Dive Brief:

• Nike Thursday reported Q4 revenue rose 13% to $7.8 billion on a currency neutral basis. The Nike brand also rose 13% to $7.4 billion and Converse rose 14% to $435 million, currency neutral. Worldwide futures orders for Nike Brand footwear and apparel for delivery from June through November were $13.5 billion, up 2% year over year, and up 13% on a currency neutral basis.

• Gross margin expanded 60 basis points to 46.2%, the company said, attributable to higher average selling prices and growth in higher margin direct-to-consumer sales. But that number was dinged by higher product input and logistics costs. The company beat Street expectations of 83 cents per share on $7.69 billion in revenue with earnings of 98 cents per share and revenue of $7.78 billion.

• For fiscal year 2015, Nike brand sales to wholesale customers rose 10% on a currency-neutral basis and direct-to-customer revenues rose 29%  to $6.6 billion on a currency-neutral basis. That includes a 16% increase in same-store sales, a 59% increase in online sales and the impact of new stores. As of May 31, 2015, Nike has 832 stores, up from 768 a year ago.

Dive Insight:

Nike is still working to catch up to the likes of Lululemon and Under Armour when it comes to performance on Wall Street, and it’s still figuring out how to appeal to women, who are increasingly important customers when it comes to athletic wear and sports gear. Though its menswear is now boosting sales, Lululemon, for example, was founded as a purely female sportsware company, while Under Armour has ramped up its marketing to women, winning the Cannes Lions Cyber award for its female-empowerment ad, "I Will What I Want." 

But the swoosh is still the big player in this space, boosted greatly by its recent deal to furnish the NBA with uniforms that, for the first time, will sport that swoosh on the outside.