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Nike, Inc.: Cost of Capital

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On July 5, 2001, Kimi Ford, a portfolio manager at NorthPoint Group, a mutual fund management
firm, pored over analysts’ write-ups of Nike, Inc., the athletic-shoe manufacturer. Nike’s share price had
declined significantly from the beginning of the year. Ford was considering buying some shares for the fund
she managed, the NorthPoint Large-Cap Fund, which invested mostly in Fortune 500 companies, with an
emphasis on value investing. Its top holdings included ExxonMobil, General Motors, McDonald’s, 3M, and

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other large-cap, generally old-economy stocks. Although the stock market had declined over the last 18
months, the NorthPoint Large-Cap Fund had performed extremely well. In 2000, the fund earned a return of
20.7%, even as the S&P 500 fell 10.1%. At the end of June 2001, the fund’s year-to-date returns stood at
6.4% versus −7.3% for the S&P 500.

Only a week earlier, on June 28, 2001, Nike had held an analysts’ meeting to disclose its fiscal-year 2001
results.1 The meeting, however, had another purpose: Nike management wanted to communicate a strategy
for revitalizing the company. Since 1997, its revenues had plateaued at around $9 billion, while net income
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had fallen from almost $800 million to $580 million (see Exhibit 1). Nike’s market share in U.S. athletic
shoes had fallen from 48%, in 1997, to 42% in 2000.2 In addition, recent supply-chain issues and the adverse
effect of a strong dollar had negatively affected revenue.

At the meeting, management revealed plans to address both top-line growth and operating performance.
To boost revenue, the company would develop more athletic-shoe products in the mid-priced segment3—a
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segment that Nike had overlooked in recent years. Nike also planned to push its apparel line, which, under
the recent leadership of industry veteran Mindy Grossman,4 had performed extremely well. On the cost side,
Nike would exert more effort on expense control. Finally, company executives reiterated their long-term
revenue-growth targets of 8% to 10% and earnings-growth targets of above 15%.

Analysts’ reactions were mixed. Some thought the financial targets were too aggressive; others saw
significant growth opportunities in apparel and in Nike’s international businesses.
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Ford read all the analysts’ reports that she could find about the June 28 meeting, but the reports gave her
no clear guidance: a Lehman Brothers report recommended a strong buy, while UBS Warburg and CSFB
analysts expressed misgivings about the company and recommended a hold. Ford decided instead to develop
her own discounted cash flow forecast to come to a clearer conclusion.

1 Nike’s fiscal year ended in May.

2 Douglas Robson, “Just Do…Something: Nike’s Insularity and Foot-Dragging Have It Running in Place,” BusinessWeek (2 July 2001).
3 Sneakers in this segment sold for $70 to $90 a pair.
4 Mindy Grossman joined Nike in September 2000. She was the former president and chief executive of Jones Apparel Group’s Polo Jeans division.
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This case was prepared from publicly available information by Jessica Chan, under the supervision of Robert F. Bruner and with the assistance of Sean
D. Carr. The financial support of the Batten Institute is gratefully acknowledged. It was written as a basis for class discussion rather than to illustrate
effective or ineffective handling of an administrative situation. Copyright  2001 by the University of Virginia Darden School Foundation,
Charlottesville, VA. All rights reserved. To order copies, send an e-mail to [email protected]. No part of this publication may be reproduced,
stored in a retrieval system, used in a spreadsheet, or transmitted in any form or by any means—electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise—without the
permission of the Darden School Foundation. Our goal is to publish materials of the highest quality, so please submit any errata to
[email protected].

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Her forecast showed that, at a discount rate of 12%, Nike was overvalued at its current share price of
$42.09 (Exhibit 2). She had done a quick sensitivity analysis, however, which revealed Nike was undervalued at
discount rates below 11.17%. Because she was about to go into a meeting, she asked her new assistant,
Joanna Cohen, to estimate Nike’s cost of capital.

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Cohen immediately gathered all the data she thought she might need (Exhibit 1 through Exhibit 4) and
began to work on her analysis. At the end of the day, Cohen submitted her cost-of-capital estimate and a
memo (Exhibit 5) explaining her assumptions to Ford.

