Converse Sales Fell 44% in a Quarter. Analysts Say Nike Might Just Sell It

Converse, Nike's 118-year-old sneaker brand built almost entirely around the Chuck Taylor, is in the middle of a downturn severe enough that analysts are now openly raising the possibility Nike could sell it off. Converse sales fell 44% in the fiscal quarter ending November 2025, and the slide hasn't let up since: sales were down 28% in the most recent quarter, with Converse alone accounting for roughly 20% of Nike's total sales decline during that period, despite representing just 2.5% of Nike's overall sales.

BNP Paribas analyst Laurent Vasilescu, who covers the company, put the scale of the drop in blunt terms: "We've never seen a 44% decline in demand for a brand." He added that he wouldn't be surprised if Nike eventually decided to sell Converse outright rather than continue trying to turn it around.

The slump is unfolding roughly two years into CEO Elliott Hill's tenure, during which a planned Converse turnaround has so far failed to show results. Industry analysts largely trace the decline to the brand's heavy dependence on a single, decades-old shoe design and its difficulty innovating beyond it, drawing a comparison to VF Corp's Vans, which ran into similar trouble after leaning too hard on its own signature skate shoe.

With Converse's downturn running longer and deeper than comparable slumps elsewhere in footwear, the open question for Nike is whether a real turnaround is still possible, or whether, as some analysts now suggest, cutting the brand loose is the more realistic path forward.