Nike Says It’s Waiting For $986 Million Tariff Refund

Nike is expecting an “unplanned benefit” in the form of a nearly $1 billion tariff refund.

The sneaker giant revealed the refund when announcing full-year and quarterly earnings this week, even as CEO Elliott Hill warned that tariffs remain a “dynamic cost headwind.”

The earnings showed full-year revenues of $46.4 billion, flat on a reported basis and a 2% decline on a currency-neutral basis.

Fourth-quarter revenues came to $11 billion, down 1% on a reported basis and falling 4% on a currency-neutral basis, with Nike facing what Hill called a “more challenging” operating environment as the spring wound on.

“After a stronger start in March, especially in North America, by mid-April, we began to see a deceleration in retail sales trends,” he said during an earnings call. “Our consumer is under pressure around the world, and we can particularly see it having a larger impact on sportswear, which declined double digits in the quarter with a similar decline in retail sales.”

In addition to tariffs, Chief Financial Officer Matthew Friend pointed to ongoing disruption in the Middle East, fuel prices and other factors that could affect operating costs, consumer behavior and weakness in store traffic and sales.

“These assumptions reflect the macro environment as it stands today, and we are not expecting the environment to improve meaningfully over the next six months,” he said.

Meanwhile, recent PYMNTS Intelligence research shows that while financial pressures continue to guide household decisions, the desire to make purchases has not faded.

“That distinction offers an encouraging signal for banks, merchants and payment providers looking beyond today’s economic headlines,” PYMNTS wrote earlier this week.

Nike customers sued the company in May to recover tariff-related refunds, accusing Nike of not refunding the costs it passed onto them in the form of higher prices.

The suit was one of many filed in the wake of a Supreme Court ruling declaring President Donald Trump’s “Liberation Day” tariffs illegal.

“Nike has made no legally binding commitment to return tariff-related overcharges to the consumers who actually paid them,” the plaintiffs said in their complaint. “Unless restrained by this court, Nike stands to recover the same tariff payments twice — once from consumers through higher prices and again from the federal government through tariff refunds.”

Nike chose not to comment on the lawsuit when contacted by PYMNTS at the time.