Nike's fiscal first quarter results disappointed, and CEO Elliott Hill's remarks on the earnings call left Yahoo Finance Executive Editor Brian Sozzi expecting the business to struggle for another two years. Sozzi called the situation one of the worst meltdowns he has seen in retail in some time, though he noted the company remains profitable and still has lots of sales. He outlined four areas Nike must focus on to follow through on its turnaround plan: sell Converse, stop selling sneakers everywhere to restore exclusivity, stop dragging its feet on cost cuts, and tell an AI story to an AI investing world. On cost cuts, Sozzi said Hill is likely to enact a large amount of layoffs soon, with a first wave possibly before year end, and pointed to the company's new CFO who cut a lot of costs at his prior company. He also noted Nike's online business was down 13%, saying AI is not helping the business at all.
Nike IncWeak fiscal Q1 results and CEO's downbeat remarks point to two more years of struggle and likely layoffs
Levi Strauss & Co Class AAnalyst recommends Nike sell Converse as part of its turnaround plan
