Nike Inc (NKE) Stock Price Rallies 2% In After-Hours Trading As Athletic Retailer’s Q4 Earnings Swoosh Past Forecasts

Shares of Nike Inc. (NYSE:NKE) jumped more than 2 percent in extended-hours trading Thursday after the world’s largest athletic apparel retailer swooshed past Wall Street’s earnings forecasts, driven by strong sales of basketball footwear. The stock rose 2.5 percent in after-hours trading to as high as $107.90 per share, which tops its 52-week high of $107.45.

Demand for Nike’s Jordan, LeBron, Kobe and KD basketball shoe brands in the U.S. have continued to drive strong sales growth.

“Our consistent growth is fueled by our connection to the consumer and our ability to deliver innovation at an unprecedented pace and scale,” Mark Parker, president and CEO of Nike Inc, said in a statement Thursday. “At no time in our history has the growth potential been greater for Nike.”

The National Basketball Association announced earlier this month Nike will become the official apparel provider on the court for the NBA, starting in the 2017-18 season.

The Beaverton, Oregon, company, which has a market value of $91 billion, reportedly will pay around $1 billion for the eight-year apparel contract, according to ESPN, after rival Adidas announced it would not extend its 11-year deal with the league.

Global futures orders for Nike brand athletic footwear and apparel scheduled for delivery from June through November 2015 totaled $13.5 billion at the end of the last quarter, 2 percent higher than orders reported for the same period last year.

For the quarter ended May 31, Nike reported fiscal fourth-quarter net income of $865 million, or 98 cents, on revenue of $7.78 billion, compared with a profit of $698 million, or 78 cents, on sales of $7.4 billion during the same period a year earlier.

Wall Street had expected the retailer to turn in net income of $727.37 million, or 84 cents, on revenue of $7.7 billion, according to analysts polled by Thomson Reuters.

Nike shares have gained 9 percent so far this year.