Nike’s (NKE) CEO Mark Parker discusses Q1 2015 earnings results in a conference call held on September 25, 2014.
Edited Transcript of Nike (NKE) Q1 2015 Results Earnings Conference Call
Company: Nike (NKE)
Event Name: Q1 2015 Results Earnings Conference Call
Date: September 25 2014 5:00 PM ET
Operator
Good afternoon everyone. Welcome to Nike’s fiscal 2015 first quarter conference call. For those who need to reference today’s press release, you will find it at http://investors.nikeinc.com. Leading today’s call is Kelley Hall, Vice President, Corporate Finance and Treasurer.
Before I turn the call over to Ms. Hall, let me remind you that participants on this call will make forward-looking statements based on current expectations, and those statements are subject to certain risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially.
These risks and uncertainties are detailed in the reports filed with the SEC, including Forms 8-K, 10-K, and 10-Q. Some forward-looking statements concern future orders that are not necessarily indicative of changes in total revenues for subsequent periods due to mix of futures and at-once orders, exchange rate fluctuations, order cancellations, changes in the timing of shipments, discounts, and returns, which may vary significantly from quarter to quarter.
In addition, it is important to remember a significant portion of Nike Inc.’s continuing operations including equipment, Nike Golf, Converse, and Hurley are not included in these future numbers.
Finally, participants may discuss non-GAAP financial measures, including references to wholesale equivalent sales. References to wholesale equivalent sales are only intended to provide context as to the overall current market footprint of the brands owned by Nike Inc. and should not be relied upon as a financial measure of actual results.
Participants may also make references to other non-public financial and statistical information and to non-GAAP financial measures. Discussion of non-public financial and statistical information and presentations of comparable GAAP measures and quantitative reconciliations can be found at Nike’s website, http://investors.nikeinc.com.
Now I would like to turn the call over to Kelley Hall, vice president, corporate finance and treasurer.
Kelley Hall – Vice President, Treasury and Investor Relations
Thank you, operator. Hello, everyone, and thank you for joining us today to discuss Nike’s fiscal 2015 first quarter results. As the operator indicated, participants on today’s call may discuss non-GAAP financial measures. You will find the appropriate reconciliations in our press release, which was issued about an hour ago, and at our website, investors.nikeinc.com.
Joining us on today’s call will be Nike, Inc.’s President and CEO Mark Parker, followed by Trevor Edwards, President of the Nike brands, and finally, you will hear from our Chief Financial Officer, Don Blair, who will give you an in-depth review of our financial results.
Following their prepared remarks, we will take your questions. We would like to allow as many of you to ask questions as possible in our allotted time, so we would appreciate you limiting your initial questions to two. In the event you have additional questions that are not covered by others, please feel free to re-queue and we will do our best to come back to you. Thank you for your cooperation on this.
I will now turn the call over to Nike, Inc.’s President and CEO Mark Parker.
Mark Parker – President and CEO
Thank you, Kelley, and hello everyone. Our Q1 results demonstrate that Nike is, without a doubt, a growth company. Nike Inc. revenues grew 15% to $8 billion. Gross margin expanded 170 basis points, and diluted earnings per share increased 27% to $1.09.
Nike’s Competitive Advantages
On previous calls, I’ve highlighted three of Nike’s distinct competitive advantages: our relationship with athletes and consumers, our ability to innovate, and the power of our portfolio. Those advantages are the foundation for the Q1 results we just reported, and the competitive separation we’re driving in the marketplace.
First, our relationships with athletes and consumers are unparalleled. By relentlessly focusing on what they want and need, we propel our business forward. We use the insights we gain to deliver the products, services and experience athletes and consumers want. The lens we use to focus these relationships is our category offense, and the power of that approach is most clearly seen during global sports moments like the World Cup.
These events provide us with the opportunity to showcase our most innovative products, as the world’s greatest athletes inspire us with their performance and their passion. They also create remain energy throughout the year, as we leverage these innovations and athlete stories to deliver compelling products and experiences to consumers through their favorite sports.
As I think about the evolving consumer landscape, there are a number of trends that play to Nike’s strengths. The middle class is growing around the world. Interest in sport continues to grow, and consumers are investing more and more in their own health and fitness.
Apparel and footwear styles are becoming increasingly athletic. Because we know the consumer better than anyone else, we’re able to leverage these developments to accelerate our growth. The result – we turn trends into real business momentum.
Second, let’s talk about innovation. At the heart of our ability to achieve long term growth is our unrivaled ability to innovate. Nike delivers impressive innovations because we develop ever-sharper insights from athletes and consumers, and we harness the power of new technologies, designs, and materials.
Our capabilities today are greater than they’ve ever been. Our challenge is to edit and focus those capabilities on the most significant opportunities. And when we do this effectively, we accelerate the pace of innovation, we create competitive separation, and we deliver results, like we did in Q1.
In just the past 90 days, we’ve demonstrated the versatility and potential of our advanced Flyknit technologies, with products in Running, Global Football, Basketball, and most recently, Football in the U.S. The consumer benefits are incredible, and looking ahead, I know the potential for this is significantly increasing the scope and scale of this technology is very, very real.
We set new levels of performance in apparel with products such as the NIKE Dri-FIT rain jacket, the NIKE Pro collection, and the further extension of our Dri-Fit Knit and collections like NIKE Tech Fleece continue to drive growth and distinction by leveraging technical performance features in the premium sportswear apparel.
We launched the Air Jordan 29, our lightest Jordan ever, bringing a new level of basketball performance to the Jordan brand. And just last week, we expanded the potential of our Zoom Air technology with the launch of the LeBron 12. We have some very ambitious plans for this signature Air technology. I can’t tell you much more now, but I will say that the LeBron 12 is just the beginning of the revolution.
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