NIKE, Inc. (NYSE:NKE) and On Holding (NYSE:ONON) are two firms competing with each other in a David versus Goliath scenario. Both the stocks are down by more than 35% year-to-date. Starting from the former, Cramer has discussed the firm several times over the past couple of months. He has focused on the firm’s ongoing turnaround efforts and shifted his opinion. Throughout 2025, Cramer cited faith in NIKE, Inc. (NYSE:NKE)’s CEO and the turnaround, but earlier this year shifted his opinion. As for On Holding (NYSE:ONON), the CNBC TV host decided to “pass” on the shares in May. On August 17th, he shared his take on why he changed mind on NKE and commented on ONON’s management change:
“I was shocked at Tapestry, I went to see them earlier, we had a great interview about it. On, no. I think that we are fundamentally saying, alright, sneakers, just not a great business. I talked about my problems with Nike in my Club meeting on Thursday. Well I like to start with the most stupid things that I do. That way I get it through. Like why, people are going to say, hey why doesn’t Cramer talk about the dumbest thing he did? Well I put it right at the top! . . .But I think that Nike is, there are a lot of people that I got pushed back on Nike, people say, Nike’s too cheap, you shouldn’t have given up on it. But I gave up on it higher. On, was like the old days. When you realized that. . .it didnt’ have it. Which was rather amazing. Look, I when they shuffle management, unless it’s L3Harris, they usually shuffle management for performance.”
For NIKE, Inc. (NYSE:NKE), as it should be obvious, the central theme for the firm is its turnaround. The firm’s fiscal Q4 earnings released in June saw it beat analyst revenue and earnings estimates. Crucially, NIKE, Inc. (NYSE:NKE)’s warehouse figures showed improvement. In his previous appearances, Cramer has commented that the firm lost traction in the physical store market by losing out on shelf space and focusing on digital channels instead. NIKE, Inc. (NYSE:NKE)’s wholesale revenue grew by 4% in Q4 to sit at $6.6 billion. Additionally, the firm also posted no inventory growth and an 890 basis point increase in its gross margins to indicate cost control.
Yet, while NIKE, Inc. (NYSE:NKE) might be addressing its structural issues and managing its costs, the firm is struggling with growth in emerging markets due to inflation. Additionally, a large portion of the margin improvement came courtesy of tariff recovery while its Converse brand and the digital business continue to struggle. As a result, tailwinds in the shares depend on whether the firm will be able to manage inventories, costs and shelf market share.
Shifting towards On Holding (NYSE:ONON), the firm reported its second quarter results on August 11th. The firm’s aggressive growth has lent it an enterprise value to revenue multiple of 2.26, which is almost double than NKE’s 1.33. The debate surrounds the firm’s ability to sustain its operating momentum and justify the valuation. On Holding (NYSE:ONON)’s quarterly results saw it post a 65.4% gross profit margin, which, unlike that of NKE’s, was not dependent on tariff refunds. The firm’s training and apparel businesses grew by 40% and 47.7% during the quarter and management bumped up full year gross margin guidance to 65%. Yet, On Holding (NYSE:ONON)’s Q2 revenue missed analyst estimates and Americas growth decelerated to 13% in Q2 from 17% in Q1. Additionally, unlike NKE, the firm’s wholesale segment also decelerated and inventory jumped by 31%.
The hedge funds appear to prefer NKE as 71 hedge funds tracked by Insider Monkey had held a stake in the firm while the figure stood at 52 for On Holding (NYSE:ONON). In the second quarter, BAMCO Inc. bumped its stake by 75% to $599 million and Citadel Investment Group bumped its stake by 85% to $251 million in ONON.
While Insider Monkey acknowledges the risk and potential of NKE as an investment, our conviction lies in the belief that some AI stocks hold greater promise for delivering higher returns and have limited downside risk. If you are looking for an AI stock that is more promising than NKE that has 100x upside potential, check out our report about the cheapest AI stock.
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Disclosure: None.
