Truist Downgrades Nike and Dick’s Sporting Goods
Truist Financial Services announced on 26 August 2026 that it has revised its investment rating for Nike (NYSE: NKE) from “Buy” to “Hold”. In conjunction with the rating change, Truist lowered its price target for Nike to $42 per share, down from the previous $47 target.
The downgrade follows an update from Dick’s Sporting Goods (NYSE: DKS), which Truist says has introduced “incremental murkiness” around Nike’s turnaround progress. Truist also downgraded Dick’s Sporting Goods to “Hold” and cut its price target to $135 per share, a 50 % reduction from the prior $270 target.
Analyst Joseph Civello noted that Truist had previously been cautiously optimistic on Nike, citing strong performance of recent running‑shoe launches and management commentary suggesting improving visibility into marketplace inventories. Nike’s own June 30 earnings call highlighted U.S. wholesale as a bright spot and reported that its Foot Locker business returned to growth for the first time in four years.
However, Truist now believes that much of the earlier optimism was based on Dick’s under‑estimating the scale of inventory cleanup required and on a perceived degradation in Nike’s brand heat. Management flagged two specific pressures: legacy silhouette products are no longer resonating with consumers, and second‑quarter product launches are under‑performing expectations.
Civello concluded that Truist will move to the sidelines until there is clearer insight into both the ongoing inventory cleanup and the pipeline of new products expected in 2027, emphasizing that the level of full‑price selling the pipeline can generate remains an open question.