Nike Inc (NYSE:NKE) stock rose 3.17% (As on Mar 22, 12:57:18 AM UTC-4, Source: Google Finance) after the company posted better than expected result for the third quarter of FY 22. Revenues for the NIKE Brand were $10.3 billion, up 8 percent compared to prior year on a currency-neutral basis, led by 13 percent growth in EMEA. Revenues for Converse were $567 million, down 1 percent on a reported basis and up 2 percent on a currency-neutral basis, led by strong performance in North America and Europe, partially offset by declines in Asia. Gross margin has expanded 100 basis points to 46.6 percent, driven by margin expansion in our NIKE Direct business driven by lower markdowns, changes in foreign currency exchange rates and a higher mix of full-price sales, partially offset by lower full-price product margins largely due to increased freight and logistics costs. Overall, Net income was $1.4 billion, down 4 percent. Inventories for NIKE, Inc. were $7.7 billion, up 15 percent compared to the prior year period. Cash and equivalents and short-term investments were $13.5 billion, up approximately $939 million from last year.

NKE in the third quarter of FY 22 has reported the adjusted earnings per share of 87 cents, beating the analysts’ estimates for the adjusted earnings per share of 73 cents, according to Zacks Investment Research. The company had reported the adjusted revenue growth of 5 percent to $10.9 billion in the third quarter of FY 22, beating the analysts’ estimates for revenue of $10.6 billion. The revenue growth is led by NIKE Direct growth of 17 percent. NIKE Brand Digital business fueled growth, increasing by 22 percent, driven by double-digit growth in North America, APLA and EMEA, partially offset by declines in Greater China. Further contributing to NIKE Direct growth was the steady normalization of traffic in owned physical retail, with NIKE owned stores up 14 percent. Wholesale revenues declined 1 percent on a reported basis and were up 1 percent on a currency-neutral basis, with growth in EMEA and APLA offset by declines in North America and Greater China.

In the third quarter, Nike has returned approximately 1.7 billion dollars to shareholders, including dividends of 484 million dollars, up 12 percent from the prior year and share repurchases of 1.2 billion dollars for the quarter, reflecting 8.1 million shares retired as part of the four-year, 15 billion dollars program approved by the board of directors in June 2018.