Go deeper: Why some Nike analysts are staying silent
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Nike shares fell more than 3% on Tuesday after the company announced a new ad campaign featuring Colin Kaepernick — the first NFL player to kneel during the national anthem.
Why it matters: It's the type of news that analysts would typically write research reports on, especially given the stock reaction, but Axios could find only one major investment firm that issued a client note specifically on this topic.
- Sam Poser, an apparel and footwear industry analyst for Susquehanna Financial Group, emailed to say he was "making no comments" on this topic.
- Another analyst told us that writing about Nike and Kaepernick has no "upside," referring to how politically divisive the kneeling debate has become.
- A spokesperson at Morgan Stanley said the firm did not publish a note on Nike. Analysts at Citi and Guggenheim did not respond to Axios' requests for comment.
Analysts usually write client notes after an event that could have either short-term or long-term impacts on stocks within their coverage area. The Nike news falls within that category, based on both market and social media reactions.
Bottom line: The one analyst who did provide research on Nike's ad campaign, Oppenheimer's Brian Nagel, wrote: "The power of the messaging from this new broader campaign is apt to overshadow any potential backlash, near term, in our view."
Editor's note: This post has been updated to reflect comment from Morgan Stanley.
