{"id":19382,"date":"2025-12-19T22:58:01","date_gmt":"2025-12-19T22:58:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/nationalgunowner.org\/index.php\/2025\/12\/19\/nike-ceo-elliot-hills-turnaround-plan-hits-a-roadblock-in-china\/"},"modified":"2025-12-19T22:58:01","modified_gmt":"2025-12-19T22:58:01","slug":"nike-ceo-elliot-hills-turnaround-plan-hits-a-roadblock-in-china","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nationalgunowner.org\/index.php\/2025\/12\/19\/nike-ceo-elliot-hills-turnaround-plan-hits-a-roadblock-in-china\/","title":{"rendered":"Nike CEO Elliot Hill\u2019s Turnaround Plan Hits a Roadblock In China"},"content":{"rendered":"<div itemprop=\"articleBody\">\n<figure id=\"attachment_1606971\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-1606971\" style=\"width: 970px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full-width wp-image-1606971\" src=\"https:\/\/observer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/12\/GettyImages-2177417331.jpg?quality=80&amp;w=970\" alt=\"Man in black button up shirt pictured on football field \" width=\"970\" height=\"740\" srcset=\"https:\/\/observer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/12\/GettyImages-2177417331.jpg 6375w, https:\/\/observer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/12\/GettyImages-2177417331.jpg?resize=300,229 300w, https:\/\/observer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/12\/GettyImages-2177417331.jpg?resize=768,586 768w, https:\/\/observer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/12\/GettyImages-2177417331.jpg?resize=635,485 635w, https:\/\/observer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/12\/GettyImages-2177417331.jpg?resize=1536,1172 1536w, https:\/\/observer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/12\/GettyImages-2177417331.jpg?resize=2048,1563 2048w, https:\/\/observer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/12\/GettyImages-2177417331.jpg?resize=970,740 970w, https:\/\/observer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/12\/GettyImages-2177417331.jpg?resize=320,244 320w, https:\/\/observer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/12\/GettyImages-2177417331.jpg?resize=1920,1466 1920w, https:\/\/observer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/12\/GettyImages-2177417331.jpg?resize=50,38 50w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 600px) 300px, 620px\"\/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-1606971\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Elliot Hill took over as Nike\u2019s CEO in October 2024. <span class=\"media-credit\">Photo by Tom Hauck\/Getty Images<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/observer.com\/person\/elliott-hill\/\" title=\"Elliott Hill\" class=\"company-link\">Elliott Hill<\/a>, a longtime <a href=\"https:\/\/observer.com\/company\/nike\/\" title=\"Nike\" class=\"company-link\">Nike<\/a> executive, came out of retirement last year to<a href=\"https:\/\/observer.com\/2024\/10\/nike-earnings-running-shoe-comeback\/\"> take the helm of the footwear giant<\/a>. So far, his turnaround plan is showing progress\u2014at least in most markets. Even as the company posts solid global results, its grip on China continues to weaken.<\/p>\n<section class=\"wp-block-observer-newsletters observer-newsletters--in-content\">\n<\/section>\n<p>Hill\u2019s renewed focus on product innovation and a return to Nike\u2019s sporting roots helped the company beat Wall Street expectations on both revenue and profit for the second quarter of fiscal 2026. Total sales reached $12.4 billion for the September-November period, up 1 percent year over year, though net income fell 32 percent to $800 million.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"636\" data-end=\"870\">Still, Nike\u2019s stock sank more than 10 percent on Dec. 19 as investors zeroed in on persistent weakness in China. Sales in the region dropped 17 percent to $1.4 billion, marking the sixth consecutive quarter of declining revenue there.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe see China as a big opportunity,\u201d said Hill during Nike\u2019s earnings call yesterday (Dec. 18). \u201cWith that said, it\u2019s clear that we need to reset our approach.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><iframe title=\"Year-Over-Year Changes to Nike's Greater China Revenue\" aria-label=\"Split Bars\" id=\"datawrapper-chart-VXezC\" src=\"https:\/\/datawrapper.dwcdn.net\/VXezC\/1\/\" scrolling=\"no\" frameborder=\"0\" style=\"width: 0; min-width: 100% !important; border: none;\" height=\"324\" data-external=\"1\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>Nike\u2019s once-dominant sneaker business has stumbled in recent years amid an <a href=\"https:\/\/observer.com\/2024\/10\/nike-earnings-running-shoe-comeback\/\">overreliance on lifestyle franchises<\/a>. The company needed new leadership to regain momentum in specialized sports categories such as running. Hill, who spent more than three decades at Nike before retiring in 2020, was tapped for the role last October.