Nike
Page: 3
The Nike swoosh logo is pictured on a store in New York City, New York, U.S., September 4, 2018. REUTERS/Carlo Allegri
March 25, 2019
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday declined to consider reviving a copyright case in which Nike Inc was accused of unauthorized use of photographer Jacobus Rentmeester’s famous 1984 photograph of basketball superstar Michael Jordan soaring through the air.
The justices turned away an appeal by Rentmeester, a former Life Magazine photographer, of a lower court’s ruling throwing out his copyright infringement lawsuit against the sportswear company. Rentmeester had said the decision against him by the San Francisco-based 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals could stifle creativity and reward piracy.
(Reporting by Andrew Chung; Editing by Will Dunham and Bill Trott)
Source: OANN
The Nike swoosh logo is seen outside the store on 5th Ave in New York, New York, U.S., March 19, 2019. REUTERS/Carlo Allegri
March 25, 2019
BRUSSELS (Reuters) – EU antitrust regulators fined U.S. sportswear maker Nike 12.5 million euros ($14.14 million) on Monday for restricting cross-border sales of merchandising products of five European football clubs and the a football federation.
The European Commission said Nike’s illegal practices occurred between 2004 to 2017 and related to licensed merchandise for FC Barcelona, Manchester United, Juventus, Inter Milan, AS Roma and the French Football Federation.
The sanction came following a two-year investigation triggered by a sector inquiry into e-commerce and bans by some retailers on cross-border sales of some products.
($1 = 0.8839 euros)
(Reporting by Foo Yun Chee)
Source: OANN
FILE PHOTO: Nike shoes are seen on display in New York, U.S., March 18, 2019. REUTERS/Shannon Stapleton
March 22, 2019
By Nivedita Balu
(Reuters) – Shares of Nike Inc fell 4 percent on Friday after the sportswear maker’s North America sales fell short of estimates for the first time in a year, but Wall Street analysts seemed more enthused about its new products and online growth.
The company faced intense pressure from European rivals Adidas and Puma a year ago, but has managed to win back market share with new launches of its popular Air Max and Jordan sneakers, increased focus on women’s wear and higher investment in online business.
“The athletic footwear cycle and brand power are solid. Nike’s business is strengthening in North America, and we expect the company to continue to recapture the share it has lost to Adidas,” said Jefferies analyst, adding that the stock might be slightly down given “high expectations”.
The company on Thursday blamed delay in new launches for a slowdown in apparel sales in North America during the quarter, which was marked by an outcry on social media after a Nike sneaker worn by Duke University basketball star Zion Williamson ripped open during a high-profile game.
Still, the stock continues to be one of Wall Street’s favorites. Out of 34 brokerages covering the stock, 25 analysts rate it ‘buy’ or higher and only one analyst has a sell rating on the stock.
Nike’s shares trade at 28.6 times the company’s 12-month forward earnings, compared with rival Adidas’ 21.5 times and Under Armour’s 59.5 times, according to Refinitiv IBES data.
Just two brokerages – Credit Suisse and UBS – lowered their target on the stock. Credit Suisse cut its price by $3 to $97, still well above the median price target of $92.5.
Nike’s online business, which includes sales from the SNKRS and Nike apps, was the main profit driver in the reported quarter. Revenue from that business rose 36 percent in the quarter.
While most analysts were enthusiastic about the results, some said higher expenses as the only dark spot in an otherwise strong report.
Jefferies analyst Randal Konik flagged a rise in selling, general and administrative expenses due to wage-related expenses.
(Reporting by Nivedita Balu in Bengaluru; Writing by Sweta Singh; Editing by Saumyadeb Chakrabarty)
Source: OANN
The German share price index DAX graph is pictured at the stock exchange in Frankfurt, Germany, March 21, 2019. REUTERS/Staff
March 22, 2019
(Reuters) – European stock markets rose on Friday, relieved at the European Union’s agreement on a two-week reprieve that precludes Britain crashing out of the bloc without a deal next week.
The communique from Thursday’s meeting of EU leaders also kept the door open to a longer extension if Prime Minister Theresa May, as expected, fails at the third attempt to gain parliament’s approval for her negotiated exit deal.
