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VF Corp. shares surge
(Edward Berthelot/Getty Images)
Up the wall

Vans lands a 900, turns its parent company’s stock around

Signs of life in the youth-oriented brand supercharged shares of VF Corp.

Matt Phillips

Incipient indications of progress in a corporate turnaround at apparel company VF Corp. generated a massive response in the market on Tuesday, as the company shares posted their largest-ever daily percentage increase.

The more than 20% surge came after the Denver-based VF reported a profit for the first time since late 2022, aided by stabilization at its youth-oriented Vans brand.

VF, also the owner of brands such as Dickies, The North Face, and Timberland, has struggled in recent years as its offerings appeared to lose favor with buyers. As part of its turnaround plans, the company sold off the Supreme brand in July to EssilorLuxottica for $1.5 billion, a loss from the $2.1 billion it paid in 2021 to acquire the brand.

Importantly, VF’s Vans brand, which had seen a collapse in sales last year, showed signs of stablizing. Vans posted a sequential sales rise of 15% to $667 million for the first time in a year. Vans brand revenue is still down 30% from its level two years ago.

As recently as July, VF Corp. shares were down by more than 30% in 2024. But the market has reacted well to turnaround efforts since then, and the stock price is now up more than 12% on the year.

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SpaceX gets a wave of bullish ratings from Wall Street analysts

SpaceX received more than a dozen positive analyst calls on Tuesday — including from major Wall Street banks — as they initiate coverage on Elon Musk’s space and AI company.

SpaceX went public on June 12 at a $2.2 trillion valuation, the largest debut in history. While the company hasn’t yet posted a profit, it seems to have convinced Wall Street that it will get there and grow its valuation on the way.

Of the at least 17 analysts that gave a rating on Tuesday, all but one gave it a “buy” or “outperform” rating. MoffettNathanson was "neutral."

The ratings come as SpaceX joined the Nasdaq 100 index, a benchmark tech-heavy basket of companies that underpins millions of portfolios. The inclusion adds built-in demand for the stock from index funds and ETFs.

Still, SpaceX fell more than 5% on Tuesday amid a broader sell-off, and is currently effectively flat from its opening price of $150 a share.

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Nike sinks to lowest level since 2014 after warning of “challenged” sales environment in Q4 report

Did Nike do it?

Investors had a mixed reaction after the global sports apparel company reported its fourth quarter earnings on Tuesday after the bell. Shares initially rose 5% as Nike beat out Wall Street expectations amid a hefty tariff refund bonus. However, the stock then sank to its lowest level since August 2014 in postmarket trading.

Here are the Q4 numbers:

  • Revenue of $11.0 billion (estimate: $10.8 billion).

  • Adjusted earnings per share of $0.20 (estimate: $0.12).

Ahead of this report, Nike warned that results would be flattered by a one-time tariff refund (now estimated at roughly $0.52 per share for the bottom line). That gave the company an extra cushion in snapping its streak of seven quarters of year-over-year profit declines.

Over the past year, the company had been punished by tariffs on imported goods, stagnant consumer spending, and increasing competition from other footwear brands like New Balance, Adidas, and Hoka.

Outgoing CFO Matthew Friend deemed it an “increasingly challenging operating environment, where sell-through remains challenged.”

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