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Exhibit 1
Nike, Inc.: Cost of Capital
Consolidated Income Statements

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Year Ended May 31 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001
(in millions of dollars except per-share data)

Revenues $ 4,760.8 $ 6,470.6 $ 9,186.5 $ 9,553.1 $ 8,776.9 $ 8,995.1 $ 9,488.8

Cost of goods sold 2,865.3 3,906.7 5,503.0 6,065.5 5,493.5 5,403.8 5,784.9
Gross profit 1,895.6 2,563.9 3,683.5 3,487.6 3,283.4 3,591.3 3,703.9
Selling and administrative 1,209.8 1,588.6 2,303.7 2,623.8 2,426.6 2,606.4 2,689.7

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Operating income 685.8 975.3 1,379.8 863.8 856.8 984.9 1,014.2
Interest expense 24.2 39.5 52.3 60.0 44.1 45.0 58.7
Other expense, net 11.7 36.7 32.3 20.9 21.5 23.2 34.1
Restructuring charge, net - - - 129.9 45.1 (2.5) -
Income before income taxes 649.9 899.1 1,295.2 653.0 746.1 919.2 921.4
Income taxes 250.2 345.9 499.4 253.4 294.7 340.1 331.7
Net income $ 399.7 $ 553.2 $ 795.8 $ 399.6 $ 451.4 $ 579.1 $ 589.7
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Diluted earnings per common share $ 1.36 $ 1.88 $ 2.68 $ 1.35 $ 1.57 $ 2.07 $ 2.16
Average shares outstanding (diluted) 294.0 293.6 297.0 296.0 287.5 279.8 273.3

Growth (%)
Revenue 35.9 42.0 4.0 (8.1) 2.5 5.5
Operating income 42.2 41.5 (37.4) (0.8) 15.0 3.0
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Net income 38.4 43.9 (49.8) 13.0 28.3 1.8

Margins (%)
Gross margin 39.6 40.1 36.5 37.4 39.9 39.0
Operating margin 15.1 15.0 9.0 9.8 10.9 10.7
Net margin 8.5 8.7 4.2 5.1 6.4 6.2

Effective tax rate (%)* 38.5 38.6 38.8 39.5 37.0 36.0
No

*The U.S. statutory tax rate was 35%. The state tax varied yearly from 2.5% to 3.5%.
Sources of data: Company filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), UBS Warburg.
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Exhibit 2
Nike, Inc.: Cost of Capital
Discounted Cash Flow Analysis

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2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011
Assumptions:
Revenue growth (%) 7.0 6.5 6.5 6.5 6.0 6.0 6.0 6.0 6.0 6.0
COGS/sales (%) 60.0 60.0 59.5 59.5 59.0 59.0 58.5 58.5 58.0 58.0
SG&A/sales (%) 28.0 27.5 27.0 26.5 26.0 25.5 25.0 25.0 25.0 25.0
Tax rate (%) 38.0 38.0 38.0 38.0 38.0 38.0 38.0 38.0 38.0 38.0
Current assets/sales (%) 38.0 38.0 38.0 38.0 38.0 38.0 38.0 38.0 38.0 38.0
Current liabilities/sales (%) 11.5 11.5 11.5 11.5 11.5 11.5 11.5 11.5 11.5 11.5
Yearly depreciation and capex equal each other.

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Cost of capital (%) 12.00
Terminal growth rate (%) 3.00