After two days of losses, the pan-European STOXX 600 index rose 0.3 percent, led by 0.6 percent gains for Germany’s DAX and a 0.2 percent rise in French stocks.
As has often been the case on Brexit, London’s blue chip FTSE 100, packed with companies dependent on international revenues which tend to lose when sterling rises, dipped 0.2 percent.
The pound, fluctuating heavily in the past week on Brexit twists and turns, was up 0.3 percent in early trade.
Shares in Deutsche Bank, up earlier this week on the prospect of a merger with Commerzbank, rose more than 2 percent after disclosures showed its board members received their first bonuses in four years.
The retail sector led gains with a roughly 1 percent rise, while tech stocks, on a tear after surprisingly upbeat results from chipmaker Micron earlier this week, gained another 0.6 percent, tracking gains on Wall Street and in Asia.
German chipmaker Siltronic AG was the Stoxx 600’s top gainer with a 3.6 percent rise.
Adidas AG and Puma SE both gained after a disappointing quarterly report from rival Nike Inc which hinted at a slowing of the U.S. firm’s momentum in its home market.
Despite the relief, there were more signs of firms making preparations for a no-deal Brexit that is likely to send a depressive shock coursing through Europe’s major economies.
British low-cost airline EasyJet said on Friday it was ready to suspend the voting rights of a small number of shares to comply with rules that require 50 percent plus one share of the company to be owned by EU shareholders following Brexit.
Goldman Sachs analysts reduced the likelihood of May’s deal passing to just 50 percent, while raising the chances of “no-deal” to 15 percent. The bank continues to put the chances of no Brexit at all at 35 percent.
(Reporting by Medha Singh and Patrick Graham,)
Source: OANN
The Nike swoosh logo is seen outside the store on 5th Ave in New York, New York, U.S., March 19, 2019. REUTERS/Carlo Allegri
March 21, 2019
(Reuters) – Nike Inc reported a 7 percent rise in quarterly revenue on Thursday, boosted by strong sales on its app and website.
Total revenue rose to $9.61 billion from $8.98 billion, in line with analysts’ average estimate, according to IBES data from Refinitiv.
The maker of Jordan sneakers reported a net income of $1.1 billion, or 68 cents per share, for the third quarter ended Feb. 28, compared with a net loss of $921 million, or 57 cents per share, a year earlier, when the company incurred a $2 billion charge related to U.S. tax reform.
(Reporting by Uday Sampath in Bengaluru; Editing by Sriraj Kalluvila)
Source: OANN
A man stands in front of an “integrity wall” at a consumer goods expo which opens a day ahead of World Consumer Rights Day, in Dalian, Liaoning province, China March 14, 2019. REUTERS/Stringer
March 15, 2019
By Brenda Goh and Pei Li
BEIJING/SHANGHAI (Reuters) – China is gearing up to skewer companies it accuses of treating consumers badly in a yearly event that has previously named and shamed firms from Apple to Nike Inc.
The state-run China Central Television (CCTV) will on Friday evening broadcast its annual consumer rights show, similar to CBS network’s “60 Minutes” in the United States, that tends to be a mix of undercover reports and song-and-dance routine.
Known as “315”, in reference to global consumer rights day on March 15, the show is usually greeted with trepidation by local and foreign brands, that have, in recent years, set up public relation teams in advance or handed out freebies around the day to take the edge off any possible criticism.
“This is the one day of the year that all eyes are focused on the consumer issue,” said James Feldkamp, Shanghai-based CEO of consumer research and testing firm MingJian.
“Some people may say it is losing its bite then suddenly it will have a big scandal that will have a big impact.”
This year, the show will grab more attention as it comes at a time when Beijing is locked in a trade war with the United States and has heavily criticized Canada over its decision to detain the CFO of Huawei Technologies on U.S. request.
Beijing has also continued to be critical of how companies, mainly international brands, refer to Taiwan in their marketing material or product package. Beijing considers the self-ruled, democratic island a wayward province.
Names of companies that will be targeted in CCTV’s consumer rights show are not disclosed ahead of the broadcast.
