Under Armour is slated to post first quarter results on Friday, and the company could be on the verge of a turnaround.
“We continue to believe that [the first quarter] will represent the bottom for Under Armour across geographies and merchandise categories,” noted Williams Trading analyst Sam Poser. He also said that Under Armour’s management actions continue to reflect a brand first point of view and that year-over-year sales trends are poised to sequentially improve throughout the year. Looking ahead, he expects revenue to be up year-over-year beginning in the third quarter as the wholesale order book is “improving.”
Under Armour got a big boost when Spain’s Ferran Torres kicked the winning goal during the World Cup‘s final that gave the country the win over Argentina. Torres was wearing the brand’s orange and yellow Shadow Elite 4 Mach GT soccer boot.
Poser noted that Under Armour appears to be gaining traction in some specialty retailers, helped by compression tees, nylon shorts and select footwear. He also said the unexpected improvements in city specialty may be aided by the brand’s partnership with rapper Gunna. The market watcher expects the second half of the year — particularly in the fourth quarter — to see modest improvement as retailers book more orders after seeing better sales performance of product after being cautious at the start of the year.
“We believe that the new found attention for Under Armour in Europe, due to its World Cup success, will drive accelerated near term sales to its European stores and websites, especially in Spain, before driving wholesale growth,” the Williams Trading analyst said.
For now, first quarter results will likely be inline with company guidance and consensus estimates, Poser said. He estimated first quarter earnings per share (EPS) at 2 cents.
Telsey Advisory Group’s Cristina Fernández is also projecting EPS at 2 cents for the quarter. She expects revenue to be down 2 percent to 3 percent due to weakness in its spring and summer order books and said that the sales contraction “should be the low-point for the year.”
For the rest of fiscal year 2027, she’ll be looking for details from management during the conference call on progress on the turnaround in North America, including order books for Fall and Winter, demand trends during the first quarter in bothe direct-to-consumer and wholesale, promotional activity and product newness.
When the Baltimore-based brand posted its fourth-quarter earnings report in May, it reported a net loss of $43 million on a revenue decline of 1 percent to $1.2 billion. The company also provided fiscal 2027 guidance with a diluted loss per share to range from breakeven to 4 cents, on revenue that’s expected to decline slightly year-over-year. First quarter projections were not provided.
The brand picked up another win in April when Sharon Lokedi repeated last year’s Boston Marathon victory wearing Under Armour’s Velociti Elite 3. This year’s version of the shoe featured an exclusive colorway in pink. And in the latest 2026 U.S. footwear, apparel and accessories brand heat index from L.E.K. Consulting, Under Armour made the Top 10 for both men’s and women’s athletic footwear brands, coming in at sixth place and eighth place, respectively.
