耐克为何不香了

近日，耐克公司发布2025财年第一财季财务业绩。截至8月31日的财季收入同比下滑10%，这也是自疫情以来最大的财季收入降幅。

今天你练听力了吗？

🤔️小作业：

1. Based on the passage, which of the following best describes Nike's strategy regarding its key franchises like Air Force 1, Air Jordan 1, and Dunk?

A. Expanding production to meet increasing demand.

B. Deliberately reducing focus on these franchises, affecting short-term revenue.

C. Investing heavily in marketing these franchises to boost sales.

D. Discontinuing these franchises to introduce completely new product lines.

无注释原文：

Nike Needs Time to Get Off the Sidelines

From: The Wall Street Journal

It is never easy for a top performer like Nike to lower the bar, but it will be much easier to do so with a new leader.

The apparel giant on Tuesday had some bad numbers to report. Revenue declined 10% in its quarter ended Aug. 31 compared with a year earlier, in line with its guidance and Wall Street expectations polled by Visible Alpha. That marks the worst quarterly drop since the initial pandemic shock of 2020. But cost cuts, including layoffs, helped the company achieve better-than-expected earnings results. Net income was down 28%, much better than the 47% drop analysts had expected.

The company is in something of limbo right now, with Chief Executive Officer John Donahoe set to step down soon. Donahoe didn’t speak during the company’s earnings call Tuesday after the market close; Chief Financial Officer Matthew Friend led the call instead. Elliott Hill, a well-liked, 32-year Nike veteran, is set to return to the company and start in the CEO role on Oct. 14. Nike’s shares have rebounded by about 10% since the company announced his appointment, though they are still down about 18% year to date. 

Despite the better-than-expected bottom line, Nike shares shed around 5% in after-hours trading following the earnings call, as the company made it clear that its turnaround might be more painful than investors thought.

For one, Nike said it expects revenue to drop 8% to 10% in the current quarter, worse than the 6.7% decline Wall Street was expecting. The company withdrew full fiscal-year guidance, a move implying that its annual revenue decline might be worse than the 5% drop that analysts were penciling in. That number would have already made it Nike’s worst annual performance since 1999. During the call, Friend made it clear that Nike’s deliberate pullback from key franchises—Air Force 1, Air Jordan 1 and Dunk—will continue to weigh on its top line for the rest of its fiscal year, which ends May 2025.

Not that there weren’t any bright spots. In its Greater China market, revenue fell just 3% on a constant-currency basis, better than the 7% decline Wall Street expected. That speaks to the brand’s enduring strength in the region, contrasting with bearish commentary from major Chinese sports retailers. And consumers globally are responding to innovation: Sales of newer footwear products rose by a double-digit percentage last quarter. While this development is a positive indicator for product launches to come, they aren’t yet big enough to offset weakness in Nike’s classic sneakers.

Today, Nike’s shares are trading at 27.8 times forward earnings, about 12% lower than its five-year average and 23% cheaper than its closest competitor, Adidas. While a lot of bad news is already baked into Nike’s stock, tempted investors might want to wait until a clear treatment plan emerges. After all, its latest call highlighted just how deep Nike’s injuries are.

- ◆ -

注：完整题目见本文开头；中文文本为华尔街日报官方译文，仅供参考

含注释全文：

Nike Needs Time to Get Off the Sidelines 耐克东山再起尚需时日

From: The Wall Street Journal

It is never easy for a top performer like Nike to lower the bar, but it will be much easier to do so with a new leader.

对于像耐克（Nike）这样的顶尖企业来说，降低标准绝非易事，但有了新领导者，降低标准就会容易得多。

bar /bɑːr/ 作名词，1）表示“条状物”，英文解释为“a substance that has been made into a solid rectangular shape”如：a bar of soap 一块肥皂，a chocolate bar 一条巧克力棒。

2）表示“障碍；羁绊”，英文解释为“a thing that stops sb from doing sth”举个🌰：At that time being a woman was a bar to promotion in most professions.那时在大多数职业中，身为女性就是晋升的障碍。

作动词，表示“禁止，阻止”，英文解释为“If someone is barred from a place or from doing something, they are officially forbidden to go there or to do it.”举个🌰：The players are barred from drinking alcohol the night before a match. 运动员在参赛前夜不得喝酒。