In fact, to maintain secrecy, people on the show have to sign a non-disclosure agreement, while producers are kept in a hotel and not allowed to go home a couple of months ahead of the screening, according to a former “315” executive.
It is unclear whether the show has had an impact on company sales, but it has drawn apologies from Volkswagen, whose engine defects in the Touareg SUV it criticized last year, as well as from Apple, whose China after-sales service it scrutinized in 2013.
CCTV did not respond to Reuters’ requests for comment.
Thanks to the fast-expanding middle class in the world’s second-largest economy, its consumers have become a powerful spending force with the ability to make or break brands.
Companies are willing to do anything to avoid being named, the former “315” executive said, on condition of anonymity as he was not allowed to speak about the show to media.
The show, first broadcast in 1991, has its own limitations on what can be exposed, the executive added.
Normally food-safety issues that could trigger public fear, giant state-owned enterprise or Chinese medicine firms are off limits, the person told Reuters.
“We are all staying on alert,” said a public relations officer at a major Chinese consumer tech brand.
(Reporting by Brenda Goh and Pei Li, additional Reporting by Josh Horwitz; Editing by Himani Sarkar)
Source: OANN
FILE PHOTO: General view of a match ball with Adidas logo at the Euro 2016 semi final in Lyon, France REUTERS/Carl Recine/File Photo
March 13, 2019
HERZOGENAURACH, Germany (Reuters) – Adidas expects supply chain issues to curb sales growth in the first half of the year, particularly in North America, but said it hopes to see off a challenge from Nike in Europe and return to growth in the region.
Shares in the German sportswear brand, up 22 percent in the last year, initially fell more than 5 percent but pared loses to trade down 3.5 percent by 1040 GMT.
Nike has been regaining ground, helped by a steady stream of new product launches and a strong showing by Nike-sponsored teams at the soccer World Cup, after several years when Adidas ate into its home market of North America.
Adidas said currency-neutral sales growth would slow to between 5 and 8 percent in 2019, from 8 percent in 2018, with supply issues accounting for a 1-2 percent fall as it struggles to meet strong demand for mid-priced apparel.
In contrast, Nike has forecast sales growth for 2019 approaching low double digits, and German rival Puma a currency-adjusted 10 percent.
“The volume grew quicker than anticipated and we didn’t respond quickly enough to that demand signal,” Chief Executive Kasper Rorsted told a news conference, noting that Adidas had doubled its sales in North America in the last three years.
Adidas produces 457 pieces of apparel a year, sourcing most of them from Cambodia, China and Vietnam. Rorsted said the shortages had nothing to do with U.S. trade tensions with China.
The company expects sales growth of just 3-4 percent in the first half of the year, speeding up in the second half as it ramps up supplies by reallocating factory capacity and prioritizing the U.S. market.
“The overall outlook is very solid for 2019, although top line growth will be rather back-end-loaded and this might be a temporary drag on Adidas shares,” wrote Macquarie analysts.
Rorsted declined to comment on whether the supply chain issues resulted in the removal of Gil Steyaert as global operations head after just over a year in the role, and his replacement with Martin Shankland last month.
REEBOK RECOVERY
Adidas said it should reach an operating profit margin of between 11.3 percent and 11.5 percent in 2019, up from 10.8 percent in 2018, with the return of the Reebok brand to profit helping it hit a target originally set for 2020 a year early.
Adidas confirmed its other targets for 2020 and Rorsted said it would present a new medium-term strategy toward the end of next year.
Fourth-quarter sales rose by a currency-adjusted 5 percent to 5.234 billion euros ($5.91 billion), ahead of average analyst forecasts for 5.2 billion, while attributable net profit came in at 108 million, versus consensus for 88 million.
Sales rose 13 percent in greater China and 9 percent in North America, but fell 6 percent in Europe.
Adidas said it expected to revive growth in Europe in the course of 2019, forecasting a slight increase in currency-neutral revenues for the region.
Rorsted said that Adidas had relied too much in Europe on a short-term trend for fashion shoes, like its retro Stan Smith and Superstar, with global sales of those models down half a billion euros in 2018 from the previous year.
