Welcome to the sixth episode of Full-Court Finance, a podcast from Zacks Investment Research focused on the intersection of sports, business, and the stock market. On this week’s episode, we take an in-depth look at Under Armour’s (NYSE:UAA) climb from startup to multibillion-dollar sports apparel powerhouse, and why its fortunes changed so quickly.
Shares of Under Armour have fallen off a cliff in 2017, and Kevin Plank’s company recently posted its first quarterly sales decline since going public more than a decade ago.
The reasons behind Under Armour’s third-quarter slump range from shifting domestic shopping habits, to declining sales at sports retailers such as Foot Locker (NYSE:FL) and Dick’s Sporting Goods (NYSE:DKS) , as well as consumers’ newfound love for athleisure.
On top of a need to bolster direct-to-consumer sales and add more non-competitive apparel options, it seems that having stars such as Tom Brady and Steph Curry on its roster, and sponsoring college powerhouses like UCLA and Notre Dame, has not been enough to propel Under Armour to the heights many predicted.
Under Armour also faces increased competition from Adidas (OTC:ADDYY) in North America, while the company still struggles to compete with Nike (NYSE:NKE) in nearly every business segment.
However, the company’s recent downturn has forced Under Armour to make some changes—that investors should take note of—in order to get back on track.
Make sure you listen to the entire episode of Full-Court Finance if you want to find out more about Under Armour’s recent woes and what the sports apparel company might do to turn things around going forward.
If you have any questions about this episode of Full-Court Finance please feel free to shoot us an email over at podcast@zacks.com. Please also make sure to check out all of our other podcasts at zacks.com/podcast and remember to subscribe and leave a rating in iTunes.
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Foot Locker, Inc. (FL): Free Stock Analysis Report
Dick's Sporting Goods Inc (DKS): Free Stock Analysis Report
Nike, Inc. (NKE): Free Stock Analysis Report
Adidas AG (DE:ADSGN) (ADDYY): Free Stock Analysis Report
Under Armour, Inc. (UAA): Free Stock Analysis Report
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Zacks Investment Research