After U.S. apparel giant Nike (NYSE: NKE) took a tumultuous tumble, three insiders bought the dip.
Nike stock had its worst day in quite a while on Dec. 19, 2025. Shares plummeted by 10.5% as markets reacted to the firm’s latest earnings report. The report had positives and negatives, from strong growth in running products to dismal performance in China. However, the market’s reaction suggests that investors became significantly less optimistic about Nike’s recovery.
Below, we’ll break down Nike’s recent insider buying. This includes purchases coming from the firm's own CEO, Elliott Hill, and Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) CEO Tim Cook. These top business minds clearly took the drop in shares as an opportunity, sending a bullish signal to markets. Should investors follow in their footsteps or exercise caution around Nike stock?
Independent Directors Spend $3.5 Million on NKE, Signaling Confidence
After earnings, Nike shares dropped well below $60 per share, a threshold they had not hit since May 2025. On Dec. 22, Tim Cook acted. Apple’s 15-year leader purchased $2.95 million worth of Nike shares at an average price of approximately $59 apiece. Cook has been a significant player at Nike for a long time.
He joined the firm’s Board of Directors in 2005 and currently serves as its Lead Independent Director. While it's hard to pinpoint Cook's exact responsibilities, independent directors do not work for a company or have a business relationship with it outside of their board position.
In essence, these individuals provide company management with guidance and check executive power. This is crucial to ensuring that executives act in the best interest of shareholders and not themselves. As the Lead Independent Director, Cook plays the central role among Nike’s independent directors, helping to hold management accountable and evaluate their performance.
Notably, independent director Robert Swan also purchased $500,000 worth of Nike shares on Dec. 22, 2025. Cook and Swan's buys indicate that Nike’s independent directors have confidence in the company’s path forward.
Hill, Cook, and Swan's Purchases Show Optimism Across Key Parties
These two buys are especially notable when considered alongside another recent insider purchase. Nike CEO Elliott Hill bought just over $1 million worth of shares on Dec. 29, 2025, at an average price near $61.
While Hill’s buy is a bullish signal in itself, the combination of these three purchases amplifies their overall bullishness. They suggest that Nike’s management and its independent directors share the view that the stock will recover.
As management and independent directors are often seen as counterweights to one another, this alignment is a positive sign. It provides evidence that Hill’s optimistic outlook isn’t simply based on wishful thinking, as those responsible for challenging his strategy agree. Still, it's possible that these insiders bought shares to boost investor confidence, making it somewhat difficult to assess their true level of conviction.
After dipping to just above $57 on Dec. 22, 2025, Nike shares are up almost 13% to around $64.50. This comes as the stock rose more than 4% on two separate days, largely in reaction to these insider purchases.
Analysts See Limited Upside Near-Term, but Long-Term Potential Is Real
Despite the bullishness expressed by Hill, Cook, and Swan, whether markets will come to agree is still very much up in the air. The consensus price target on Nike is just under $76, implying around 18% upside.
However, MarketBeat tracked more than 15 analysts who lowered their price target after the firm’s Dec. 18, 2025, earnings report.
Price targets updated afterward average around $69, implying only around 7% upside in shares.
Boosting sales growth while providing limited discounts is key to Nike’s success going forward. This would significantly lift margins, greatly helping to reverse the drop in Nike’s free cash flow.
While it has made little progress in this area so far, Nike’s brand recognition provides it with powerful leverage to improve this figure. Shares currently trade roughly 47% above their 10-year low—but would need to rise roughly 158% to reach their 10-year high.
Although the outlook for Nike shares appears skewed to the upside in the long term, downside moves remain a distinct possibility as long as investors remain dissatisfied with the firm’s progress.
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The article "Insiders Just Bought the Dip in NKE Stock, Including Apple's CEO" first appeared on MarketBeat.