To recover in Europe, he said it is investing heavily in marketing, including with sponsorship deals like the one it struck with English soccer side Arsenal.
“We will continue to invest heavily in sports. We want to be the best sports company in the world, not the best fashion company,” Rorsted said.
(Reporting by Emma Thomasson; Editing by Kirsten Donovan and Keith Weir)
Source: OANN
FILE PHOTO: A delivery driver rides his electric vehicle past Chinese and foreign car dealerships in Beijing, China October 11, 2018. REUTERS/Thomas Peter
March 11, 2019
By Daniel Leussink, Swati Pandey and Trevor Hunnicutt
TOKYO/SYDNEY/NEW YORK (Reuters) – When TAL Education Group, a mid-sized tutoring services firm in China, reported a three-fold increase in its 2018 third-quarter net income earlier this year, few people made much of it.
Rather, investors fretted over a weak performance in China from Apple Inc – a classic yardstick for measuring demand and the health of the world’s second-largest economy.
For Brendan Ahern, the New York-based chief investment officer at Krane Funds Advisors, TAL’s results showed that, while China may be showing signs of pain from a long-running U.S.-Sino trade war, parts of its economy are still doing well.
“With some study of China, you can get results that are very contrary to this view of China as one entity,” said Ahern.
Ahern is not alone. Foreign investors keen to get a grasp of China’s economy have for years distrusted official data.
Many have models built on inputs such as auto sales or air traffic and even indicators such as commentary from food and beauty firms.
“Many people look for alternative data sources in China as proxies for growth, rather than the just the official figures,” said Ross Hutchison, a fund manager at Aberdeen Standard Investments in Edinburgh. “I find it helpful to consider ‘micro’ stories, where you can get a better sense of actual activity.”
In 2018, even as the trade war sapped exports and investment at home, China’s official GDP growth was 6.6 percent – as always, unerringly within official targets.
That was a 28-year low for China, but still almost double the global average of 3.7 percent.
“There are always questions about it and there are always doubts raised about it,” said Michael O’Rourke, chief market strategist at JonesTrading in Greenwich, Connecticut.
“U.S. investors for the most part put a little haircut on it. If the number is X, they suspect the real number is X minus something, and then it is more about trying to identify the trend of numbers rather than the absolute levels.”
What’s more, for an economy that exceeds $10 trillion and a population of nearly 1.4 billion, analysts says China’s economic statistics are released too swiftly for investors to have faith in their accuracy, leading them to read the economic tea leaves elsewhere.
China’s National Bureau of Statistics did not respond to a faxed request for comment.
FAKES, FILTERS
Around the same time that Apple’s disappointing iPhone sales were making investors nervous about China, Aberdeen’s Hutchison was looking at athletic apparel firm Nike Inc’s estimate-beating results and double-digit sales growth in China.
“To me, it suggests that the worries around Apple are not a canary in the coalmine for faltering Chinese growth, but that increasingly expensive iPhones just aren’t as cool as they used to be,” said Hutchison.
Peter Bye, a portfolio manager on the U.S. equity team at UBS Asset Management, agrees some filtering of data is needed.
Bye cites the example of the 2013 crackdown by Chinese authorities on gift-giving by officials, which skewed demand for luxury brands.
“Therefore, China growth numbers out of some high-end brands again weren’t that indicative of China consumer health.”
His discretionary list of data points includes travel commentary from booking platforms as well as commentary from beauty and food companies around the region pandering to Chinese travelers and customers.
For U.S. hedge fund manager Teddy Vallee, founder of Pervalle Global, the correlations between China’s credit growth and other markets such as global crude and copper are material, so he looks at China’s base money or M1 growth.
“The issue today is we haven’t seen M1 turn higher, so it’s quite difficult to be constructive until this turns,” Vallee said.
(GRAPHIC: Proxy economic indicators for China – https://tmsnrt.rs/2Ch1a4i)
BIRD’S EYE VIEW
The Economist magazine’s Li Keqiang index was inspired by comments from the Chinese premier a decade or so ago that the official GDP was ‘man-made’. Li based his preferred measures of economic growth on bank loans, rail freight and electricity consumption.
