Anyone can make
a sneaker. Almost
no one makes a Nike.
That gap — the reason rivals can't just copy them — is called a moat.
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✦ The bottom line
Nike's brand still beats generic apparel. But every premium peer pulled ahead.
↓ the brief below
✦ Teach me
Cents kept per dollar of sales
For every $1 a customer pays, some of it covers the shoe itself. The cents Nike keeps before paying overhead. The stronger the brand, the more they keep.
Wall Street calls this
Gross margin
Single number that tells you whether the moat is real. When it slips, the moat is leaking.
Nike's moat, measured · latest quarter
~40
¢
Of every dollar Nike sells, they keep ~40¢. A year ago: 41.5¢. The moat is leaking.
40¢ kept per dollar, down from 41.5¢ — a small change that matters. But "the moat is leaking" only means something compared to other moats. A brand keeping 40¢ might be average for retail, enviable for groceries, or worrying for premium athletic wear. Context decides what the number actually says. So who's the right yardstick? The peer playing the same premium-brand game.
Nike vs. its closest US peer · pricing power
Cents kept per dollar of sales — most recent reported quarter
Lululemon
55.6¢
Nike
~40¢
Lululemon — Nike's closest US-listed direct peer — keeps 55.6¢ of every dollar before overhead. Nike keeps 40¢. The premium peer is making 16¢ more per dollar of sales.