Nike is going to pull off turnaround, says Jan Kniffen on struggling athleisure stocks

? (?) 00:00.000

Joining me now is Jan Niffen, CEO at J. Rogers Niffen WWE. Uh good to see. It's been a while, Jan. So, I mean, how can everybody in the space be losing at the same time? Doesn't somebody have to win?

Jan Rogers Kniffen (CEO) 00:14.320

Well, no. Somebody doesn't have to win. There will be some winners. But remember, it wasn't a Lulu Lemon Christmas. It wasn't an Athleisure Christmas. It was a Ralph Lauren Christmas. So, people bought real clothes instead of Athleisure and working got clothes at pace they

Jan Rogers Kniffen (CEO) 00:32.000

haven't done before. It's kind of the backlash on everything we saw happen during COVID, right? Where everybody only wore athletic or less. And now we're switching back and we're buying real clothes and we're buying Western wear still. So that's sort of filling up that space. So

Jan Rogers Kniffen (CEO) 00:49.560

it's a little tougher right now if you happen to be in that that athletic area. Well,

? (?) 00:54.080

Now, I mean that lines up that lines up with that quarter zip trend. I keep hearing the young's talking about. They're not just wearing the Nike Tex anymore when they want to show they're serious. They got the the quarter zip on. But I mean, just in the core business of of even

? (?) 01:08.600

just shoes, right? We see Nike in trouble. Underarmour loses Steph Curry. They're not doing well. Adidas had that whole Kanye thing. I mean, it seems like there's a lot of share out there for somebody. Do people just not need shoes anymore?

Jan Rogers Kniffen (CEO) 01:21.800

Well, come on, you know, from I've been an endurance athlete on my life. From 1975 to not that long ago, I wore nothing but Nike head toe. Now I wear nothing but on-running head to toe. On-running didn't even exist. Under armor didn't exist. So, Hoka didn't exist. The two

Jan Rogers Kniffen (CEO) 01:40.160

fastest growing things recently have been Hoka and then On which was even faster running faster growing. So, if you look at all that, you say, "Well, it's a tougher space, right? Is Nike going to turn around? Yes, they are. They've already started. They're doing the right

Jan Rogers Kniffen (CEO) 01:54.760

things. It's going to happen. The problem they have right now is DTC in China. DTC still get fixed. China, we don't know yet, and people will be much more enthusiastic when it does get fixed. So, they'll start taking up a lot of air space again. That's going to be hard for Under

Jan Rogers Kniffen (CEO) 02:10.280

Armour. But yeah, there's players that just like there is against Lulu in that space. Well, we've got a dozen names playing against Lulu. We got Alo Yoga, we've got Vuarri, Nike, of course does, Adidas, Athleta, Fablic, Jim Sharke, Sweaty Betty, you name it. They're in that

Jan Rogers Kniffen (CEO) 02:25.200

space. Well, the same thing has happened in the men's athletic area where armor's always really played. Yeah. It's just a much tougher environment and there's less interest.

? (?) 02:35.000

I mean, Jen, if Nike's coming back, then boy, Nike at 61 bucks a share. That's around where it was Halloween 2015 more than 10 years ago. What are going to be the key signs that the comeback has really taken hold, do you think?

Jan Rogers Kniffen (CEO) 02:52.640

Well, you have to believe that the new product is going to work. I just bought a pair of the Meroes. So, yes, do I think it's going to work? I think it's going to work. I think I think they're coming back with the new pipeline. I think that'll work. I think a reinvigorated foot

Jan Rogers Kniffen (CEO) 03:04.560

locker will help them a lot. I think Dick's Sporting Goods, which is a going to be a huge seller of the new Nike Nike products will be a big help. But I think moving them back into the channel of the independent sellers will help them a lot too. I just think they lost their way

Jan Rogers Kniffen (CEO) 03:20.480

and I think now Elliott's got them back on the right track, right? So I think they're moving in the right direction. They've got other things to overcome. Like I said, they can't fix China China has to help them fix China, but the rest of it they can fix themselves and that's

Jan Rogers Kniffen (CEO) 03:35.800

probably going to be enough if you're an investor