Nike (NKE) Shares Surge on Wedbush Upgrade To Outperform Ahead of Possible N. American Inflection

Shares of Nike (NYSE: NKE) rose over 3% Friday morning following an upgrade by Wedbush to Outperform (from Neutral) with a new price target of $74.00 (from $57.00).

Analyst Chris Svezia says he is more confidence now that there is an inflection point for margins on the horizon and suspects Nike may start returning to growth in North America in FY 2019.

"Guidance suggests the building blocks should become more evident during 4Q (ends May), which we now expect to carry more broadly into FY19."

The analyst also noted that recent conversations with retailers have indicated the company "has one of the biggest opportunities in 2018" when it comes to showing improvement on the business. Svezia raises his EPS estimate for FY 2018 to $2.24 (from $2.22), FY 2019 to $2.67 (from $2.53), and introduces FY 2020 EPS estimate of $3.05.

The new price target of $74.00 is roughly 15% above Thursday's closing price of $64.11.

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