🎬电影《逆转王牌》（Runner Runner）中的台词提到：He said I'd be barred from re-entering the country.他说我下次回国时会被禁止入境。

📍set the bar high/low = put the bar high/low 表示设定高/低标准、高/低要求（to set a high/low standard for something）

The apparel giant on Tuesday had some bad numbers to report. Revenue declined 10% in its quarter ended Aug. 31 compared with a year earlier, in line with its guidance and Wall Street expectations polled by Visible Alpha. That marks the worst quarterly drop since the initial pandemic shock of 2020. But cost cuts, including layoffs, helped the company achieve better-than-expected earnings results. Net income was down 28%, much better than the 47% drop analysts had expected.

这家服装巨头周二公布了一些糟糕的数据。截至8月31日的财季收入同比下滑10%，符合该公司的展望和接受Visible Alpha调查的华尔街分析师的预期。这也是自2020年新冠疫情最初造成冲击以来最大的财季收入降幅。但得益于裁员等成本削减举措，耐克当季利润好于预期。净利润下降28%，远好于分析师此前预计的下降47%。

apparel /əˈpærəl/ 表示“服装；尤指礼服”，英文解释为“Apparel means clothes, especially formal clothes worn on an important occasion.”举个🌰：Women's apparel is offered in petite, regular, and tall sizes. 女士礼服分为小号、中号和大号。

对比：

📍attire /əˈtaɪə/ 表示“服装；衣服”（clothes），如：dressed in formal evening attire 穿着晚礼服。

📍garment 表示“（一件）衣服，尤用于衣服生产和销售的领域”（A garment is a piece of clothing; used especially in contexts where you are talking about the manufacture or sale of clothes.）如：woollen garments 毛衣，winter/outer garments 冬装/外衣，举个🌰：Many of the garments have the customers' name tags sewn into the linings. 这些衣服中很多都把顾客的姓名牌缝进衬里中。

poll /pəʊl/ 1）作名词，表示“民意测验；民意调查”，英文解释为“A poll is a survey in which people are asked their opinions about something, usually in order to find out how popular something is or what people intend to do in the future.”复数形式polls可以特指“选举投票；计票”（the process of voting at an election; the process of counting the votes）举个🌰：Polls show that the European treaty has gained support in Denmark. 民意测验显示，欧洲条约已经在丹麦获得支持。

2）作动词，表示“对…进行民意调查”，英文解释为“If you are polled on something, you are asked what you think about it as part of a survey.”举个🌰：More than 2,000 people were polled. 2000多人接受了民意调查。

3）作动词，表示“获得…选票”，英文解释为“If a political party or a candidate polls a particular number or percentage of votes, they get that number or percentage of votes in an election.”举个🌰：The result showed he had polled enough votes to force a second ballot. 结果显示他获得了足够的选票来促使第二轮选举。

layoff /ˈleɪ.ɒf/ 表示“解雇，解聘，下岗”，英文解释为“an occasion when a company stops employing someone, sometimes temporarily, because the company does not have enough money or enough work”

The company is in something of limbo right now, with Chief Executive Officer John Donahoe set to step down soon. Donahoe didn’t speak during the company’s earnings call Tuesday after the market close; Chief Financial Officer Matthew Friend led the call instead. Elliott Hill, a well-liked, 32-year Nike veteran, is set to return to the company and start in the CEO role on Oct. 14. Nike’s shares have rebounded by about 10% since the company announced his appointment, though they are still down about 18% year to date. 

该公司目前处于某种不确定的状态，首席执行官唐若修(John Donahoe)将很快卸任。唐若修未在周二盘后的公司财报电话会议上发言；首席财务官Matthew Friend主导了电话会议。备受爱戴、曾供职耐克32载的老将Elliott Hill将回归，从10月14日开始担任首席执行官一职。自耐克宣布对Hill的任命以来，该公司股价已反弹约10%，不过今年以来仍累计下跌约18%。

limbo /ˈlɪm.bəʊ/ 表示“悬而未决；停滞不前”，英文解释为“an uncertain situation that you cannot control and in which there is no progress or improvement”举个🌰：Until we have official permission to go ahead with the plans we're in limbo. 在该计划得到正式批准之前，我们一直处于停滞状态。

step down等同于step aside，表示“退位”，英文解释为“If someone steps down or steps aside, they resign from an important job or position, often in order to let someone else take their place.”举个🌰：He has decided to step down as captain of the team. 他决定不再当队长。

