Nike Names Former Exec Elliot Hill as CEO (Video)

Nike (NKE) announced a new CEO on Thursday, sending shares up nearly 10% in after-market trading as the company tries to revive sluggish sales growth in the face of increased competition.

Elliott Hill, a former Nike executive who retired in 2020, will return to the company as CEO and chairman on Oct. 14. John Donahoe, Nike’s current CEO, will retire on Oct. 13 and will remain an adviser to the company until January 2025.

Before retiring, Hill served as President, Consumer and Marketing, Nike, where he was responsible for commercial and marketing operations for Nike and the Jordan brand.

“Given our future needs, the company’s past performance, and after conducting a thoughtful succession process, the Board concluded that it was clear that Elliot’s global expertise, leadership style and deep understanding of our industry and partners, combined with his passion for sports, our brands, products, consumers, athletes and employees, make him the right person to lead Nike’s next phase of growth,” said Mark Parker, Nike’s executive chairman, in a press release.

The news comes after Nike shares have fallen more than 25% this year on slowing revenue growth and concerns about the success of its shift toward direct-to-consumer sales.

“This is very good news for the stock, both for the CEO and the timing,” Bernstein senior analyst Aneesha Sherman told Yahoo Finance. “Elliott Hill has been with Nike for 32 years. He’s a product guy. He’s run retail in (Europe, Middle East, Africa) and the U.S. in North America. He knows the company and the product very well.”

The stock fell 20% in June when the company reported fiscal fourth-quarter earnings and said it expected a bigger revenue decline than previously expected in the coming year. The company said quarterly revenue in the fourth quarter fell 2% from a year earlier to $12.61 billion, below Wall Street estimates of $12.86 billion. Meanwhile, Nike’s earnings per share of $0.99 beat analysts’ expectations of $0.66. Nike’s direct-to-consumer sales fell 8% from the same quarter a year ago to $5.1 billion.

Wall Street has been closely watching Nike’s developments as the Oregon-based company tries to fend off competition in its core athletic footwear market from rivals like Adidas (ADDYY) as well as relative newcomers like On (ONON) and Deckers’ (DECK) Hoka brand.

Josh Schafer is a reporter for Yahoo Finance. Follow him on X @_joshschafer.

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