Under Armour Inc. reported better-than-expected fourth-quarter earnings and revenue, boosted by apparel sales and growth overseas. The company maintained its outlook for 2019.

“Our 2018 results demonstrate significant progress against our multi-year transformation toward becoming an even stronger brand and more operationally excellent company,” said Under Armour Chairman and CEO Kevin Plank in a statement. “As we look ahead to 2019, our accelerated innovation agenda, disciplined go-to-market process and powerful consumer-centric approach gives us increasingly greater confidence in our ability to deliver for Under Armour athletes, customers and shareholders.”

Fourth Quarter 2018 Review

  • Revenue was up 2 percent to $1.4 billion (up 3 percent currency neutral).
  • Gross margin increased 160 basis points to 45.0 percent compared to the prior year, including a $2 million impact related to restructuring efforts. Excluding restructuring efforts in both periods, adjusted gross margin increased 160 basis points to 45.1 percent compared to the prior year driven predominantly by regional and channel mix, product cost improvements, lower promotional activity, and lower air freight partially offset by changes in foreign currency.
  • Selling, general & administrative expenses decreased 1 percent to $587 million, or 42.3 percent of revenue.
  • Restructuring and impairment charges were $48 million.
  • Operating loss was $10 million. Adjusted operating income was $40 million.
  • Net income was $4 million or $0.01 earnings per share. Adjusted net income was $42 million or $0.09 adjusted earnings per share.
  • Inventory decreased 12 percent to $1.0 billion.
  • Cash and cash equivalents increased 78 percent to $557 million.

Adjusted earnings of 9 cents a share compared with Wall Street’s consensus estimate of 4 cents a share. Revenues of $1.39 billion were just ahead of expectations for $1.38 billion.

Wholesale revenue increased 1 percent to $737 million and direct-to-consumer revenue was flat at $577 million, representing 41 percent of total revenue.

North America revenue decreased 5.8 percent to $965 million and international business increased 24 percent to $395 million (up 28 percent currency neutral), representing 28 percent of total revenue. Within the international business, revenue was up 32 percent in EMEA (up 35 percent currency neutral), up 35 percent in Asia-Pacific (up 39 percent currency neutral), and down 15 percent in Latin America (down 11 percent currency neutral).

On a profitability basis, the North America region showed an operating loss of $7.08 million against a loss of $43.9 million a year ago.

The EMEA region posted a loss of $11.1 million versus earnings of $3.99 million the prior year. Asia-Pacific’s profits gained 64.6 percent to $21.4 million from $12.99 million in the same period a year ago. The Latin America region slightly increased its loss to $11.0 million from $10.9 million a year ago. The Connected Fitness segment showed an operating loss of $2.6 million versus earnings of $792,000 the prior year.

Apparel revenue increased 2 percent to $970 million with growth in the train category. Footwear revenue decreased 4 percent to $235 million primarily driven by lower sales to the off-price channel. Accessories revenue decreased 2 percent to $108 million.

Full Year 2018 Review

  • Revenue was up 4 percent to $5.2 billion.
  • Gross margin was 45.1 percent, in line with the prior year including a $21 million impact related to restructuring efforts. Excluding restructuring efforts in both periods, adjusted gross margin increased 30 basis points to 45.5 percent driven predominantly by product cost improvements, lower promotional activity, and changes in foreign currency offset by channel mix.
  • Selling, general & administrative expenses increased 4 percent to $2.2 billion, or 42.0 percent of revenue.
  • Restructuring and impairment charges were $183 million.
  • Operating loss was $25 million. Adjusted operating income was $179 million.
  • Net loss was $46 million or $0.10 loss per share. Adjusted net income was $122 million or $0.27 adjusted earnings per share.

Wholesale revenue increased 3 percent to $3.1 billion and direct-to-consumer revenue was up 4 percent to $1.8 billion, representing 35 percent of total revenue.

North America revenue decreased 2 percent to $3.7 billion and international business increased 23 percent to $1.3 billion (up 22 percent currency neutral), representing 26 percent of total revenue. Within the international business, revenue was up 25 percent in EMEA (up 23 percent currency neutral), up 29 percent in Asia-Pacific (up 27 percent currency neutral), and up 5 percent in Latin America (up 8 percent currency neutral).

Apparel revenue increased 5 percent to $3.5 billion with growth primarily driven by the train category. Footwear revenue increased 2 percent to $1.1 billion largely driven by growth in the run category. Accessories revenue was down 5 percent to $422 million due to softer demand and continued actions to optimize inventory and distribution.

2018 Restructuring Plan

For the full year the company recognized $204 million of pre-tax charges, inclusive of $50 million in the fourth quarter. Of the $204 million recognized, there were $151 million in cash related charges and $53 million in non-cash related charges. This compares to the previously announced 2018 plan which anticipated approximately $200 to $220 million in restructuring related charges for the full year.

Full Year 2019 Outlook

There are no changes to the company’s 2019 outlook, which was provided at its December 12, 2018 investor day:

  • Revenue is expected to increase approximately 3 to 4 percent reflecting relatively flat results for North America and a low double-digit percentage rate increase in the international business.
  • Gross margin is expected to improve approximately 60 to 80 basis points compared to 2018 adjusted gross margin due to channel mix benefits from lower planned sales to the off-price channel and a higher percentage of direct-to-consumer sales along with more favorable product costs due to ongoing supply chain initiatives.
  • Operating income is expected to reach $210 million to $230 million.
  • Interest and other expense net is planned at approximately $40 million.
  • Effective tax rate is expected to be in the 19 percent to 22 percent range.
  • Earnings per share is expected to be in the range of $0.31 to $0.33; and,
  • Capital expenditures are planned at approximately $210 million.

Image courtesy Under Armour