Orders for Nike-branded shoes and clothing scheduled for delivery from December 2012 through April 2013, known as futures orders, were up 14 percent in North America, Nike’s most mature market. Its volume of orders also indicated steady worldwide demand for its products.

“In North America, we created great momentum. This is somewhat counterintuitive to some, given this market size and assumed maturity. But I see tremendous growth potential in North America,” Mark Parker, Nike’s chief executive, said in a call with analysts.

Worldwide orders for Nike, based in Beaverton, Ore., were up 6 percent, the same as last quarter.

“The biggest driver of this stock is usually futures orders. Last quarter, futures orders were lower than expected. This quarter they came in line, and North America was stronger than expected,” said Brian Yarbrough, consumer discretionary analyst for Edward Jones.

For the second quarter ended Nov. 30, the company earned $384 million, or $1.14 a share, from continuing operations. Analysts, on average, were expecting the company to earn $1 a share, according to Thomson Reuters.

Revenue rose 7 percent to $6 billion.

Nike had been caught with excess inventory in important markets like China and was finding it difficult to tackle intense competition, while distributors and retailers remained wary in an uncertain economy.

“The China problem won’t go away in 12 to 18 months, but it is no worse than it was expected,” said Rahul Sharma, founder and managing director of Neev Capital, a consulting company in London. “But look at North America. It is on fire. And this is such a big business.”

Article source: http://www.nytimes.com/2012/12/21/business/nikes-earnings-top-expectations.html?partner=rss&emc=rss