But as China weans its economy off a reliance on manufacturing and heavy industry, analysts have found the Li Keqiang index needs additional measures.
Unfortunately, China’s modern economy, more represented by internet payment platforms and sales systems such as WeChat and Alipay, isn’t yet openly sharing data on online traffic.
Jian Shi Cortesi, an Asian equities portfolio manager at GAM Investment Management in Zurich, tracks a China Satellite Manufacturing Index, developed by San Francisco-based SpaceKnow.
It analyses industrial facilities in China using imagery from space and algorithms measuring the level of manufacturing activity.
Qinwei Wang, a London-based senior economist at European asset manager Amundi, uses in-house models incorporating freight and passenger traffic data, floor space under construction and electricity consumption.
“These data are more independent from official GDP and headline data, of high frequency, difficult to manipulate by officials, and cover the relatively broad economy,” said Wang.
For many analysts like Sarah Shaw, a Sydney-based global portfolio manager at 4D Infrastructure, nothing beats boots on the ground.
“If you’re wandering around in Beijing and you can’t get into a restaurant or you can’t get on a train because they are all full, that’s an indication that things are still relatively okay.”
(Additional reporting by Chuck Mikolajczak, Kate Duguid, Lewis Krauskopf, Dhara Ranasinghe, Caroline Valetkevitch and Jennifer Ablan; Writing by Vidya Ranganathan; Editing by Lincoln Feast)
Source: OANN
FILE PHOTO – Mar 2, 2019; Nashville, TN, USA; England defender Lucy Bronze (2) tries to handle the ball around United States midfielder Julie Ertz (8) in the first half during a She Believes Cup women’s soccer match at Nissan Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Christopher Hanewinckel-USA TODAY Sports
March 11, 2019
(Reuters) – Nike Inc launched soccer strips on Monday for 14 national teams ahead of this year’s Women’s World Cup in France and said it had signed a three-year promotion deal with UEFA Women’s Football, part of its growing focus on women’s sport.
The United States, Canada, France, England and Australia were among the teams whose kits were released at an event in Paris, graced by 28 of the world’s top women footballers.
Olympic gymnast Simone Biles, champion fencer Ibtihaj Muhammad and two-time Grand Slam winner Li Na also attended.
The Women’s World Cup will be held from June 7 to July 7.
“We’re seeing incredible momentum in women’s sports right now,” Nike official Amy Montagne told Reuters ahead of the launch. “We see this as the next chapter to support, celebrate and elevate female athletes.”
The company declined to give any details of the financial terms of the deal with European governing body UEFA, or the value of the individual national kit sponsorship deals.
Both, however, are the latest sign of the growing financial power of women’s sport for sports goods makers like Nike, Adidas and Under Armour.
In the second quarter of the 2019 financial year, women’s footwear and apparel alone counted for nearly a quarter of Nike’s total revenue and it has said the women’s footwear and apparel market is now 1.5 times bigger than that for men.
Wall Street brokerage Bernstein calculates women’s sporting gear pulled in $7 billion for Nike last year.
Nike’s announcement of a partnership with UEFA comes three months after Visa signed a seven-year deal with European soccer’s governing body to sponsor the women’s game at all levels.
It also comes at a time when UEFA plans to increase its funding for women’s soccer development projects across Europe by 50 percent from 2020.
Global governing body FIFA, which has made women’s football a top priority, last year said it would look to double the number of female players to 60 million by 2026.
It also said it would raise the prize money for this year’s World Cup from $15 million to $30 million.
Nike said it would also invest at the grassroots level to encourage more female athletes.
“We believe this summer can be another turning point for the growth of women’s football,” Nike’s chief executive Mark Parker said in a statement.
(Reporting by Nivedita Balu and Shrivathsa Sridhar in Bengaluru; Editing by Jan Harvey)
Source: OANN
YouTube on Friday demonetized channels which promote anti-vax content, after BuzzFeed notified a spate of advertisers that their ads were being run alongside anti-vax videos, reports BuzzFeed. YouTube said that such videos fall under its policy prohibiting videos with “dangerous and harmful” content to be monetized.
