Nike price target lowered to $80 from $82 at Morgan Stanley

Morgan Stanley lowered the firm’s price target on Nike (NKE) to $80 from $82 and keeps an Equal Weight rating on the shares ahead of its Q2 results. The firm believes that the company will beat on earnings, but this will be driven by reduced SG&A spending, also noting that the new management will likely guide “below the Street” estimates on sales and margins in hopes of setting a “similarly beatable bar”, the analyst tells investors in a research note. Morgan Stanley adds that it is unlikely that Nike reinstates its previously withdrawn FY guidance, adding that it still “sees risk” to both the Street and the management’s expectations for improvement in the second half of FY25..