NKE is the ticker symbol for shares of Nike, the American sporting goods manufacturer, that are traded at the NYSE (New York), having been listed there since 1990.

For decades, the company has been the leader in its market. Its income is $37.4 billion. Nike is worth $11 billion, and the brand more than $10 billion, which makes it the most expensive trademark in the sports industry.

History of the company and the brand

Nike was founded by Phil Knight, a student and track athlete, and his coach Bill Bowerman. Adidas, the only brand of sports shoes at the time, was very expensive, and American-made footwear on the market was of very poor quality. This nudged Knight into looking for good competitive sneakers at affordable prices. He went to Japan and came back with a distribution contract for Onitsuka Tiger sports footwear in the USA. For sales to take off, the beginning entrepreneur offered partnership to Bill Bowerman, his coach. They called their trading company Blue Ribbon Sports, and its first revenue was $8,000.

In a year’s time, the company expanded, and its first employee, Jeff Johnson, toured track meets, sold shoes and asked athletes about their preferences. He was also the one who created the brand’s name, after the Ancient Greek goddess Nike, whose sweeping wings prompted an ideal image for the logo. The company was registered on January 25th, 1964 in the USA with the headquarters in Eugene, Oregon.

By 1970, the company’s turnover reached $1 million. Nike employed 20 people, operated several retail stores and ran large-scale wholesale trade. But problems with deliveries from Japan brought about the launch of in-house production. The first shoe model developed was named Nike Cortez, officially released in 1972. The Nike trademark was registered in the same year, marking the beginning of the brand’s history.

Capital, income, and achievements

In 1976, the management made several strategically important decisions: the company was permanently associated with the name Nike, it started manufacturing sports clothing with the swoosh logo, and it launched a collection for kids.

By 1980, Nike’s turnover exceeded that of Adidas and amounted to $458 million. A combination of technological improvements with a unique advertising policy yielded its dividends and increased the sales. Nike shoes were worn by the world’s greatest sportsmen while celebrating their victories.

The ankle-high, close fitting Air Jordans, Air Max with transparent soles, Nike Huarache for runners, Mercurial Vapor Superfly II with adjustable spikes, the barefoot-effect of Free Run, the Shox antistress technology, the Presto for outsized feet – there is no such sport or person whose needs Nike doesn’t cater to.

In 1999, the company started promoting its goods and running ads on the Internet.

Nike continuously expands its range of products, with its own stores around the world, releases of revolutionary products (thermowear, glow-in-the-dark jackets, Nike+iPod compatible with Apple, etc.), and brilliant advertisements (viral videos).

The company is by right famed to be an innovative brand. The same dynamics and development translates into Nike’s profit. The best example of this is the dynamics of earnings: over $1 million in 1971, $3 million in 1972, $25 million in 1977, $3.4 billion in 1992, $9.19 billion in 1997, $10 billion in 2001, and $37 billion in 2020.

At the moment, the company has a roll of about 70,000 employees, its brand is the industry leader, and Nike shows no signs of slowing down.