Athletic-gear giant Nike Inc. on Tuesday said it was benefiting from the star power of both younger and older NBA athletes and enthusiasm in its running-shoe segment. But shares fell after hours, after executives said gross margins for its full year would land at the low end of expectations. The weaker margin forecast comes as Nike
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and others still try to cut prices on clothing to clear piles of it that built up in their stockrooms and warehouses, after rising prices for basics last year made shoppers less able to drop money on new clothes or a new pair of sneakers. The markdowns that resulted can lure customers, but threaten the company’s profit growth.
Nike executives on Tuesday said they expected fiscal 2023 margins to fall by around 250 basis points, at the low end of their forecasts, amid efforts to even out inventories by the end of its fiscal year. However, as a result of third-quarter results reported earlier in the day that topped expectations, management raised their full-year sales forecast to a percentage gain in the “high single digits,” up from a pr …