Author: SGB Executive

Peloton’s fiscal second-quarter earnings and sales trounced analysts’ estimates, but officials warned that near-term investments in its supply chain to speed deliveries will weigh on margins.

Columbia Sportswear reported a better-than-expected fourth-quarter due to continued robust e-commerce sales and a spike in wholesale reorders in December. Officials provided an upbeat outlook for 2021, projecting 18 percent to 20 percent net sales growth with growth across all four of its brands. On a call with analysts, Tim Boyle, CEO, said, “As we begin 2021, we’re encouraged by the building momentum across our brand portfolio.”

Shares of Canada Goose surged $7.73, or 22.0 percent, to $42.90 Thursday after the outerwear specialist delivered its first quarterly revenue increase since the onset of the pandemic. The gains were boosted by a 39.3 percent hike in global e-commerce revenue and a 41.7 percent DTC revenue gain in Mainland China.

Riding strong outdoor participation trends across its Shooting Sports and Outdoor Products segments, Vista Outdoor reported sales in the third quarter ended December 27 rose 35 percent and predicted sales in the current quarter would climb about 22 percent.

While the COVID-19 pandemic had a devastating impact on the racing industry, most runners are itching to get back to racing in person again this year, found Running USA’s 2020 Global Runner Survey. Survey analyst Ashlyn Modlin hosted a webinar providing optimism about a healthy return to racing events.

Golf rounds soared 13.9 percent and equipment sales 10.1 percent in 2020, according to Golf Datatech. The outsized growth comes as golf has been perceived as a near-ideal socially distant activity during the pandemic. SGB Executive talked to John Krzynowek, partner, Golf Datatech, about golf’s strong bounceback from the lockdowns that arrived in March 2020, the performance of major categories and how the sport may continue to benefit in the years ahead. 

Olin Corp. said Winchester delivered the best quarterly performance in its 155-year history in the fourth quarter ended December 31 due to outsized demand for ammunition, with even better quarters expected throughout 2021. Said Scott Sutton, Olin’s CEO, on a conference call with analysts, “We expect that elevated shooting sport participation is here to stay.”

Shares of VF Corp. fell $5.98, or 7 percent, to $85.13 on Wednesday after the company reported third-quarter results, apparently due to growth concerns at Vans. Analysts, however, were generally upbeat on the report given that VF was able to raise guidance for the full fiscal year despite the impact of the return of store closures that particularly impacted Vans.

VF Corp. reported sales dropped 5.8 percent in its fiscal third quarter ended December 26 and lowered its full-year revenue outlook on Vans. However, the company raised its outlook for The North Face, lifted its overall earnings and sales guidance for the year and predicted a return to positive growth in the current fourth quarter.

During a keynote session at the virtual NRF Big Show, Doug Mack, CEO and Director, Fanatics discussed how the agility provided by Fanatics’ vertical-commerce (v-commerce) model helped the company make fast adjustments during the pandemic to deliver record sales and profits in 2020.

Despite explosive online growth in recent years and its acquisition of the Mirror at-home fitness platform, Celeste Burgoyne, Lululemon’s president, Americas, and global guest innovation, at the virtual NRF Big Show stressed how critical physical stores are to driving the customer experience.

Deutsche Bank upgraded its rating on Under Armour to “Buy” from “Hold” on the potential for margins to benefit from numerous cost-containment efforts, “green shoots” found across the brand’s product line and tailwinds for the active apparel category overall coming out of the pandemic.

During a session at the virtual NRF Big Show, Bill Quinn, SVP digital commerce at Hibbett Sporting Goods, discussed how the small-town sporting goods chain navigated the increase in online orders during the pandemic and in turn elevated its omnichannel offerings. He said, “The biggest thing that the pandemic did for us is to stress test everything that we had.”

According to The NPD Group, sales across the snow industry are down 7 percent in the first four months of the snow season through the end of November due to continued weakness in apparel. However, a wide range of equipment and accessory categories continue to produce strong gains as select outdoor activities find favor during the pandemic.

At CES 2021, executives from the NFL, NHL, WNBA, and WWE discussed how technology has helped their organizations reach sports fans during the pandemic and save their playing seasons. Advancements involve online or mobile engagement with fans that are expected to continue post-COVID-19.