Author: Thomas J. Ryan

Big 5 Sporting Goods Corp. reported a strong 2019, marked by a comp gain and its strongest margin performance in more than 10 years. However, inclement winter weather has led to a poor start to 2020. CEO Steve Miller said, “Although this year began with solid winter weather conditions in our geography, unfortunately, the conditions turned highly unfavorable over the course of the quarter, particularly in our key California market.”

Wolverine World Wide reported another quarter of accelerated growth in the fourth quarter for its two biggest brands, Merrell and Sperry, and predicted a recovery year in 2020 for Saucony. Conservative guidance, however, was given for 2020 due to the expected fallout from the coronavirus outbreak and some continued challenges facing the U.S. wholesale channel.

Gildan Activewear reported sales declined 11.3 percent in the fourth quarter and 2.9 percent in the year due to lower imprintables volumes in North America but growth is expected to return in 2020.

SFIA’s 2020 Annual Topline Participation Report found three million more Americans took part in some form of sports in 2019 with fitness, outdoor activities and select traditional team sports showing the most growth. However, the healthier trend is being driven by casual participants and the overall study found income disparities continuing to affect participation in sports and fitness activities and the majority of team sports losing participants.

Puma warned that fallout from the coronavirus outbreak will impact first-quarter results but otherwise delivered another stellar quarter with healthy momentum across categories and regions. Among regions on a currency-neutral basis, sales grew 17.6 percent in the Americas, 23.2 percent in EMEA and 14.5 percent in Asia/Pacific.

Led by robust growth in its Fitness segment, Garmin Ltd. reported revenues and earnings in the fourth quarter topped expectations. Officials also delivered an upbeat outlook for 2020 with 10 percent growth expected across its Fitness, Outdoor and Marine segments.

Cole Haan, which has seen a strong turnaround in recent years with a pivot towards casual and athletic styles, has filed for an initial public offering seven years after being sold by Nike.

Newell Brands said its Outdoor & Recreation segment, which includes Coleman, Contigo and Marmot, again saw declines in the fourth quarter with another challenging year for growth expected for 2020.

Partly reflecting fallout from a bankruptcy scare endured early last year, Modell’s Sporting Goods is facing a liquidity crisis. Mitchell Modell, the chain’s long-time CEO, said the retailer is seeking concessions around payments from vendors and landlords to provide time to enact a restructuring.

Yeti Holdings Inc. reported adjusted net income rose 31 percent in the fourth quarter on a 23 percent revenue gain while predicting another year of healthy double-digit growth for 2020. Matt Reintjes, CEO, told analysts, “Customers continue to embrace the Yeti brand and our innovation.”

Earnings estimates on Under Armour were slashed by Wall Street in line with management’s guidance with many analysts significantly reducing their outlook for 2021 as well. To many analysts, Under Armour’s fourth-quarter underperformance and the dim outlook underscores the brand’s challenges reviving growth against formidable competitors in North America although a few remain confident the turnaround is only delayed.

Shares of Under Armour Inc. were trading down about 17 percent in mid-day trading Tuesday after the company guided its 2020 outlook well below Wall Street targets with no recovery now expected for North America. UA officials also said it was considering additional restructuring activities that would include abandoning its Fifth Avenue flagship in New York City.

Champion saw 22 percent growth in the fourth quarter, in line with expectations, according to the brand’s parent, HanesBrands. The growth reflected 22 percent growth in both Champion’s domestic and international businesses.

Columbia Sportswear reported fourth-quarter results that generally came in line with guidance and was able to surpass $3 billion in annual sales for the first time in history. But company officials said heightened promotional activity held back gains in the period said continued investments would pressure earnings in 2020.

Skechers USA reported sales topped and earnings arrived at the high-end of aggressive guidance in the fourth quarter. The company’s domestic wholesale business marked a return to double-digit growth while international momentum showed little signs of slowing down despite headwinds from the coronavirus outbreak in China.