Sportswear giant Nike (NKE) is hoping to tap into China’s growing love of trail running to accelerate sales with a new pair of shoes.
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Nike is set, through its outdoor sub-brand ACG, to launch a new trail running shoe next week at the ultramarathon Ultra-Trail du Mont-Blanc in France. The shoe is expected to go on sale to the public next Spring. Its stock, which has eked up only 1% this year, was higher in pre-market trading.
Outdoor Recreation
It is understood that the trainer is a new version of its Ultrafly trail running shoe and is aimed at making ACG a serious player in the booming outdoor recreation market.
Indeed, figures suggest that the global recreational and outdoor products market size was valued at $137.7 billion in 2024 and is estimated to grow at an annual rate of over 5.7% from 2025 to 2034. It is being spurred by people taking up activities such as hiking, camping, cycling, and watersports to boost their physical and mental health since the pandemic.
This has been particularly notable in China, where the population has taken to outdoor activities like trail running – which is running through woods, forests and rocky trails – with gusto.
Nike fears that it has fallen behind rivals in this sector and is now playing catch-up. “Brands like Salomon (owned by Amer Sports (AS) and Hoka (owned by Deckers Outdoors (DECK) have broken out and done well in trail running,” said Morningstar analyst David Swartz. “Nike needs to fight back.”
Chinese Spring
It would also give the company a spring in its step in China, which has potentially 1.3 billion people ready to lace up some shoes or pitch a tent.
Sales of outdoor apparel nearly doubled in China between 2019 and 2025, with outdoor footwear ticking up 65% over the same period, according to Euromonitor International data. Nike, though, has logged double-digit sales declines in China in each of the last three quarters. It has also been hit by concerns over Trump’s huge tariff hikes on China.
That matters as – see below – China is the company’s third biggest market.
“China has remained a challenging market for Nike,” Zacks Equity Research has written. This is down to competition but also the stuttering economy which ihas stymied youth spending.
Is NKE a Good Stock to Buy Now?
On TipRanks, NKE has a Moderate Buy consensus based on 17 Buy and 13 Hold ratings. Its highest price target is $120. NKE stock’s consensus price target is $79, implying a 3.7% upside.