类似的还有：

📍quit，除了退出，离开的含义，也有：辞去（工作）；辞职，的含义（If you quit, or quit your job, you choose to leave it.）举个🌰：He quit his job as an office boy. 他辞去了办公室勤杂员的工作。

📺美剧《恋爱手册》（A To Z）中的台词提到：Quit my job and then ask him out? 辞职然后约他出去？

📍resign 1）表示“辞职”，英文解释为“If you resign from a job or position, you formally announce that you are leaving it.”举个🌰：He resigned his position last month. 他上个月辞去了他的职位。

2）表示“使屈从”，英文解释为“If you resign yourself to an unpleasant situation or fact, you accept it because you realize that you cannot change it.”举个🌰：Jane and I resigned ourselves to yet another summer without a boat. 简和我将就着又过了一个没有船的夏天。

well liked /ˌwel ˈlaɪkt/ 表示“广受欢迎的”，英文解释为“liked by many people”举个🌰：A colleague described him as well liked and respected by all. 一位同事说，他是个很受众人喜爱和尊敬的人。

veteran /ˈvetərən/ 1）表示“老手，（在某方面）经验丰富的人”，英文解释为“someone who has had a lot of experience of a particular activity”，如：veteran leader/veteran journalist/actor/goalkeeper etc 资深领袖/资深记者/资深演员/经验丰富的守门员等。

2）表示“老兵，退伍军人”，英文解释为“someone who has been in the armed forces during a war”如：a Vietnam veteran 越战老兵。

rebound /ˌriːˈbaʊnd/ 1）表示“弹回；反弹；跳回”，英文解释为“to bounce back after hitting a hard surface”

2）表示“产生事与愿违的结果；适得其反”，英文解释为“If an action rebounds on you, it does not have the effect you hoped for but has an unpleasant effect on you instead.”举个🌰：His continual demands for sympathy rebounded on him because his friends finally stopped listening. 他没完没了地希望从别人那里得到同情，结果却适得其反，因为最终他的朋友们都不愿再听他诉苦。

3）表示“（价格）反弹”，英文解释为“to rise in price after a fall”举个🌰：Cotton rebounded from declines early in the day to end at a higher price. 棉花价格在今天较早时下跌之后反弹收高。

Despite the better-than-expected bottom line, Nike shares shed around 5% in after-hours trading following the earnings call, as the company made it clear that its turnaround might be more painful than investors thought.

尽管净利润好于预期，但耐克股价在财报电话会议后的盘后交易中仍下跌约5%，因为该公司明确传递了一个讯息：努力改善经营的过程或许会比投资者想象的更痛苦。

1）表示“底线；最重要的事实”，英文解释为“the most important fact in a situation”

2）表示“损益表底线；盈亏一览结算线”，英文解释为“the final line in the accounts of a company or organization, stating the total profit or loss that has been made”举个🌰：How will the rise in interest rates affect our bottom line? 利率上升对我们的盈亏状况会有什么影响？

shed /ʃed/ 作名词，表示“（通常为木质、存放物品用的）棚子，小屋”，英文解释为“a small building, usually made of wood, used for storing things”如：a tool/storage shed 工具/储物棚，a garden/bicycle shed 花园/自行车棚。

作动词，shed 1）表示“使脱落；使掉落；蜕；脱”，英文解释为“to lose a covering, such as leaves, hair, or skin, because it falls off naturally, or to drop something in a natural way or by accident”举个🌰：The trees shed their leaves in autumn. 树木在秋天落叶。

2）表示“（常为报刊用语）去除，摆脱”，英文解释为“(often used in newspapers) to get rid of something you do not need or want”举个🌰：900 jobs will be shed over the next few months. 接下来几个月中要裁减900个职位。

