Nike ($NKE) didn't just beat, but obliterated, its earnings expectations on Thursday. The shoe brand reported $0.71 cents a share, 13 cents above the Wall Street consensus estimate. Nike also made more money than was expected, but when you rake in ten billion dollars, at that point it's just splitting hairs on a big pile of money.
We've already written about the biggest corporate brands in all of social media, and Nike topped the Instagram list with a staggering 96 million followers. That's an increase of 125% since 2016, but it was already dominating social platforms before this earnings call, that's par for the course.
The real news here is both the employee count and the stock are at all-time highs. The hiring data (not shown here) hasn't really moved dramatically, so this is steady and sustainable growth that investors love to see. Nike, as listed on LinkedIn profiles, broke 100,000 employees, which is a 157% increase since our tracking began in 2015.
Also this month Twitter broke eight million followers, which is starting to creep up on the list of the biggest corporate Twitter accounts. This is now double what it used to be in 2014, and right now the brand is strong. People like Nike more now than ever, and it seems that is translating into word of mouth and strong sales.
About the Data:
Thinknum tracks companies using the information they post online - jobs, social and web traffic, product sales and app ratings - and creates data sets that measure factors like hiring, revenue and foot traffic. Data sets may not be fully comprehensive (they only account for what is available on the web), but they can be used to gauge performance factors like staffing and sales.
Further Reading:
- Is Canada Goose losing its mojo? Early data suggest cooling customer interest
- Macy's outpaces others in terms of foot traffic, but holiday boost is declining year over year
- Luxury retailer Barneys files Chapter 11 - this is the company's alternative data
