Nike (NKE -0.13%) stock posted substantial gains in Monday's trading trading. The company's share price ended the daily session up 3%, according to data from S&P Global Market Intelligence.
Nike stock has been gaining ground in conjunction with the launch of its new ad campaign for the 2024 Summer Olympic Games. The massive sporting event kicks off this Friday and will run through Aug. 11, and some investors are hoping that it will mark the beginning of a branding turnaround for the company.
Nike is ramping up an aggressive new Olympics advertising campaign
Nike has been struggling lately, and the footwear and apparel giant is aiming to aid its turnaround initiatives with new marketing pushes and strategies. Over the weekend, the company debuted its "Winning Isn't for Everyone" Olympics ad campaign. The spots feature narration from actor Willem Dafoe and spotlight famous athletes including Serena Williams and LeBron James.
In addition, due to headwinds in China and other key international markets leading to weaker demand, some analysts and shareholders are concerned that Nike's brand has weakened recently. The company's last quarterly report arrived with guidance for sales to decline roughly 10% year over year in the current quarter, and there is some evidence that younger athletes are showing increasing preference for smaller brands. With its big ad campaign for the Olympics kicking off, the consumer goods giant looks poised to make some aggressive moves to ignite conversations around its brand.
Is Nike stock a buy?
Nike stock has been pushed down to levels that look cheap on a historical basis. The company is now trading at roughly 20 times trailing-12-month profits and approximately 24 times this year's expected earnings. The stock also pays a dividend yielding roughly 1.9%, which is close to its highest-ever level.
NKE PE Ratio (Forward) data by YCharts
The higher price-to-earnings ratio for this year reflects expectations that Nike will face some significant headwinds in the near term, but there's a good chance that the company will be able to return to better earnings performance and growth over the long term. The company still has one of the strongest brands in the world, and strong manufacturing and distribution advantages. With the stock still down 58% from its high, Nike looks like a worthwhile long-term investment at current prices.
