Viral social media posts claim that Nike has reported $790 million in losses in its most recent quarterly report and has had to lay off staff as a result. The posts suggest that these losses are as a result of the company’s political stances, particularly giving Colin Kaepernick an endorsement.
Nike’s most recent quarterly report was released in March and actually shows the company reported a revenue increase of 3 percent from the previous year. Nike will release its fourth quarter fiscal report on June 24. The viral posts appear to be based on news stories from last year, when the sportswear company reported losses of $790 million in its fourth quarter, due partially to coronavirus-enforced store closures and business limitations. Around the same time, Nike laid off part of its staff, though Nike’s CEO John Donahue claimed the firings were not because of the pandemic.
While Nike did report losses of $790 million and laid off employees, both of these events occurred in June 2020, not, as these posts suggest, recently.
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