Here come Nike earnings ...

Nike will report earnings for its fiscal fourth quarter after the market closes on Thursday.

Here's what Wall Street is expecting, according to Bloomberg:

• Earnings per share: $0.50
• Revenue: up 8% to $8.63 billion
• Gross margin: 44.3%
• Global future orders: 1.25%
• North America future orders: -6.1%

"While Nike's been trying to manage 2-yrs of sluggish trends in the US, we think the company needs to embrace a larger US rebasing in FY18," said Michael Binetti, an analyst at UBS, in a note on Tuesday. The company has suggested that more aggresive changes are coming, including possibly a 2% workforce reduction and selling on Amazon to crack down on counterfeiters, Binetti said.

What matters most for Jefferies analysts is that North American future orders, which reflect retailers' demand and whiffed in the prior quarter, show some improvement. Also, progress on inventories and improved reception for Nike products are key to watch.

Nike shares have gained about 5% this year.

More to come ...