Nike reports, Levi's IPO — What to know in markets Thursday

There are two big consumer names to pay attention to on Thursday: Nike (NKE) and Levi’s.

Shoe giant Nike is gearing up to report fiscal third-quarter results after the market close on Thursday. Analysts are anticipating Nike to report earnings of 65 cents per share on $9.65 billion in revenue.

Analysts are expecting strong sales and earnings when Nike reports boosted by stolen market share from Adidas.

“We have been vocal about the sales momentum NKE is generating with its new product launches,” Canaccord Genuity analyst Camilo Lyon said in a note over the weekend. “As such, we are raising our 2H19 sales and EPS projections to reflect stronger apparel growth in NA after Adidas' supply shortage was revealed.”

Morgan Stanley analyst Lauren Cassel echoed Lyon’s argument. “Adidas’ results today suggest share losses are accelerating, particularly in North America,” Cassel said in a note on March 13.

The company will hold its earnings conference call at 5 p.m. ET, and investors will likely hope to hear management explain if the Zion Williamson drama in February weighed on performance. Williamson, a star basketball player from Duke University, was playing a game in Nike sneakers when the shoes tore open, and Williamson injured his knee. Nike shares fell following the injury.

Nevertheless, Nike’s stock has been on a tear this year, soaring 18% and outperforming the broader market, which has risen 13% in the same time period.

And, after 34 years as a private company, the world’s biggest denim company, Levi’s, will go public on Thursday. Expected to list nearly 37 million shares on the New York Stock Exchange, Levi’s will trade under the ticker LEVI.

Levi’s was previously a publicly-traded company from 1971 to 1985, but was then taken private in a leveraged buyout. Though the founder had no children, descendant’s of Levi Strauss have been running the company for generations.

Shares are expected to price between $14 and $16 a share and will trade under a dual-class structure. That means the controlling Haas family will a separate class of stock with 10 votes per share, while shareholders in the other class of stock offered will get one vote per share.

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Heidi Chung is a reporter at Yahoo Finance. Follow her on Twitter: @heidi_chung.

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