit better than expected in North America, Nike’s largest market. Sales fell 11% to $4.70 billion in North America, better than the $4.42 billion analysts had expected, according to StreetAccount. 
Still, China revenue came in at $1.48 billion, just below the $1.50 billion analysts had expected, according to StreetAccount. 
Hill told analysts that the sales recovery in China will take longer “due to the unique characteristics of the marketplace.” It now has more competition in the region and said it has more work to do to clean up inventory. It’s also testing new retail concepts with a local approach.
Since Hill took over as Nike’s CEO in October, a lot of his work has focused on unwinding the strategy his predecessor John Donahoe implemented. He’s worked to win back wholesale partners, after Donahoe pursued a direct selling strategy, and he’s also bringing Nike back to its sports focus.
Under Donahoe, Nike moved away from its sport segmentation and instead broke up its business into women’s, men’s and kids. Some critics say that’s part of the reason why Nike’s innovation pipeline fell apart because the business was more focused on lifestyle products geared to a wide range of consumers, instead of being directed at athletes. 
On a call with analysts, Hill said the company is realigning teams to focus back on sports.
“Nike, Jordan and Converse teams will now come to work every day with a mission to create the most innovative and coveted product, footwear, apparel and accessories for the specific athletes they serve,” Hill said. 
On the wholesale front, Nike is moving into more retailers and highlighted fresh efforts with brands like Aritzia and Urban Outfitters. Hill also discussed the decision to come back to Amazon and start selling on the platform for the first time since 2019. Beginning this fall, Amazon will begin carrying a “select assortment” of shoes, apparel and accessories and Nike will have a featured brand store on the platform focused on running, training, basketball and sportswear, Hill said. 
The decision to partner with brands like Aritzia and come back to Amazon highlights the scrappy approach Nike is taking to wholesale. It also highlights the success Amazon has had in winning over big brands. In the past, few brands were willing to sell on Amazon over concerns it could dilute its image. These days, it’s seen as an essential channel for many businesses.
The company is still seeing declines in its performance category for Nike products, but it said it saw strong sales for new launches in running and training in North America. 
During the quarter, it released a new sneaker and collection for A’ja Wilson, a star center with the Las Vegas Aces. 
The first drop sold out in three minutes and the company plans to double the amount of pairs in the coming seasons, Hill said. 
During Nike’s conference call, its delayed partnership with Skims wasn’t discussed or asked about.
The first product launch with Kim Kardashians intimates line was supposed to go live during the quarter, but now that’s been delayed to later this year, CNBC previously reported. That partnership is a key strategy in Nike’s efforts to win over more female shoppers, who are estimated to represent about 40% of its business.
This gender gap is not ideal for discretionary retailers because women tend to spend more on clothes than men. Nike has lost market share to athletic apparel competitors like Lululemon and Alo Yoga, which cater to a similar customer but are more geared toward women. 
Sneakers are still the most important part of Nike’s business, but apparel is a growth area for the company, representing about 28% of Nike brand revenue in fiscal 2024. More