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Source: Why Kevin Plank’s Sales Are Nothing For Under Armour Shareholders To Sweat
While this article places into perspective the act of Kevin Plank selling his shares as par for the course, I would say it is reason to worry. While I’ve written several articles about how impressed I am with the UA company’s growth, and while this post above gives examples of how Plank has done this for a while, I guess it’s the timing and the fact that Nike and Kevin Durant pulled a fast one to disrupt Under Armour’s golden growth.
I said that it was Nike that asked KD to go to Golden State. When you consider that KD will make more money playing for Nike than he will any NBA team, my claim becomes a little loss X-Flies and more plausible.
Under Armour has been having one of it’s best years. The company has shown considerable growth ( Look at the countless articles I’ve written), none of this matters because Under Armour is currently a form of synecdoche. Steph Curry is Under Armour and Under Armour is Steph Curry. Drop KD in the middle of a pot with Steph and Golden State becomes about KD and as a form of synecdoche, Nike becomes Golden State… get it?
The idea that an owner selling stock is not shocking, but if it isn’t a divestment (which is obvious it’s not), could it be the reduction in share cost to 39 is sign that UA will not be able to make it to the land of 50/share? if Kevin Durant and Nike have anything to do with it, they won’t make it there.
Here are a couple of articles for you to browse to make your own decision.
http://www.fool.com/investing/2016/09/08/under-armour-ceo-selling-2-million-shares-red-flag.aspx
Now, that you’ve read all of that, I’m going to share an article that reaffirms why I think UA will continue to lose ground: http://www.fool.com/investing/2016/09/10/under-armour-sportswear-a-15-billion-market.aspx UA is looking to attach itself to the athleisure sportswear market. You know jogger pants, casual athletic slacks and apparel for an athletic lifestyle… You know, fashion. Here is the problem with pursuing this route, much like mentioned before in attempting to advertise with adidas and Nike, sportswear is sold by dope ass people. When your dope ass person is Steph Curry, nobody is rocking with that. In order to gain a share of the market UA will have to drive people into stores where they are given shelf space. I can’t see Kith or FC or Burn Rubber or any of the sneaker boutiques actually carrying the UA casual wear line and I can’t see Nordstroms or Barney’s carrying it. The brand is going to end up dropping this huge investment into UA branded stores at a huge discount. Which will drive down the growth of last quarter and will end up keeping the shares at or below 40.
Your question: Chris how does this get fixed?
Answer: Either a dope ass athlete (no the rock doesn’t count), or a dope ass entertainer (which is not happening). There is one more option… grassroots connect with people on the rise in content creation, not already established people. Connect with these people and make them your brand ambassadors. Steph Curry won’t save you this year.