“We have strict policies that govern what videos we allow ads to appear on, and videos that promote anti-vaccination content are a violation of those policies. We enforce these policies vigorously, and if we find a video that violates them, we immediately take action and remove ads,” reads an emailed statement from YouTube to BuzzFeed.
Seven different advertisers said they weren’t aware their ads were appearing on videos like “Mom Researches Vaccines, Discovers Vaccination Horrors and Goes Vaccine Free,” which advocates against vaccinating children, and reached out to YouTube to pull the programmatic placements.
Their ads appeared on videos from channels including VAXXED TV, LarryCook333 (a proponent of StopMandatoryVaccinations.com), and iHealthTube, all of which YouTube has since demonetized, or prevented from running ads. –BuzzFeed
One health tech company, Nomad Health, told BuzzFeed News that it “does not support the anti-vaccination movement,” and was “not aware of our ads running alongside anti-vaccination videos.” The company said it would “take action to prevent it from happening in the future.”
Another such advertiser – discount vitamin company Vitacost, said it pulled all of its advertising on Tuesday after a blogger made a viral video highlighting a “soft-core pedo ring” operating on the platform.
“We pulled all YouTube advertising on Tuesday morning when we noticed content issues. We had strict rules to prevent our ads from serving on sensitive content and they were not effective as promised,” said a VitaCost spokesperson via email, who added. “We will continue to remain off of the platform until those changes are made and are proven to be effective by other advertisers.”
The advertisers contacted by BuzzFeed said they were unaware that their algorithmically dictated “programmic ads” were appearing alongside anti-vax videos.
“When we purchase programmatic media, we specify parameters that restrict the placement of our ads from association with certain content. Even so, however, sometimes ads get served in places that we don’t approve of. This is one of those cases,” said a Retail Me Not spokesperson. “We’re working to exclude this placement now.”
A spokesman for software company Grammarly said the company also took immediate action.
“Upon learning of this, we immediately contacted YouTube to pull our ads from appearing not only on this channel but also to ensure related content that promulgates conspiracy theories is completely excluded,” they said, adding “We have stringent exclusion filters in place with YouTube that we believed would exclude such channels. We’ve asked YouTube to ensure this does not happen again.”
Grammarly was one of several companies which asked YouTube to pull its ads from sexually suggestive children’s videos. AT&T, Hasbro, Kellogg, Epic Games and Nestle were among the other brands who did the same.
“Any content – including comments – that endangers minors is abhorrent, and we have clear policies prohibiting this on YouTube. We took immediate action by deleting accounts and channels, reporting illegal activity to authorities, and disabling comments on tens of millions of videos that include minors,” YouTube said in a Thursday statement to USA Today. “There’s more to be done, and we continue to work to improve and catch abuse more quickly.”
According to BuzzFeed, “Other companies that asked YouTube to stop their ads from appearing alongside anti-vax content include:
- Brilliant Earth, a jewelry company, which said it has “made internal adjustments to our ad settings and will also follow up with our advertising partners to prevent our ads from appearing next to this content.”
- CWCBExpo, a marijuana trade show, which said it would be “implementing strict guidelines on content placement and is eliminating hundreds of YouTube channels/videos and negative keywords.”
- XTIVIA, which said it was “reviewing the ad placement,” which was “not [its] requested target.”
- SolarWinds, a software company, which said the placement was unintentional and that it had “adjusted [its] filters to further refine the targeting of our ads on YouTube to better align with our targeted audience, MSPs and technology professionals.”
YouTube responded earlier this week to another controversy after Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA) demanded that Facebook and YouTube parent company Google address anti-vax information on their platforms.
BuzzFeed‘s journalistic activism is reminiscent of CNN – which hounded advertisers to ‘unperson’ InfoWars founder Alex Jones last year. The result? “Many of the brands — including Nike, Moen, Expedia, Acer, ClassPass, Honey, Alibaba and OneFamily — have suspended ads on InfoWars’ channels after being contacted by CNN for comment.”
Source: InfoWars
MAGA One Radio