Sept 22 (Reuters) - Are sneakerheads in for a rough holiday season?

Nike Inc's (NKE.N) updates to its full-year sales outlook on Thursday will likely answer that pressing question for Wall Street as the world's largest sportswear maker deals with unprecedented supply challenges ahead of the holiday season.

Three months ago, Nike gave a rosy outlook for the rest of the year as it benefited from consumers splurging on sneakers for running and hiking as they returned to their routines after over a year of staying at home. read more

Still, some analysts have cut their outlook for Nike's sales, predicting that lockdowns and factory closures in Vietnam, where about half of all Nike footwear is manufactured, will cause shortages during the crucial shopping season.

THE CONTEXT

Many factories in Vietnam's manufacturing hubs have been shut or are operating with drastically fewer on-floor workers since mid-July as a surge in Delta variant cases forced the government to implement tight containment policies.

Some analysts, however, see Nike using its scale to offset the sales impact from Vietnam shutdowns.

"The company should be able to mitigate some headwind by shifting production to other countries, like China, and prioritizing top sellers, key products, and its DTC (direct-to-consumer) channel," Telsey Advisory Group analysts said.

THE FUNDAMENTALS

* Full-year earnings per share estimates have also fallen to $4.24 from $4.33, according to IBES data from Refinitiv

* Nike's revenue for the reporting quarter is expected to have risen 17.7% to $12.46 billion from a year earlier

* The blue-chip stock has gained 11% this year, but is down about 10% from its record high hit in August

WALL STREET SENTIMENT