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Investing.com – Nike (NYSE:NKE) reported on Thursday mixed third-quarter results as earnings beat, but revenue fell short of expectations as the pandemic-led impacts in North and Europe hurt growth.
Nike shares lost 0.9% in after-hours trade following the report.
The company announced earnings per share of $0.9 on revenue of $10.36B. Analysts polled by Investing.com anticipated EPS of $0.7588 on revenue of $11.03B.
“Our third quarter revenue performance was impacted by disruption related to the COVID-19 pandemic, particularly in North America and EMEA,” the company said.
North America revenue declined 11%, largely driven by global container shortages and U.S. port congestion that led to delays in wholesale shipments. In Europe, the Middle East and Africa, physical retail sales declined, as 45% of its stores were forced to shutter amid COVID-19 restrictions.
Nike brand digital sales increased 59%, with double-digit growth in its business worldwide.
Gross margin increased 130 basis points to 45.6%, driven by higher full-price product margins.
Looking ahead, Nike expects to resume its existing share repurchase program, which was suspended in the fourth quarter of last year, in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2021. A total of 45.2 million shares had been repurchased under the program for approximately $4.0 billion.
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