One analyst took a look at the data and found that Nike may finally be topping its rival Adidas in sales.
- Nike's sneaker sales are doing well against its main competitor Adidas, a Jefferies analyst said.
- Nike's popular brands are helping it in the "sneaker war."
- Watch Nike's stock trade in real time here.
Nike appears to be edging out rival Adidas in the competition for sneaker dominance.
The footwear company is proving that it can still rule the running and basketball sneaker category, according to data compiled by a Jefferies analyst. Nike has increased its market share in the top 60 sellers list, and its sneakers have dominated the top 10 selling shoes this year.
"Nike is gaining back share in their most important category," wrote Randal Konik, an equity analyst at Jefferies. He attributed much of that success to the popularity of Nike's Air VaporMax, as well as its recently-introduced Air VaporMax Plus.
Close to 80% of footwear retailers surveyed said the "brand first indicated as strongest in running" was Nike, up from 75% in the previous survey. Meanwhile, Adidas' primary brands, the Ultraboost and NMD, had declined in mentions to 13% from 15%, according to Jefferies.
Nike was also the clear leader in the basketball sneaker category due to the popularity of its Lebron James, Kyrie Irving, and Paul George brands. Adidas was barely mentioned in this category, falling to 1% from 3%.
"We believe Adidas will eventually build a more ubiquitous presence in Basketball as they continue to expand, but it is still early days," Konik said.
The Jefferies analyst also found that the retro trend was "coming back into favor," and he believes that this will bode well for Nike. Nike's Jordan Brand has already delivered it 11% of 2017's sales. The brand represents the second largest portion of Nike's sales, and is part of the top 10 highest-selling shoes this year.
Nike has recently been criticized for its slow production and failed attempts to offer the next trendy shoe, which had caused the shoemaker to lose market share to its German-based rival, Adidas. Adidas has made an aggressive push into the US, which was by and large successful with its focus on scale and ability to recognize trends early.
Yet Wedbush's Christopher Svezia had faith that Nike could be kickstarting its own renaissance. "The cadence of new footwear styles are notably higher vs a year ago and the pipeline embraces more retro and casual silhouettes," Svezia wrote in a note to investors.
Nike's shares were up on Friday at $63.05 per share and it was down 0.58% for the year.
Read more about how Nike plans to go into 'battleship mode' in order to dominate the athletic apparel market.
Finance: Nike is dominating Adidas in the sneaker war (NKE)
CLICK HERE TO READ FULL CONTENT
Brought to you by: RIDBAY | WEBSITE DESIGN & DIGITAL MARKETING
