New York (AFP)

Sportswear supplier Nike pleasantly surprised Wall Street on Tuesday by posting strong sales of its items in China and on its electronic platforms, which sparked the action.

The famous comma brand also welcomed its most popular ambassadors - tennis player Naomi Osaka and American basketball star Lebron James - for standing up against racial injustices and for the anti-racial movement. -racist "Black Lives Matter".

"From the cultural echo of our brand to our expansion of what sport means, our first quarter has shown that our determination to strengthen relationships with our customers is what matters," said Nike.

On the financial side, the OEM recorded sales of $ 10.6 billion in the three months ended August 31 and corresponding to the first quarter of its 2020/21 fiscal year.

That's more than the $ 9.15 billion in revenue expected by financial analysts.

If sales nevertheless fell very slightly by 0.62% over one year, it is mainly because of the essential health measures taken by Nike to physically reopen its stores, closed for long months because of the coronavirus pandemic, explains the Beaverton group in the western United States.

In China, where 90% of physical stores were open during the past quarter, sales increased 6%.

- Nothing on Neymar -

In the rest of the world, there has been an acceleration in income generated online from purchases of sneakers and other sports equipment flocked with the Nike logo.

Quarterly online sales have soared by 82%.

In the end, the group posted quarterly net profit of $ 1.52 billion, up 11%.

These numbers caused the stock to jump more than 12% around 10:55 p.m. GMT in electronic trading following the close of the session on Wall Street.

The markets particularly welcomed the group's strategy of selling its products directly to consumers, a commercial practice that has enabled it to limit the damage caused by the closure of giant shopping centers in the United States.

Nike's sales recovery "is rapid, thanks to the acceleration in the growth of the brand's online sales," CFO Matt Friend said in the statement.

Nike has also been optimistic for the entire fiscal year, saying it expects sales to increase between 8 and 14% compared to the previous year.

Growth will nonetheless be uneven, with the first half to be affected by limited inventories, while the second half should see "significant" expansion, the company has developed, highlighting the resumption of sporting events across the globe after a forced interruption of several months due to Covid-19.

"We are excited (about the return of the sport) ... We are convinced that it is good for consumers, and inevitably it is good for Nike," said CEO John Donahoe, during a conference call with journalists.

The group did not mention the departure from its competitor Puma, Brazilian footballer Neymar, one of its most popular ambassadors.

© 2020 AFP