Under Armour (UA) reported a 22% jump in third-quarter net income Thursday, as the sports gear maker notched sharply higher sales as more consumers turn to athletic apparel and shoes for both functionality and fashion. Here are the key points from the earnings report.
What you need to know: Under Armour, a darling brand in the athletic apparel space that has reported surging sales of apparel and footwear of late, issued another strong earnings report. The company’s apparel sales leapt 26% to $704.6 million in the third quarter from a year ago, while footwear sales jumped 50% and accessories sales were up 32%. Overall, revenue grew 30% to nearly $938 million, above Wall Street’s expectations. But it looks like investors wanted more, as the company’s shares are trading lower in the premarket session.
Still, there’s a lot of growth opportunity at Under Armour. Executives and analysts have said the women’s business and footwear sold to both genders are some of the greatest potential sales drivers. And the company only derived $90 million of its sales from outside North America in the latest quarter — a tiny figure when considering the vast size of the global activewear market.
The big number: $3.03 billion — that’s the sales target Under Armour now sees for all of 2014, and it implies 30% growth over 2013. But analysts had already accurately predicted Under Armour would raise that target and some had hoped for a projection of growth as high as 32%, according to SIG Susquehanna analyst Christopher Svezia.
What you might have missed: Under Armour and its peers are aggressively chasing the women’s market, and the company’s latest comments suggest it means business. Under Armour Chief Executive Kevin Plank said they are “particularly excited” about a global woman’s campaign that features ballerina Misty Copeland and model Gisele Bündchen, which he claims “ignited a powerful new dialogue with our female consumer as we begin to bridge the gap between female athletes and athletic females.”
Those comments come a day after larger rival Nike (NKE) declared its news line of athletic gear for women the best collection it has ever developed, and promised to add $2 billion to annual sales from the women’s side by 2017. Nike generates $5 billion a year from the women’s business versus Under Armour’s roughly $500 million, though Under Armour is growing faster and Plank has said he believes the women’s business can be as big, if not bigger, than the men’s side — historically Under Armour’s strong suit. Both face additional competition from Lululemon (LULU), Gap (GPS) and others in the $15 billion activewear market in the U.S., which is growing faster than overall apparel.
