“Nike (NKE) is Ahead of Schedule,” Says Jim Cramer

We recently published 9 Stocks on Jim Cramer’s Radar.  NIKE, Inc. (NYSE:NKE) is one of the stocks on Jim Cramer’s radar.

NIKE, Inc. (NYSE:NKE)’s shares are down by 8% over the past year as the firm struggles to convince markets about the merits of its turnaround. However, since mid-December, the stock is up by 15%. Despite the stock’s woes, Cramer has continued to defend NIKE, Inc. (NYSE:NKE). He believes that the firm’s CEO, Elliott Hill, is the right executive for the job. More recently, the CNBC TV host commented that Hill would soon execute a turnaround in China as well. Analysts have been busy discussing NIKE, Inc. (NYSE:NKE)’s shares in 2026. For instance, Needham downgraded the shares to Hold from Buy and pointed toward the uncertain recovery timeline in China. RBC Capital cut the share price target to $78 from $85 and kept an Outperform rating. The financial firm also pointed out that NIKE, Inc. (NYSE:NKE) was facing uncertain timelines for its profitability through its turnaround. Cramer continued to defend Hill and also mentioned Apple CEO Tim Cook buying the shares:

“Now there’s a lot of talk, like even today, there’s some analysts who’re saying, look it’s delayed, and he cuts his price target. . .look all I can tell you is this I think that Elliott Hill this is not. . .but I do think that the Nike is actually, RBC lowered the price target, I’m saying Nike is ahead of schedule. I think that Elliott Hill addressed the US and now he’s going to address China with a vengence and there’s some competition there. . .but I do think that you really have to keep track of what Elliott is doing, because he has, that company turned out to be far worse, in far worse shape that we thought. And the fact that there is that level of conviction that Tim Cook took the swing like that, he didn’t need to do that. . .I mean this stock is down. . .”

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Disclosure: None. This article is originally published at Insider Monkey.