While Wall Street analysts were surprised by the chief financial officer (CFO) shift at Nike Inc., they also saw it as a natural progression in the company’s ongoing turnaround.

Nike on Tuesday named David Denton as its new CFO, effective Aug. 17. He succeeds Matthew Friend, who will remain with the company through Sept. 4 to help with the transition. Denton will report to Nike president and chief executive officer Elliott Hill.

“We view [the] CFO appointment sas another tangible signal that the Elliott Hill-led turnaround is progressing in measured, deliberate fashion, with the right operators being put in place to execute against a multi-year reset,” said Jefferies analyst Randall Konik.

Since last December, Hill has made some bold moves in leadership changes to align with the firm’s “Win Now” strategy. And that continued this past January, when he named a new vice president and general manager for Europe, Middle East and Africa, as well as a new vice president and general manager for Greater China. The latter move also saw the departure on March 31 of Nike CEO Angela Dong.

“Hill has been methodical about sequencing leadership changes across the Sport Offense operating model, and bringing in a seasoned, externally-credentialed CFO ahead of the Fiscal 2027 planning cycle reinforces our view that this is a thoughtful, paced turnaround,” Konik concluded.

While senior level executive changes at Nike tend to come from within the company, BTIG analyst Robert Drbul noted that Nike’s last external CFO hire was in 1999 when Don Blair joined from Pepsi. “While Nike still faces many global challenges with its brand and an evolving, highly competitive industry, we would surmise that the company will likely benefit from fresh eyes from an external perspective,” the BTIG analyst said.

Nike said on Tuesday that its fourth quarter results, which will be disclosed next Tuesday, will include a benefit from tariff refunds. The company did not quantify the dollar amount. Excluding these refunds that are a one-time benefit, Drbul said he’s not expecting any meaningful change to the core operating outlook.

Telsey Advisory Group’s Cristina Fernández noted that Nike previously quantified the impact of tariffs at $1.5 billion on an annualized basis, and estimated that a refund could be in the $1 billion range. She has a “Market Perform” rating on shares of Nike, noting that Swoosh is making the right strategic moves, even if the turnaround is progressing at a slow pace. She did express surprise at the CFO change, but noted also that former CFO Don Blair served as CFO for 16 years.