Discounted Cash Flow

(in millions of dollars except per-share data)
Operating income $ 1,218.4 $ 1,351.6 $ 1,554.6 $ 1,717.0 $ 1,950.0 $ 2,135.9 $ 2,410.2 $ 2,554.8 $ 2,790.1 $ 2,957.5
Taxes 463.0 513.6 590.8 652.5 741.0 811.7 915.9 970.8 1,060.2 1,123.9
NOPAT 755.4 838.0 963.9 1,064.5 1,209.0 1,324.3 1,494.3 1,584.0 1,729.9 1,833.7
Capex, net of depreciation - - - - - - - - - -
Change in NWC 8.8 (174.9) (186.3) (198.4) (195.0) (206.7) (219.1) (232.3) (246.2) (261.0)
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Free cash flow 764.1 663.1 777.6 866.2 1,014.0 1,117.6 1,275.2 1,351.7 1,483.7 1,572.7
Terminal value 17,998.3
Total flows 764.1 663.1 777.6 866.2 1,014.0 1,117.6 1,275.2 1,351.7 1,483.7 19,571.0
Present value of flows $ 682.3 $ 528.6 $ 553.5 $ 550.5 $ 575.4 $ 566.2 $ 576.8 $ 545.9 $ 535.0 $ 6,301.2
Enterprise value $ 11,415.4
Less: current outstanding debt 1,296.6
Equity value $ 10,118.8
Current shares outstanding 271.5
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Equity value per share $ 37.27 Current share price: $ 42.09

Sensitivity of equity value to discount rate:

Discount rate Equity value
8.00% $ 75.80
8.50% 67.85
9.00% 61.25
9.50% 55.68
10.00% 50.92
No

10.50% 46.81
11.00% 43.22
11.17% 42.09
11.50% 40.07
12.00% 37.27 Source: Case writer's analysis.
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Exhibit 3
Nike, Inc.: Cost of Capital
Consolidated Balance Sheets

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As of May 31,
(in millions of dollars) 2000 2001
Assets
Current assets:
Cash and equivalents $ 254.3 $ 304.0
Accounts receivable 1,569.4 1,621.4

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Inventories 1,446.0 1,424.1
Deferred income taxes 111.5 113.3
Prepaid expenses 215.2 162.5
Total current assets 3,596.4 3,625.3

Property, plant and equipment, net 1,583.4 1,618.8

Identifiable intangible assets and goodwill, net 410.9 397.3
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Deferred income taxes and other assets 266.2 178.2
Total assets $ 5,856.9 $ 5,819.6
Liabilities and shareholders' equity
Current liabilities:
Current portion of long-term debt $ 50.1 $ 5.4
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Notes payable 924.2 855.3

Accounts payable 543.8 432.0
Accrued liabilities 621.9 472.1
Income taxes payable - 21.9
Total current liabilities 2,140.0 1,786.7
Long-term debt 470.3 435.9
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Deferred income taxes and other liabilities 110.3 102.2

Redeemable preferred stock 0.3 0.3

Shareholders' equity:
Common stock, par 2.8 2.8
Capital in excess of stated value 369.0 459.4
Unearned stock compensation (11.7) (9.9)
Accumulated other comprehensive income (111.1) (152.1)
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Retained earnings 2,887.0 3,194.3

Total shareholders' equity 3,136.0 3,494.5
Total liabilities and shareholders' equity $ 5,856.9 $ 5,819.6

Source of data: Company filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

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Exhibit 4
Nike, Inc.: Cost of Capital
Capital-Market and Financial Information on or around July 5, 2001

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Current Yields on U.S. Treasuries Nike Share Price Performance Relative to S&P 500:
January 2000 to July 5, 2001
3-month 3.59%
6-month 3.59%
1.3
1-year 3.59%
5-year 4.88% 1.2

10-year 5.39% 1.1

20-year 5.74%

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1.0

0.9
Historical Equity Risk Premiums (1926-1999)
0.8
Geometric mean 5.90%
Arithmetic mean 7.50% 0.7

0.6
Current Yield on Publicly Traded Nike Debt* 0.5
Coupon 6.75% paid semi-annually 0.4
Issued 07/15/96

Nov-00
May-00

Sep-00

May-01
Jan-00

Jul-00

Jan-01

Jul-01
Mar-00

Mar-01
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Maturity 07/15/21
Current Price $ 95.60
Nike S&P 500

Nike Historic Betas

1996 0.98
1997 0.84 Nike share price on July 5, 2001: $ 42.09
1998 0.84
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1999 0.63 Dividend History and Forecasts