📍shed tears, blood, light, etc. 表示“流泪／流血／发光（等等）”，英文解释为“to produce tears, light, blood, etc.”举个🌰：She shed a few tears at her daughter's wedding. 她在女儿的婚礼上流下了泪。

turnaround /ˈtɜːn.ə.raʊnd/ 1）表示“（突然）好转，改观，改善”，英文解释为“an occasion when a business, plan, or system suddenly becomes successful”举个🌰：The CEO was responsible for the turnaround in the company's fortunes. 公司命运的转变归功于首席执行官。

2）表示“（车辆的）终点装卸时间；周转时间；处理时间”，英文解释为“the amount of time taken for something to happen after a vehicle, an instruction, or an order for goods arrives at a place”举个🌰：We'll have to improve the turnaround - three days is too long. 我们必须缩短周转时间——３天时间太长。

For one, Nike said it expects revenue to drop 8% to 10% in the current quarter, worse than the 6.7% decline Wall Street was expecting. The company withdrew full fiscal-year guidance, a move implying that its annual revenue decline might be worse than the 5% drop that analysts were penciling in. That number would have already made it Nike’s worst annual performance since 1999. During the call, Friend made it clear that Nike’s deliberate pullback from key franchises—Air Force 1, Air Jordan 1 and Dunk—will continue to weigh on its top line for the rest of its fiscal year, which ends May 2025.

首先，耐克预计当前财季收入将下降8%-10%，此降幅大于华尔街预计的6.7%。耐克撤回了全财年展望，此举意味着财年收入降幅可能大于分析师预期的5%。即便降幅为5%，也会是耐克自1999年以来最糟糕的财年收入表现。Friend在电话会议上明示，耐克有意降低对关键产品系列Air Force 1、Air Jordan 1和Dunk的依赖程度，这将在截至2025年5月的当前财年剩余时间里继续拖累公司营收。

fiscal year 同financial year，表示“财政年度，会计年度（并非总是1月到12月）”，英文解释为“a period of twelve months (not always January to December) for which a business, government, etc. plans its management of money”

pencil sth/sb in表示“草拟，初定”，英文解释为“to arrange for something to happen or for someone to do something on a particular date or occasion, knowing that the arrangement might be changed later”举个🌰：We'll pencil in the dates for the next two meetings and confirm them later. 我们将暂定一下接下来两次会议的日期，稍后再加以确认。

deliberate /dɪˈlɪb.ər.ət/ 作动词，表示“仔细考虑；深思熟虑；反复思考”，英文解释为“to think very carefully about sth, usually before making a decision”举个🌰：The jury deliberated for five days before finding him guilty. 陪审团认真讨论了五天才裁定他有罪。

作形容词，表示“（常指坏事）有意的，故意的，蓄意的”，英文解释为“(often of something bad) intentional or planned”如：a deliberate attack/insult/lie 蓄意攻击/侮辱/说谎。

franchise /ˈfræntʃaɪz/ 最常见的意思与“特许经营权”有关，既可以作可数名词，又可以做及物动词。作可数名词时具体表示“（公司授予某人的）特许经营权”，英文解释为“A franchise is an authority that is given by an organization to someone, allowing them to sell its goods or services or to take part in an activity which the organization controls.”比如“建造、运营隧道的特许权”就可以用“the franchise to build and operate the tunnel.”表示。

📍可以理解为「一部电影的所有系列，系列电影」A film series is also called a film “franchise” which consists of a number of films based on the same characters. 或者“franchise”可以指一个商业品牌或者产品系列，它由相同主题或品牌下的多个作品组成，这些作品可以是电影、电视剧、漫画、视频游戏等。

📍作及物动词时具体表示“出售…的特许经营权”，英文解释为“If a company franchises its business, it sells franchises to other companies, allowing them to sell its goods or services.”举个🌰：She has recently franchised her business. 她最近已出售了其公司的特许经营权。

📍它还有另外一个意思，表示“选举权”，用作不可数名词，英文解释为“Franchise is the right to vote in an election.”

