Breakfast News: Nike Cuts C-Suite Roles

Breakfast News: Nike Cuts C-Suite Roles

December 3, 2025

1. Nike Unveils Major Leadership Changes

Stock Advisor recommendation Nike (NKE 0.63%) confirmed a leadership shake-up, the WSJ reports, removing key roles including the chief technology officer and chief commercial officer, as it pushes ahead with an extensive turnaround plan. The stock lifted marginally higher in pre-market trading.

• New CEO Elliot Hill brought in last year after Nike shed $5 billion in revenue: As part of Hill's strategy to focus more on athletes and less on lifestyle products, the senior leaders of the main four geographies will now report to Hill, with company veteran Venkatesh Alagirisamy taking a new role as chief operating officer.
• "We think the market is severely discounting Nike's staying power as a brand": Last week, Motley Fool CEO and co-founder Tom Gardner said, "we think Hill has put forward the right plan to get Nike back on its feet, so we're willing to give him some leeway to execute this plan. If he can deliver, then it's not hard to see Nike's financials rebounding in the coming years and taking its share price with it."

2. Growth Stocks Fall on Earnings Guidance

CrowdStrike (CRWD +2.46%) fell 3% after the market closed due to quarterly results beating expectations but not meeting the high bar investors had set, even as CFO Burt Podbere struck an upbeat tone on the earnings call, raising full-year guidance.

• "To sustain this momentum beyond FY26, we will continue to make significant incremental investments": Pure Storage (PSTG +7.39%) dropped over 10% following the closing bell as CFO Tarek Robbiati warned of higher costs in research and development as part of the latest earnings report.
• "We're seeing the rise of AI expand our total addressable market": GitLab (GTLB +5.42%) tumbled over 9% lower in pre-market trading as results showed revenue expectations for the coming quarter below analyst consensus, despite CEO Bill Staples talking up the market potential.

3. Anthropic IPO Threatens OpenAI

The FT reports Anthropic is in early talks to green-light an IPO early next year, having recently raised funds with a valuation around $350 billion, as the owner of the Claude chatbot aims to overtake OpenAI in the ongoing sector race..

• OpenAI CEO Sam Altman declares "code red" due to competition: The Information reports Altman is pushing extensive resources into bettering ChatGPT, outlined in an internal memo to staff, due to concern around pressure from rivals
• "AWS has the broadest AI infrastructure in the world": Elsewhere in artificial intelligence, Amazon (AMZN +0.25%) Web Services head Matt Garman announced the launch of AI factories, allowing customers to run Amazon AI products on their own data centers, providing a springboard for other companies to work off.

4. What to Watch on Wednesday

The ADP National Employment Report, due out at 8.15am ET, is expected to show a gain of 40k jobs for November – close to the 42k added in October – as signs of labor market stability could influence monetary policy actions at the Federal Reserve meeting next week.

• A Superscore of 76 in our Rule Breakers Primary database: Salesforce (CRM +0.81%) is set to report after the market closes, with investors watching to see if the continued hard pivot to agentic AI will pay off, after a strong showing last quarter.
• Full-year earnings in its current fiscal year 2026 are expected to jump 45%: Snowflake (SNOW +3.05%) will release earnings after trading finishes for the day, with a focus on whether growth rates from previous quarters can be sustained as the company matures. The stock is beating the S&P 500 by 21% since the June 2023 Hidden Gems rec.

5. Would You Rather?

Today we're asking whether you'd rather start a position in Rule Breakers recommendations Salesforce or HubSpot (HUBS 0.02%) today, and why? And remember, you can't choose both in this hypothetical game! Debate with friends and family, or become a member to hear what your fellow Fools are saying.