<\/p>\n<h3>Nike\u2019s \u2018Win Now\u2019 turnaround plan<\/h3>\n<p>Under a reorganization Hill has dubbed \u201cWin Now,\u201d Nike has reshuffled leadership roles to streamline operations and reduce management layers. The strategy centers on reclaiming authority in sports performance by emphasizing products designed for running, basketball and football, while pulling back from oversaturated lifestyle staples such as the Air Force 1 and Dunk.<\/p>\n<p>The approach is already delivering gains, particularly in North America, where sales jumped 9 percent in the most recent quarter to $5.6 billion. \u201cI\u2019d say we\u2019re in the middle innings of our comeback,\u201d said Hill.<\/p>\n<p>China, however, remains a major obstacle. Efforts to roll out \u201cWin Now\u201d initiatives in key cities like Beijing and China\u2014ranging from upgraded in-store presentations to stronger product storytelling\u2014have struggled amid declining foot traffic and elevated levels of aging inventory. \u201cWhat we\u2019ve done is a start, but it\u2019s not happening at the level or the pace we need to drive wider change,\u201d said Hill.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"2385\" data-end=\"2700\">Looking ahead, Nike plans to tailor its strategy to China\u2019s increasingly digital-first retail environment. As the company ramps up investment in the region, executives also stressed the need to improve store fleets within China\u2019s \u201cmonobrand footprint,\u201d where single-brand stores dominate over third-party retailers.<\/p>\n<p>At the same time, Nike is balancing market-specific challenges with the <a href=\"https:\/\/observer.com\/2025\/04\/footwear-companies-trampled-trumps-tariffs\/\">effects of tariffs<\/a>. The company, which manufactures much of its footwear and apparel in Vietnam, Indonesia, Cambodia and China, has also been forced to absorb costs and raise prices due to levies on imports. Nike is facing a $1.5 billion tariff hit for the year in what Hill described as a \u201csignificant headwind.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" itemprop=\"image\" src=\"https:\/\/observer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/12\/GettyImages-2177417331.jpg?quality=80&amp;w=970\" alt=\"Nike CEO Elliot Hill\u2019s Turnaround Plan Hits a Roadblock In China\" style=\"display:none;width:0;\"\/><\/p><\/div>\n<p><script>\n\t!function(f,b,e,v,n,t,s)\n\t{if(f.fbq)return;n=f.fbq=function(){n.callMethod?\n\t\tn.callMethod.apply(n,arguments):n.queue.push(arguments)};\n\t\tif(!f._fbq)f._fbq=n;n.push=n;n.loaded=!0;n.version='2.0';\n\t\tn.queue=[];t=b.createElement(e);t.async=!0;\n\t\tt.src=v;s=b.getElementsByTagName(e)[0];\n\t\ts.parentNode.insertBefore(t,s)}(window, document,'script',\n\t\t'https:\/\/connect.facebook.net\/en_US\/fbevents.js');\n\tfbq('init', '618909876214345');\n\tfbq('track', 'PageView');\n<\/script><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Elliot Hill took over as Nike\u2019s CEO in October 2024. Photo by Tom Hauck\/Getty Images Elliott Hill, a longtime Nike executive, came out of retirement last year to take the helm of the footwear giant. So far, his turnaround plan is showing progress\u2014at least in most markets. Even as the company posts solid global results, [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-19382","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","category-usa-news"],"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nationalgunowner.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19382","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/nationalgunowner.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/nationalgunowner.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nationalgunowner.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nationalgunowner.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=19382"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/nationalgunowner.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19382\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nationalgunowner.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=19382"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nationalgunowner.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=19382"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nationalgunowner.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=19382"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}