<body><div><ul><li>Bill Ackman's Pershing Square Capital Management bought roughly $230 million in Nike stock in Q1.</li><li>Ackman is famous enough that his moves attract attention from other investors.</li><li>Nike stock has fallen substantially from its peak, but management has a lot of work to do to turn it around. </li></ul><p><b>Shares of the sportswear giant got a boost from Bill Ackman.</b></p><p>Shares of <b>Nike</b> <b>(</b><b>NKE</b> <b>1.25%</b><b>)</b> were moving higher today after investors responded favorably to news that Bill Ackman's Pershing Square Capital Management Fund had taken a stake in the company, which was reported in Pershing Square's 13-F filing last night. As a result, shares of Nike were up 3.8% as of 11:43 a.m. ET on Thursday.</p><h2>Nike's starting to look like a value stock</h2><p>Ackman is one of the most respected and attention-grabbing fund managers on Wall Street. One of the investments he's known for is his successful bet on <b>Chipotle</b> when that company was still reeling from the E. coli crisis.</p><figure><img src="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?type=thumbnail_580x000&amp;url=1FJbyV_0uz9JmLn00" alt="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?url=1FJbyV_0uz9JmLn00" width="2000" height="1331" ><figcaption>Image source: Getty Images.</figcaption></figure><p>Investors seem to think Ackman sees a similar value opportunity here. The sometimes-activist investor hasn't taken an activist stake in the sneaker maker, as he owns less than 0.2% of the company. He bought 3.04 million shares in the second quarter, worth approximately $250 million.</p><p>Ackman hasn't addressed the reasons why he purchased Nike shares at this time, but we may hear some commentary from him in a media interview in the near future. Nike is also one of the smallest positions in Pershing Square's portfolio, making up just 2.2% of the total holdings.</p><h2>Will Ackman help Nike?</h2><p>Ackman is unlikely to do anything to directly support Nike's recovery -- at least without accumulating a larger stake -- but investors tend to like it when high-profile billionaires like Ackman buy shares, as it signals an opportunity in the stock.</p><p>Nike still has a lot of work to do to engineer a recovery. CEO John Donahoe is increasingly under pressure, but it would be a mistake to write off a company that's dominated its industry for the last generation.</p></div></body>

Mountain View, CA

NewsBreak

Why Nike Stock Was Rising Again Today

Bill Ackman's Pershing Square Capital Management bought roughly $230 million in Nike stock in Q1. Ackman is famous enough that his moves attract attention from other investors. Nike stock has fallen substantially from its peak, but management has a lot of work to do to turn it around. Shares of...