A Financial Ratio Quarterly Trend Analysis of

Nike, Inc.

Stock symbol: NKE

Listed on the New York Stock Exchange

Prepared for:
Dr. Edward Lawrence
Department of Finance
Florida International University

In partial fulfillment of the requirements of the course:
FIN 6406
By:

Introduction
This financial ratio quarterly trend analysis was composed for Nike International. The U.S –based company was started in 1964 with $500, with its main office being the trunk of a green Plymouth Valiant1. Originally started by Bill Bowerman, a nationally respected track and field coach at the University of Oregon, and Phil Knight, an accountant, who also happened to be a talented middle-distance runner from Portland2. Knight enrolled at Oregon in the fall of 1955 and competed for Bowerman’s track program thus creating the platform for Blue Ribbon Sports3, which is now known worldwide as Nike. Nike currently operates its three main product lines - footwear, apparel and equipment – in 46 countries by approximately 600 contract factories that employ more than 800,000 workers around the world4. Nike International’s stock is publicly traded on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) under the symbol “NKE”, which we will use to reference the company throughout this report.
Our team chose to analyze NKE for the following reasons:
• Knowing that the company started very small and grew to what seems a limitless boundary seemed intriguing to us and promoted a desire to understand their financial growth.
• We as a group felt that NIKE was a company that involved all aspects of what a multinational corporation is engaged in.
• Most of us own or have owned a pair of Nike’s. Growing up, having a pair of Nike’s was a symbol of athleticism & fashion. One person in our group alone has owned well over 100 pairs of Nike’s.
• The NIKE “swoosh” is something recognized