Under Armour Shines in Q421 Report
- Wholesale revenue increased 36% to $3.2 billion in 2021.
- Our Direct-to-Consumer business was up 26% to $2.3 billion in 2021.
- And finally, one more record – having ended the year with $1.7 billion in Cash.
In 2020 I posted this picture after Under Armour accessed a line of credit:
I discussed that Under Armour’s focus on performance wasn’t a mistake and that doing so would move the company back towards the story that inspired the growth of the company. I finished the discussion there with this statement:
Under Armour taking on a line of credit is a frayed lifeline. Pull too hard- and the-line breaks. COVID-19 isn’t the fault of the failure of UA and neither is their decision to focus on performance. Under Armour is a victim of indecision. You can trace UA’s problems back to several decisions around Connected Fitness and a smaller issue in the UAS launch. The company distracted itself from its purpose and what made it. They pursued cool and the bright lights of digital communities via apps and wearables as opposed to the power of a digital e-commerce platform that could have lifted it. Under Armour once had a story. They abandoned the story and that was the crack in the dam.
To discuss the future, understanding the faults of the past and adjusting is necessary, but the type of growth UA has been able to show is telling and speaks to changes that never existed before the tenure of Patrik Frisk and haven’t been acknowledged, but should be especially during this month. Before I get there, I have to say that the sale of MyFitnessPal signaled UA’s decision to divest of extraneous digital communities which were led by the terrible mistake of pursuing Nike with Connected Fitness.
As exciting as Under Armour’s report is, it has to be tempered with the supply issues and Covid’s continued influence on the marketplace. Instead of focusing on that, I’ll take advantage of the month and celebrate the footwear aspects of growth for UA and explain that for the first time in the history of Under Armour, the company is charging forward with Black team leaders and programs promoting diversity. I’ve always said UA needs to be the most diverse company in the big brands. It’s the newest of the billion-dollar companies. Here are the brands UA had success with, “On the footwear side – franchises like HOVR Sonic, Machina and Infinite, UA Flow Velociti Wind, Charged Pursuit, Assert, Aurora, Curry, and Project Rock.” Those projects are being led helmed by Black designers who are leading teams taking advantage of the abundance of ideas generated by teams who can speak to a variety of cultural backgrounds.
Under Armour is also benefitting from programs that have enlightened their employees to the power of difference. Access to Sport, National Coalition of Minority Football Coaches, Black History Month last year with Devin Allen, and this year with Morgan State… These are not programs their traditional consumer wants, but Under Armour decided to do these things anyway. The brand’s explosive growth in Project Rock is helmed by Yurri Mial. The Curry Flow Go was designed by a team with a Black designer at the helm. These things built the interior of the brand. It gives diversity the key to growing respect and collaboration internally. When all employees feel empowered, the company becomes stronger. Under Armour’s success is due to an adjustment in their “good ol boy, nepotism driven, credit card, strip club driven” old culture.
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