📍而在体育运动领域，指的是“球队，职业运动队”（a professional sports team），如在“湖人总冠军！”文中出现过：Second, Pelinka lived up to Bryant's prediction that Pelinka would help turn the franchise around within two to three years after the Lakers hired him in 2017. 第二，佩林卡不负布莱恩特的预言，在2017年湖人队聘请他之后，佩林卡将在两到三年内帮助球队扭转局面。

Not that there weren’t any bright spots. In its Greater China market, revenue fell just 3% on a constant-currency basis, better than the 7% decline Wall Street expected. That speaks to the brand’s enduring strength in the region, contrasting with bearish commentary from major Chinese sports retailers. And consumers globally are responding to innovation: Sales of newer footwear products rose by a double-digit percentage last quarter. While this development is a positive indicator for product launches to come, they aren’t yet big enough to offset weakness in Nike’s classic sneakers.

耐克业绩并非毫无亮点。该公司在大中华区市场按固定汇率计算的收入仅下降3%，好于华尔街预期的下降7%。这体现了耐克品牌在该地区的持久实力，与中国主要体育用品零售商的悲观看法形成鲜明对比。此外，全球消费者对创新作出反应：上季度新款鞋类产品的销售额实现两位数百分比增幅。虽然这对即将发布的产品来说是一个积极信号，但这些新品的销售规模还不足以抵消耐克经典运动鞋销售疲软的影响。

contrast /ˈkɒn.trɑːst/ 作名词，表示“差别，差异；对照，对比”，英文解释为“an obvious difference between two or more things”举个🌰：I like the contrast of the white trousers with the black jacket. 我喜欢白色长裤与黑色夹克形成的反差。

作动词，表示“形成对照；显出明显的差异”，英文解释为“If one thing contrasts with another, it is very different from it.”举个🌰：The tartness of the lemons contrasts with the sweetness of the honey. 柠檬的酸味和蜂蜜的甜味形成鲜明的对比。

bearish /ˈbeə.rɪʃ/ 1）表示“像熊一样的”，英文解释为“looking or behaving like a bear”

2）表示“行情看跌的，熊市的”，英文解释为“expecting a fall in prices”举个🌰：The overall oil price outlook is expected to remain bearish. 油价总体预计会保持跌势。

double-digit /ˌdʌb.əlˈdɪdʒɪt/ 表示“两位数的”，英文解释为“relating to a number or series of numbers between 10 and 99”

offset /ˌɒfˈset/ 作动词，表示“抵消；弥补；补偿”，英文解释为“to use one cost, payment or situation in order to cancel or reduce the effect of another”举个🌰：Prices have risen in order to offset the increased cost of materials. 为补偿原料成本的增加而提高了价格。

📍《经济学人》（The Economist）一篇讲述疫情下机器人自动化的文章中提到：Companies reshoring production have sought to offset the high cost of human labour with the engineered sort. 把生产迁回本国的公司纷纷利用工程手段来抵消高人力成本。

Today, Nike’s shares are trading at 27.8 times forward earnings, about 12% lower than its five-year average and 23% cheaper than its closest competitor, Adidas. While a lot of bad news is already baked into Nike’s stock, tempted investors might want to wait until a clear treatment plan emerges. After all, its latest call highlighted just how deep Nike’s injuries are.

如今，耐克的远期市盈率为27.8倍，较其五年平均水平低约12%，比其实力最接近的竞争对手阿迪达斯低23%。虽然耐克的股价已体现了很多坏消息的影响，但那些心动的投资者可能希望等到明确的重整方案出炉后再作决定。毕竟，耐克最新的电话会议凸显出该公司的问题颇为严重。

bake /beɪk/ 表示“烘，烤”，英文解释为“to cook inside an oven, without using added liquid or fat”举个🌰：I made the icing while the cake was baking. 趁烤面包的时候我做好了糖衣。

在字面意义上，“bake”是一个动词，意为“烘烤”或“烤制”，通常用于食物的烹饪过程，如烤面包、蛋糕等。在烹饪中，烘烤是一种通过加热食物使其烹调成熟的方法。除了其字面意义，"bake" 也常用于比喻性表达，表示某种特性、问题或元素已经深深地嵌入到一个系统、过程或产品中，就像烘烤的食物中混合的成分一样，这些特性或问题已经成为了整体的一部分，不容易分离或改变。比如，在技术或社会问题的讨论中，人们可能会说某个问题“be baked into”系统，意味着这个问题是系统性的，与其基本结构或运作方式紧密相关。

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