S&P 500 (NYSE:SPY) component Nike, Inc. (NYSE:NKE) will unveil its latest earnings on Tuesday, December 20, 2011. Nike designs and markets high-quality footwear, apparel, equipment, and accessory products throughout the world.

Nike, Inc. Earnings Preview Cheat Sheet

Wall St. Earnings Expectations: The average estimate of analysts is for net income of 98 cents per share, a rise of 4.3% from the company’s actual earnings for the same quarter a year ago. The average estimate is the same as three months ago. Between one and three months ago, the average estimate was unchanged. It also has not changed during the last month. Analysts are projecting profit to rise by 13.7% versus last year to $4.99.

Past Earnings Performance: The company is looking to beat analyst estimates for the third quarter in a row. Last quarter, it beat estimates with profit of $1.36 per share against the mean estimate of $1.21. In the prior quarter, the company reported net income of $1.24.

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Wall St. Revenue Expectations: On average, analysts predict $5.63 billion in revenue this quarter, a rise of 16.3% from the year ago quarter. Analysts are forecasting total revenue of $23.81 billion for the year, a rise of 14.1% from last year’s revenue of $20.86 billion.

Analyst Ratings: 10 out of 15 analysts surveyed (66.7%) have a buy rating on Nike.. This is below the mean analyst rating of 10 competitors, which average 75% buy ratings.

A Look Back: In the first quarter, profit rose 15.4% to $645 million ($1.36 a share) from $559 million ($1.14 a share) the year earlier, exceeding analyst expectations. Revenue rose 17.5% to $6.08 billion from $5.17 billion.

Key Stats:

The company has seen net income rise in three straight quarters. Net income rose 13.8% in the fourth quarter of the last fiscal year and 5.4% in the third quarter of the last fiscal year.

Revenue has risen the past four quarters. Revenue rose 13.6% in the fourth quarter of the last fiscal year from the year earlier, climbed 7.3% in the third quarter of the last fiscal year from the year-ago quarter and 9.9% in the second quarter of the last fiscal year.

Competitors to Watch: Crocs, Inc. (NASDAQ:CROX), Deckers Outdoor Corp. (NASDAQ:DECK), Skechers USA, Inc. (NYSE:SKX), K-Swiss Inc. (NASDAQ:KSWS), Steven Madden, Ltd. (NASDAQ:SHOO), The Timberland Company (NYSE:TBL), The Global Housing Group (GLHO), adidas AG (ADDYY), LaCrosse Footwear, Inc. (NASDAQ:BOOT), and Phoenix Footwear Group, Inc. (AMEX:PXG).

Stock Price Performance: During September 20, 2011 to December 14, 2011, the stock price had risen $5.26 (5.9%) from $89.13 to $94.39. The stock price saw one of its best stretches over the last year between September 9, 2011 and September 19, 2011 when shares rose for seven-straight days, rising 9.3% (+$7.67) over that span. It saw one of its worst periods between March 8, 2011 and March 16, 2011 when shares fell for seven-straight days, falling 4.9% (-$4.32) over that span. Shares are up $10.21 (+12.1%) year to date.

(Company fundamentals by Xignite Financials. Earnings estimates provided by Zacks)

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