Amid Nike Inc.’s sharp stock decline, CEO Elliott Hill has a message for investors: the company’s strategy is sound.

Hill was putting his best foot forward, giving that Nike’s nearly 78 percent stock decline just cost the company a seat on the prestigious S&P 100 Index. The stock declines meant that Nike’s market capitalization is no longer representative of the S&P 100 range, and the firm is being bumped off the list on Sept. 21, 2026.

Granted, the missteps date back to Hill’s predecessor, former CEO John Donahoe — and the reason why Hill rejoined Swoosh in October 2024. Hill has a number of challenges to deal with, and investors are looking for something more definitive on growth and timing than just the turnaround needs more time.

At the company’s annual meeting on Tuesday, the executive also addressed the short-term focus of some investors: “We’re not managing this company quarter-to-quarter. We are building it for the next decade.”

He noted that investments are being made in innovation, marketing and the marketplace. “Those are the right [moves],” the CEO emphasized. “Progress will not be a straight line…. There are areas where we’re gaining traction, and others where we still have important work ahead.”

The executive noted that the company also has a ramped up focus on its supply chain, technology and overall operating model to create a healthier, more profitable business.

And the CEO once again reiterated the company’s core focus on sport.

“A year ago, I shared that we needed to put the athlete back at the center of everything we do because everything starts and ends with the athlete,” Hill said. “We exist to serve athletes, all 8 billion of them. Their insights drive innovation. Their pursuit of greatness inspire our brands, and their journeys allow us to connect with the consumers in powerful and emotional ways. When we listen to athletes, we create better products.”

Hill also reiterated what he’s said before on quarterly earnings calls. Because “successful comebacks” follow a sequence, the Win Now strategy was needed to focus on strengthening the foundation of Nike’s business. Putting the athlete back at the center required a new operating model, resulting in Sport Offense, which moved 8,000 staff members into vertical sport teams.

And as Win Now makes the comeback possible, Sport Offense helps to accelerate it, Hill said. He also said he is seeing positive signals across the business, and not just in Nike Running. “We’re seeing momentum in global football. The World Cup demonstrated what the full sport offense looks like when athlete insight, innovation, storytelling, and marketplace execution come together.”

He also explained that the success in Nike Running under Sport Offense allows it to use the same playbook in other sport categories. He noted that the playbook is “working and taking hold in other sports. Global football is a great example.” Hill said that as plans were made for the World Cup, the team “rocked together” with innovation, storytelling, and marketplace activations “in a much more connected way than than we’ve historically done, and that’s exactly how the sport offense is designed to work.”

While acknowledging that Nike Sportswear and Jordan Streetwear remain challenged, Hill also noted that Greater China and Converse “are being actively reset.

“When I toured retail this summer, it was clear that the macro environment has added pressure on traffic and discretionary spending, but I’m fully confident we have the right approach to change that trajectory of those businesses,” Hill said. The CEO said Nike is committed to serving the Chinese consumer, and “we’re going to do that through sport. We can win, and we can take back market share in this very passionate sports nation.” He said some of the initiatives include aggressively cleaning up the marketplace and investing in elevating the online and offline storefronts, as well as continue to build for the future with Nike’s longstanding partners in China.

As for the power of sport, Hill said Nike’s responsibility is “larger than selling products. It’s helping people experience the power and impact of sport because when more people play, train and compete, athletes and communities benefit.”

Hill also said that Nike has reduced classic footwear franchises by more than $2 billion in fiscal year ’26. As for innovation, relationships with athletes help inspire new ideas.

“In my 30-plus years in the industry, the possibilities for new and exciting products from our brands have never felt so wide open. The ideas are there. What’s going to be different moving forward, though, is we’re going to do this through the lens of Sport Offense,” he said. “We know exactly who we are serving, the athletes and consumers, and what they need to make their lives better and the performances better. We won’t just be making new things for the sake of it. Our innovation will be sport-led.”

Nike’s new chief financial officer David Denton spoke about the company’s discipline approach to capital allocation. “Nike’s balance sheet is very strong, and our priority is to continue to invest in the business to both support long-term growth [and] to create long-term shareholder value.”

All 11 Nike nominees were duly elected as directors of the company. Shareholders also voted in favor of company proposals on executive compensation for certain officers and the firm’s employ stock purchase plan. The vote also rejected two shareholder proposals: one challenging insurance coverage over gender-transition surgery for minors — critics say this has less to do with shareholder returns and is more about anti-LGBTQ bias — and the other in connection with certain environmental targets.