Nike last night reported an 8 per cent rise in net profit to topping analysts' estimates.
Nike posted third-quarter net profit of $350.8 million, or $1.37 per share, compared with $325.8 million, or $1.24 per share, a year earlier.
Quarterly sales rose 9 per cent to $3.93 billion. A favourable currency exchange rate boosted revenue growth by 3 percentage points, and gross margins improved in the period.
But soft sales at US malls and a forecast of lower gross margins this quarter sent its shares down 3 per cent.
Although analysts were cheered by 9 per cent growth in global forward orders, they were worried by a mere 2 per cent sales rise in the United States, a decline in sales in Japan, and continued softness in Britain and France.
The world's largest maker of athletic shoes and clothing said gross margins, a measure of sales minus costs of goods sold, would be at or slightly below year-ago levels in the fourth quarter and fiscal year.
The global brand has seen its two largest US customers, Foot Locker and Finish Line, struggle recently with disappointing sales. Some on Wall Street question whether the popularity of non-athletic footwear has cut into sales of the company's primary products.