Last year in a post I wrote on UA’s investment into digital, “I stated that UA’s Focused Performer Strategy was a viable and smart position to move towards. Today, I’m looking at UA and stating in clear words, a similar position I have on the Embiid 1, and the Breakthru (basketball models), this is a hard road the brand is choosing in going all in on sport and performance. It’s a difficult path; especially with the disruptions and dangers of COVID-19, but it is the right path.”
UA did their conference call this morning and the report is trending up. A year ago I was worried that the brand was going to bottom out. I thought that until the company doubled down on the Focused Performer and began to implement a very good marketing strategy utilizing YouTube and social media. The brand got back to its core of protecting its house and the dividends can’t be denied:
First Quarter 2021 Review
-
Revenue was up 35 percent to $1.3 billion (up 32 percent currency neutral) compared to the prior year.
-
Wholesale revenue increased 35 percent to $800 million and direct-to-consumer revenue increased 54 percent to $437 million, driven by 69 percent growth in eCommerce.
-
North America revenue increased 32 percent to $806 million and international revenue increased 58 percent to $452 million (up 50 percent currency neutral). Within the international business, revenue increased 41 percent in EMEA (up 33 percent currency neutral), increased 120 percent in Asia-Pacific (up 107 percent currency neutral), and decreased 9 percent in Latin America (down 7 percent currency neutral).
-
Apparel revenue increased 35 percent to $810 million. Footwear revenue increased 47 percent to $309 million. Accessories revenue increased 73 percent to $117 million.
-
One thing the brand failed to highlight was the placement of Yurri Mial as Creative Director of The Rock brand. That move, along with the investment into the Black History Month campaign with Baltimore based photographer Devin Allen created interest in the brand with an audience the company simply can’t figure out, but could with continued investments like these. If Under Armour can continue to listen and become more diverse, they could eventually move away from the shadow of being the brand of Trump and Off Road hunting, which severely limits its ability to really compete.
The Focused Performer is a very good strategy, but the brand has to get more realistic and find a way to connect with cool while maintaining their drive towards inspiring fitness. There is a serious opportunity waiting if they find a way to hit that target.
Read the report for 1Q 2021 here.
