{"id":5984,"date":"2026-09-09T14:18:54","date_gmt":"2026-09-09T14:18:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/interstatelogisticshubs.com\/?p=5984"},"modified":"2026-09-09T14:18:54","modified_gmt":"2026-09-09T14:18:54","slug":"has-nike-learned-its-woke-virtue-signaling-lesson","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/interstatelogisticshubs.com\/?p=5984","title":{"rendered":"Has Nike learned its woke, virtue-signaling lesson?"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

I was a sprinter on my high school track team for all three years. That was so long ago; the track was cinder, and races were measured in yards. I did the 220, 440, and the 880 and mile relays. I tried the 100, but I didn\u2019t pass the shorter guys with short legs until just before the finish line, which made the coaches nervous, so it was back to longer distances.<\/p>

Read more An Islamist mayor delivers a pre-9\/11 insult<\/a><\/p>\n

Those were good days, except I suffered from brutal shin splints every track season. My coaches thought I was malingering, but I persevered and only figured it out years later when I bought my first pair of Nike Waffle Trainers. Magically, the shin splints disappeared and never reappeared.<\/p>\n

It was my shoes. All we had available back in the 1400s were various forms of Keds. They were comparatively Stone Age shoes, and\u00a0didn\u2019t do a thing to prevent shin splints or all the other\u00a0orthopedic maladies from which we all suffered. Orthotics and every other athletic aid either didn\u2019t exist or were in experimental stages, and available only where those few experiments were being conducted. Sports medicine and treatment consisted largely of \u201cwalk it off,\u201d which we did until the compound fractures became too bloody to ignore.<\/p>\n

Nike really enabled me to continue running most of my life and revolutionized athletics, until that is, they became too successful and arrogant, and went woke: \u00a0<\/p>\n

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\"\"<\/figure>\n<\/p>\n

Graphic: X Post<\/p>\n

\u201cNikewomen.\u201d \u201cFeelyourall.\u201d It\u2019s laughable now, and for Normal Americans, it always was. That\u2019s why Budweiser so badly damaged itself by imagining using Dylan Mulvaney, a bizarrely androgynous trans, to sell its beer. Did Budweiser imagine Mulvaney would inspire trans to drink Bud? If so, they grossly overestimated the number of trans, to say nothing of trans beer drinkers. Or perhaps they understood so little about Normal Americans that they really believed Mulvaney\u2019s frantically smiling visage and faux-female affectation would appeal to Normal American men.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s history. Men were disgusted and repelled and responded by boycotting Budweiser in every way possible. For a very long time, Budweiser couldn\u2019t even give away its beer. Budweiser quickly backpedaled and said, \u201cHey, we never meant that,\u201d and \u201cDylan Mulvaney who?\u201d But the damage was done, and they haven\u2019t recovered since.<\/p>\n

Not so for Nike, who latched onto every woke personality and cause they could, like Colin Kaepernick, who they paid at least $25 million:<\/p>\n

\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n<\/p>\n

Graphic: X Post<\/p>\n

Kaepernick, others like him, and the short-sightedness of the NFL eventually cost the league around 25% of its yearly revenues, and they, and Nike, should have known better, because this was one of the more restrained of the innumerable responses to the infamous Nike ad:<\/p>\n

\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n<\/p>\n

Graphic: X Post<\/p>\n

And the tweet was optimistic. Nike\u2019s stock was down 68% not long ago. Circa September, 2026, it was 78%: \u00a0<\/p>\n

\n

Nike<\/strong>\u00a0(NYSE: NKE) stock is down 78% from its 2021 all-time high — the steepest drop in the company’s history. Sales remain under pressure, and there’s no clear catalyst for a near-term rebound.<\/p>

Read more Trump trolls New Mexico<\/a><\/p>\n

But margins are stabilizing — a sign that things are moving in Nike’s favor as it continues its turnaround. If profitability continues to firm up and sales eventually recover, this could set up a rare chance to buy the world’s leading footwear and sports apparel brand at a value price.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Note the \u201ccould.\u201d Nike is also no longer in the S&P 100.<\/p>\n

\n

Nike’s financials are messy. In fiscal 2026 (which ended in May), sales fell 1% year over year. A company with $46 billion in annual revenue isn’t going to flip back to strong growth overnight. That’s why investors should focus on early signals that the turnaround is working, such as gross margin performance.<\/p>\n

In its latest reporting period (the fourth quarter of its fiscal 2026), Nike’s cost of sales fell 16% year over year. That supported the gross margin, which improved to 49.2% from 40.3% in the year-ago quarter. It further drove a 21% increase in gross profit despite the decline in sales.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

OK, but is Nike on the road to recovery?\u00a0\u00a0Not so much:<\/p>\n

\n

The\u00a0Motley Fool Stock Advisor<\/em>\u00a0analyst team just identified what they believe are the\u00a010 best stocks<\/strong>\u00a0for investors to buy now\u2026 and Nike wasn’t one of them. The 10 stocks that made the cut could produce monster returns in the coming years.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

I\u2019ve long had a soft spot for Nike, though Adidas shoes tend to fit my narrow feet better. But these are Heinlein\u2019s Crazy Years,\u00a0and for-profit companies have not yet entirely weaned themselves off lunatic virtue signaling in favor of making profits worthy of their shareholder\u2019s investments.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s not an encouraging trend for an America so deeply in debt and so riven by political schism. But at least Dylan Mulvaney and Colin Kaepernick aren\u2019t likely to be thrust into Americans\u2019 faces quite so much anymore.<\/p>\n

Become a subscriber and get our weekly Friday newsletter with unique content from our editors.\u00a0These essays alone are worth\u00a0<\/em>the cost of the subscription.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

Mike McDaniel is a USAF veteran, classically trained musician, Japanese and European fencer, lifelong athlete, firearm instructor, retired police officer, and high school and college English teacher. He is a published author and blogger. His home blog is<\/em>\u00a0Stately McDaniel Manor.<\/em>\u00a0<\/p>

Read more Old standby Obama changes his tune on redistricting<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I was a sprinter on my high school track team for all three years. That was so long ago; the track was cinder, and races were measured in yards. I did the 220, 440, and the 880 and mile relays. 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