Under Armour stock dips on its full-year earnings guidance

The Yahoo Finance Live show discusses the decline of Under Armour stock after its full-year earnings outlook and takes a look at potential useful marketing tools to promote growth.

Video transcript

- My play today, though is Under Armour. Shares are falling after the company's full-year guidance for 2024. Revenue and earnings per share came in lower than Wall Street analysts had hoped. Under Armour calling its full year 2024 a year of building the brand where it expects revenue to remain flat to slightly up.

Now, more on that brand building. New CEO Stephanie Linnartz noting on today's call, quote, "we are not pulling in our fair share of market growth. I believe a casual factor here is the inconsistency of how Under Armour brand shows up across our regions with the most significant opportunity to improve in the United States and China." I know we've talked about this before, how popular it seems like Under Armour used to be when you go back maybe a decade ago.

And I'm curious to see-- they mentioned multiple athletes on the call, Steph Curry, who's had a very good playoffs right now. That's Under Armor star athlete. When you talk about building that brand, what are they able to do around a Steph Curry, Justin Jefferson, very popular receiver in the NFL? How do you make Under Armour cool again and more appealing in the US? Because it's not good when part of your earnings call is basically talking about how Under Armour isn't as cool as it could be in rebuilding that brand.

- Yeah, which is always a bit surprising to me given the fact that they do have that partnership, the close ties with Steph Curry, that they haven't been able to capitalize on that more just given his sheer popularity. You talk about him being one of the most popular athletes that is still currently, certainly, in the NBA, but really across all professional sports. Why Under Armour hasn't been able to really profit more off of that has been a bit surprising.

But they're exactly right-- they have been, certainly, at a disadvantage. They have not been able to compete or really keep up with so many of its competitors, namely Nike inventory. A massive issue here for this company. They have been forced to offer more discounts in order to just get some of their inventory off of the shelves. They need a clear catalyst.

And right now, we have to point out the new CEO has only been in her job for a couple of months right now. But the turnaround picture, I think, is really what the Street is waiting for.

- Yeah, that's a major question. If you take a look at Nike, it feels like they have so much momentum right now. We have the new Ben Affleck, Matt Damon movie coming out. People are just talking about that brand more than Under Armour. And talking about Steph Curry and these brands partnering with those personalities, we've seen that really work for a lot of these footwear companies-- Crocs, Post Malone. He made Crocs cool again. So it's trying to find that new face, perhaps, that could be at Under Armour. You would think Steph Curry would be it.

- Well, I think the other thing, too, with Under Armour over the next couple of months is when you talk about a weakening consumer picture-- and Under Armour is already struggling to get sales-- Nike is probably going to be in a good position. People are going to keep buying Nikes. It's how do companies like Under Armour overcome what might be weakening consumer demand, I think, is an interesting story that's going to play out in retail next couple of months.

- Yeah.