Shares of Under Armour Inc. (NYSE:UAA) fell over 50% in 2017. Successive earnings misses and bad press battered the sports apparel company. The stock kicked off 2018 trading well as it was up 2% at the bottom of the noon hour on January 2.
The company released its third quarter results on October 31. Revenue dropped 5% to $1.4 billion and earned an adjusted $0.22 per share. This missed analyst expectations of $1.48 billion and the company was also forced to absorb an $89 million restructuring charge.
Under Armour saw its previous full year forecast of earnings per share of $0.37 to $0.40 drop to $0.18 to $0.20. Its North American business faced a tough set of challenges throughout the first nine months of fiscal 2017.
On December 29 reports revealed that a maker of T-shirts and sweatshirts sold under the ICAN brand filed a lawsuit accusing Under Armour of infringing on trademark through the sale of Stephen Curry products. The owner of a North Carolina-based ICAN business claims that several slogans have been used to build a product line for Curry and Under Armour.
Its chief competitor, Nike Inc. (NYSE:NKE), capped off an impressive 2017 which saw its stock rise 23%. In the second quarter Nike saw revenues rise 5% to $8.6 billion. Still, net income declined 9% to $767 million with selling and administrative expenses rising 10%.
Under Armour is set to release its fourth quarter and full 2017 results at the end of January. Investors should be on the lookout for any improvement after a record breaking holiday sales season in the U.S.
