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After Nike (NKE) reported disappointing fourth-quarter sales and guidance for fiscal 2025, the athletic apparel giant is looking ahead to the Olympic Games, which kick off next month, as an event that could help boost sales.

Nike warned it expects revenue to drop 10% year-over-year in the current quarter as the company shifts to a model focused on newer products, and amid expected sales weakness in the Greater China region and online sales.

Shares of Nike tumbled over 20% to $74.77 in intraday trading Friday following the news. Shares of other athletic apparel and footwear companies lost ground as well, including Skechers (SKX), Lululemon (LULU), Under Armour (UA), and Foot Locker (FL).

Wedbush, Jefferies, and Bank of America analysts all dropped their price targets for Nike following Thursday's earnings report. Wedbush analysts lowered their price objective to $97 from $115, while Jefferies analysts changed theirs to $90 from $100. Bank of America analysts had the highest target at $104, down from $113 previously.

"We doubt many investors will view this as a 'buy the pullback' event, and we think NKE shares are headed for a stay in the proverbial penalty box until new product innovations actually start to manifest themselves and management regains investor trust," Wedbush analysts wrote.

Nike said it lowered its outlook for the first half of fiscal 2025 in part due to plans to reduce inventories of some "classic" franchises like Air Force 1 and Jordan, as growth of those lines has slowed.

Nike said it is also "pulling forward" new product "innovations," which retail partners have voiced excitement over, but those new products could take time to make an impact on Nike's earnings, Wedbush analysts noted.

Wedbush maintained its "outperform" rating for Nike stock, while Bank of America reiterated "buy," suggesting confidence in the long-term prospects for Nike, while Jefferies kept its "hold" rating.

Nike is looking forward to the Summer Olympics in Paris that start next month and will run through August, and has said it plans to spend more on marketing during the marquee event to boost business.

Growth in the basketball sector, long a key source of sales for Nike, helped offset some of the declines in other areas like lifestyle, company leadership said Thursday. Nike said sales should continue to rise in the category thanks to the influx of new fans of women's basketball, with popular shoes from WNBA stars like Sabrina Ionescu expected to continue growing, along with planned launches of signature shoes from Caitlin Clark and A'ja Wilson.

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Gossip Blogger, Stella Dimoko Korkus has tendered a public apology to actress, Sharon Ooja over the shocking claims she made about her husband.

Kemi Filani reported that the blogger had revealed that the actress’ husband, Ugo Nwoke is a billionaire from Imo State and she is his 4th wife as he has been married thrice, to a white woman and two black women. His 3rd marriage which ended in 2023 produced sons.

Now making a u-turn, the blogger apologised to the actress as she stated that she shouldn’t have numbered her. She admitted that her headlines were wrong and it was the wrong timing.

Stella apologised for hurting her and made her know that it wasn’t her intention and she takes responsibility for her actions. Expressing how sorry she is, she prayed for her union.

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Chewy (CHWY) shares moved sharply lower Friday as some investors decided the meme stock hero known as “Roaring Kitty” wasn't signaling interest in the pet supply retailer.

Shares of Chewy skyrocketed as much as 34% on Thursday after Roaring Kitty, whose real name is Keith Gill, posted a picture of a cartoon dog on his X account, a move that was initially interpreted as a sign he was pushing the stocks. As investors determined that might not be the case, the shares plunged.

Chewy's shares were down about 8% in mid-afternoon trading Friday, Shares of rival Petco Health and Wellness (WOOF), which also gained after the Roaring Kitty post on Thursday, rose another 12% on Friday.

Gill, one of the key drivers of the 2021 meme stock craze, has a knack for roiling the markets. After disappearing from social media for three years, he kicked off a fresh meme stock frenzy with a May post on X indicating that he was back in action.

A big beneficiary was GameStop (GME), which saw its shares soar. A month later, Gill posted what appeared to show a large position in the video game retailer, driving up shares again. Later, when he held a livestream event to discuss the stock, investors seemed unimpressed. 

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Popular X influencer Kelvin Odanz has been called out by his wife for allegedly cheating on her with more than 5 women.

The distraught lady who backed up her allegation with receipts, also alleged that shortly after she made the revelation on Twitter, he broke into the house she was in and tried attacking her.

Check the post below:

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The Federal Reserve's preferred measure of inflation slowed down in May, buoying hopes of interest rate cuts.

Prices as measured by the Personal Consumption Expenditures (PCE) index, rose by a negligible amount over the month. It was the slowest pace of inflation since November.

Year-over-year, prices have risen 2.6%, down from 2.7% in April. “Core” inflation, which excludes volatile prices for food and energy, slipped to 2.6% from 2.8% and closer to the Federal Reserve’s annual goal of 2%.

"It is just additional news that monetary policy is working—inflation is gradually cooling," said San Francisco Federal Reserve Bank President Mary Daly in an interview on CNBC after the numbers were released. "That's a relief for businesses and households who have been struggling with persistently high inflation. It's good news for how policy is working, but there's more work to do—not done yet."

Friday's report backed up findings from the Consumer Price Index (CPI) earlier this month. Both measures showed inflation is likely still too hot for Fed officials and many household budgets, but it’s on the way down. The declines in the second quarter have also likely put to rest fears that inflation is flaring back up after increases in the first quarter.

"The May PCE and personal income report, as expected, indicates that personal spending, savings and inflation are normalizing after a long period of exuberant spending and high inflation that were turbo-charged by the drawdown of pandemic-related savings," wrote Nationwide Chief Economist Kathy Bostjancic.

Officials at the Federal Reserve pay closer attention to PCE rather than CPI when setting their influential fed funds rate, which affects interest rates on mortgages, credit cards, car loans and other kinds of borrowing.

Friday's report was a good sign for those hoping for relief from interest rates that are at two-decade highs. The Fed has kept the benchmark fed funds rate elevated for more than two years to push down inflation by discouraging borrowing and spending. However, the new PCE data supports economists' and traders' view that a central bank rate cut is imminent.

Traders are still firm in their belief that a rate cut is likely in September, pricing in a 68% chance, according to the CME Group’s FedWatch tool, which forecasts rate movements based on fed funds futures trading data. The chances were up slightly from the week before and up more than 20 percentage points from a month ago.

For Daly's part, she said central bankers remain data-dependent and didn't give an estimation of a policy path forward.

Market watchers believe the Fed is likely getting close to having the confidence it needs to start a rate-cutting cycle.

"Officials will want to see a few more encouraging inflation reports before beginning to cut interest rates, but they will not wait until inflation falls to their 2% target," wrote Michael Pearce, Deputy Chief U.S. Economist at Oxford Economics. "We still expect the Fed to begin cutting rates in September, and once per quarter thereafter."

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Afrobeats star and newlywed David Adeleke popularly known as Davido, has congratulated actress Sharon Ooja on her traditional wedding ceremony in Abuja, on Thursday, June 27, 2024.

The singer took to Sharon Ooja’s Instagram page to extend his best wishes as the actress tied the knot in a lavish wedding.

Davido wrote: “Congratulations, may your union last a lifetime.”

In response, Sharon expressed her gratitude to Davido and congratulated him on his nuptials which took place on Tuesday, June 25, 2024

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