Halftime Report

Monday - Friday, 12:00 - 1:00 PM ET

Halftime Report

How to trade Nike ahead of earnings

Nike is set to report first-quarter earnings Tuesday after-the-bell.

According to estimates from FactSet, analysts are predicting earnings of 56 cents a share on $8.86 billion in revenue.

With the stock's recent trend lower -- it's down 13% this year -- there could be a big move after the company releases its numbers.

Nike is partly under pressure due to the increasingly crowded athletic apparel field. With the resurgence in popularity of brands like Adidas and Puma, analysts question if Nike can maintain its dominance in the space.

On Friday Canaccord Genuity cut its price target for the stock, and today the number-one ranked retail analyst, J.P. Morgan's Matt Boss, removed Nike from his focus list.

Boss joined the "Halftime Report" experts and special guest Jim Cramer to discuss his call, and whether or not Nike is a "buy" going into earnings.

Call of the day: Nike
VIDEO6:0506:05
Call of the day: Nike

Boss's concerns over Nike stem from a shift in the consumer.

People now buy sneakers as a fashion statement, while in the past sneakers were used solely for athletic use.

While Nike has always been ahead of the competition in innovation, Boss believes competitors like Under Armour and Adidas may have one-upped Nike on the increasingly important fashion element of sneakers.

Due to this, he believes shelf space that once belonged to Nike at retailers like Finish Line and Foot Locker might now shift to crowd favorites -- namely Under Armour's Steph Curry shoe and Adidas' Stan Smith shoe.

Despite his concerns, Boss has an overweight rating on the stock.

Getty Images

Trader disclosure: On September 26, 2016 the following stocks and commodities mentioned or intended to be mentioned on CNBC's "Halftime Report" were owned by the "Halftime Report" traders:

Steve Weiss: Long: AAL, HZNP, MU, NBIX, OA, Calls: AGN Long Puts:SRPT

Joe Terranova: Long ADBE, ALB, BBT, BLK, CTAS, DLTR, DPS, FB, FIS, FXY,ICE, NOC, ORCL, PSX, SHW, SJM, SKY, SLB, SLV, TJX, TMO, TXN, VMC, VRTS, VXX, VZ

Jon Najarian: LONG STOCK: GSAT, XON LONG CALLS: AAPL, COG, EL, EPD, FIT,FSLR, GLD, KATE, INTC, MGM, MSFT, NKE NVAX, OAS, QRVO, S, SCHW, TWTR, USO, WLLPUTS: URBAN

Josh Brown: Long AAPL, AMGN, BMY, CORE, DE, DNKN, GE, GOOGL, MA, NVDA,SAM, SHAK, TWTR, XLE, YUM, WDAY