Study: Pickleball Growth Slows as Skiing, Flag Football, and Pilates Step Up
EXEC: Callaway Hikes Outlook on Resilient Demand for Golf Balls, Clubs
EXEC: Black Diamond’s Neil Fiske Envisions Potential Price Increases from Iran War
EXEC: Under Armour and Mizuno Brazil Partner Posts Net Income Slide on Higher Debt Load
Black Diamond Parent Reveals Plan to Explore Sale
SGB Update
Target Realigns Merchandising Team
Target promoted Gena Fox to SVP of design; Tara Russell to SVP of merchandising, apparel and accessories; and Sarah McMullin to SVP of owned brands product operations and manufacturing. All three report to Cara Sylvester, who was named Target’s new chief merchandising officer in February.
NRF: Import Volumes Face Early-Fall Slide on Cautious Orders
Import volume at major U.S. container ports is expected to remain below last year’s levels into early fall despite a skewed year-over-year bump in May and June, according to the Global Port Tracker report from the National Retail Federation and Hackett Associates.
Johnson Outdoors Sees Fiscal Q2 Earnings Surge as Fishing Category Dominates
Fishing revenue increased 18 percent mainly due to improved trade conditions, a stronger competitive position in the market, and pricing. Camping & Watercraft Recreation sales were up 1 percent, primarily due to increased e-commerce sales.
Fox Factory Q1 Hampered by Tariffs, Inventory Destocking in IBD Channel
Fox Factory Holding Corp.’s first-quarter adjusted earnings declined but arrived at the higher end of company guidance. Sales were up 3.9 percent, boosted by a 17.4 percent jump in Powered Vehicles Group. Sales in its Aftermarket Applications Group improved 2.9 percent, but dropped 8.7 percent in its Specialty Sports Group due to distributor and dealer inventory destocking and tough year-ago comparisons.
Black Diamond Parent Reveals Plan to Explore Sale
The company’s board of directors has initiated a review of strategic alternatives, including a sale of all or part of the business. The move comes as the parent of Black Diamond and of several vehicle-based outdoor and overlanding brands reduced its guidance for the year while reporting first-quarter results.
SGB Executive
Study: Pickleball Growth Slows as Skiing, Flag Football, and Pilates Step Up
NSGA’s 2026 Sports Participation Report found alpine skiing, cheerleading, flag football, kayaking and Pilates saw the strongest participation gains among sports, fitness and outdoor activities in 2025. Golf, tennis and pickleball all saw solid gains, although pickleball moderated from its breakneck pace in recent years.
EXEC: Callaway Hikes Outlook on Resilient Demand for Golf Balls, Clubs
First-quarter results topped expectations on strength in both Callaway clubs and TravisMathew drove the company to sharply raise its full-year outlook. CEO Chip Brewer said Callaway’s bullish outlook in part reflects resilient demand from golfers despite macroeconomic uncertainty.
EXEC: Black Diamond’s Neil Fiske Envisions Potential Price Increases from Iran War
Looking ahead, Fiske said BDE has a strong order book for the second half of the year, which should support growth for the full year 2026 compared to 2025. The wild card, of course, is the substantial risk posed by a prolonged Iran war to consumer discretionary spend, as well as factor costs, supply chain, and deliveries.
EXEC: Under Armour and Mizuno Brazil Partner Posts Net Income Slide on Higher Debt Load
Under Armour reinforced its presence in the training market and expanded its role in performance running in Brazil in the first quarter while Mizuno picked up steam after its return to road running.
EXEC: Kontoor Brands Sees Lee Divestiture as Path to Accelerate Helly Hansen’s Growth
On an analyst call, Kontoor Brands Inc. officials said its move to divest the Lee denim business will only open more opportunities to drive further momentum in the Helly Hansen business. Kontoor CEO Scott Baxter said, “Through improved focus and increased investment capacity, we see a clear path to double-digit growth in our home market.”
