NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- How much will expenses related to the World Cup weigh on Nike's earnings? Nike will report fourth-quarter and full-year earnings after the markets close on Thursday. Consensus estimates are calling for the sports apparel and footwear company to post quarterly earnings of 75 cents a share and revenue of $7.3 billion, up 10% from a year earlier, according to Thomson Reuters. D.A. Davidson analyst Andrew Burns says that the quarter historically is not set up for positive earnings surprises. Nike's spending related to the FIFA World Cup creates further uncertainty, according to a note. Burns rates the company at neutral. Canaccord Genuity analyst Camilo Lyon is concerned about pressure to Nike's gross margin. He says that higher average selling prices on Nike gear and a favorable mix of product is "being hampered by rising expenses from leathers, chemicals and labor," according to a note. Lyon, who also rates the company at "neutral" does not see that abating in the near future. One trend that Nike is capitalizing on is sneakers in the office as workers choose comfort over dress shoes to get them through the day. Sneakers At Work Are Running Up Sales for Nike Basketball's Draw Continues to Boost Nike Sales Here are 5 Retailers With Big Short Interest Basketball-related footwear and gear is another growth driver rocketing Nike forward as consumers clamor for not just the very successful Jordan brand of shoes, but now LeBron James, Kobe Bryant, Kevin Durant and others. "Basketball clearly is continuing to become much more of a global sport," Nike's President Trevor Edwards said during the company's third-quarter earnings call in March. "I think the fact that more people have a chance to see this sport all around the world, obviously, they watch the NBA with the great players that we have from Kobe, LeBron, KD, I think people have the chance to really experience how those players are just keeping the excitement in the marketplace." "In terms of in the future, we continue to feel that the consumers are becoming increasingly excited about the sport, and we look at basketball as just a tremendous growth opportunity," he said. However, foreign exchange pressure has been a drag on Nike's earnings this year. The company is also trying to push the reset button in China by closing underperforming stores and bring in more appealing product mix. "China is a work in progress, and we believe Nike is taking the right steps by resetting the merchandise on a store-by-store basis," Sterne Agee Sam Poser writes. "We expect China to achieve double-digit revenue growth in FY15." For the fourth quarter, Nike said had previously said that revenue is expected to rise in the high single digit percentages. Gross margin is expected to expand 50 to 75 basis points and SG&A expenses to rise in the high teens. Shares of Nike are down 2.1% as of Wednesday's close. The stock is trading up 0.12% to $76.56. --Written by Laurie Kulikowski in New York. Follow @LKulikowski // 0;if(!d.getElementById(id)){js=d.createElement(s);js.id=id;js.src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js";fjs.parentNode.insertBefore(js,fjs);}}(document,"script","twitter-wjs"); // ]]>
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