2000 0.83 Paymt Dates 31-Mar 30-Jun 30-Sep 31-Dec Total
YTD 6/30/01 0.69 1997 0.10 0.10 0.10 0.10 0.40
1998 0.12 0.12 0.12 0.12 0.48
Average 0.80 1999 0.12 0.12 0.12 0.12 0.48
2000 0.12 0.12 0.12 0.12 0.48
2001 0.12 0.12
Consensus EPS estimates:
FY 2002 FY 2003 Value Line Forecast of Dividend Growth from '98-'00 to '04-'06:
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$ 2.32 $ 2.67 5.50%

* Data have been modified for teaching purposes.
Sources of data: Bloomberg Financial Services, Ibbotson Associates Yearbook 1999, Value Line Investment Survey, IBES.
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Exhibit 5
Nike, Inc.: Cost of Capital
Joanna Cohen’s Analysis

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TO: Kimi Ford

FROM: Joanna Cohen

DATE: July 6, 2001

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SUBJECT: Nike’s cost of capital

Based on the following assumptions, my estimate of Nike’s cost of capital is 8.4%:

I. Single or Multiple Costs of Capital?

The first question I considered was whether to use single or multiple costs of capital, given that Nike
has multiple business segments. Aside from footwear, which makes up 62% of its revenue, Nike also
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sells apparel (30% of revenue) that complements its footwear products. In addition, Nike sells sport
balls, timepieces, eyewear, skates, bats, and other equipment designed for sports activities.
Equipment products account for 3.6% of its revenue. Finally, Nike also sells some non-Nike-
branded products such as Cole Haan dress and casual footwear, and ice skates, skate blades, hockey
sticks, hockey jerseys, and other products under the Bauer trademark. Non-Nike brands accounted
for 4.5% of revenue.
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I asked myself whether Nike’s business segments had different enough risks from each other to
warrant different costs of capital. Were their profiles really different? I concluded that it was only the
Cole Haan line that was somewhat different; the rest were all sports-related businesses. Since Cole
Haan makes up only a tiny fraction of revenues, however, I did not think that it was necessary to
compute a separate cost of capital. As for the apparel and footwear lines, they are sold through the
same marketing and distribution channels and are often marketed in other collections of similar
designs. Since I believe they face the same risk factors, I decided to compute only one cost of capital
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for the whole company.

II. Methodology for Calculating the Cost of Capital: WACC

Since Nike is funded with both debt and equity, I used the weighted-average cost of capital (WACC)
method. Based on the latest available balance sheet, debt as a proportion of total capital makes up
27.0% and equity accounts for 73.0%:
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Exhibit 5 (continued)

Capital Sources Book Values (in millions)

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Debt
Current portion of long-term debt $ 5.4
Notes payable 855.3
Long-term debt 435.9
$ 1,296.6  27.0% of total capital
Equity $ 3,494.5  73.0% of total capital

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III. Cost of Debt

My estimate of Nike’s cost of debt is 4.3%. I arrived at this estimate by taking total interest expense
for the year 2001 and dividing it by the company’s average debt balance.1 The rate is lower than
Treasury yields, but that is because Nike raised a portion of its funding needs through Japanese yen
notes, which carry rates between 2.0% and 4.3%.
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After adjusting for tax, the cost of debt comes out to 2.7%. I used a tax rate of 38%, which I
obtained by adding state taxes of 3% to the U.S. statutory tax rate. Historically, Nike’s state taxes
have ranged from 2.5% to 3.5%.

IV. Cost of Equity

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I estimated the cost of equity using the capital-asset-pricing model (CAPM). Other methods, such as
the dividend-discount model (DDM) and the earnings-capitalization ratio, can be used to estimate
the cost of equity. In my opinion, however, the CAPM is the superior method.

My estimate of Nike’s cost of equity is 10.5%. I used the current yield on 20-year Treasury bonds as
my risk-free rate, and the compound average premium of the market over Treasury bonds (5.9%) as
my risk premium. For beta, I took the average of Nike’s betas from 1996 to the present.
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Putting It All Together

After entering all my assumptions into the WACC formula, my estimate of Nike’s cost of capital is 8.4%.

WACC = Kd(1 − t) × D/(D + E) + Ke × E/(D + E)

= 2.7% × 27.0% + 10.5% × 73.0%
= 8.4%
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1 Debt balances as of May 31, 2000 and 2001, were $1,444.6 million and $1,296.6 million, respectively.

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