SGB Executive Sports & Fitness
Unifi Lowers FY Guidance On Pricing Pressures
Unifi Inc. reported an operating loss in its second quarter ended December 30 and lowered its guidance for its fiscal year. The fibers specialist placed the blame on a spike in raw material costs, suppressed demand in the Americas and a weaker sales mix.
Ugg Powers Deckers Brands To Blowout Holiday Quarter
Tightened segmentation, success reaching men’s, and early cold weather in the U.S. helped drive robust sales for Ugg to help Deckers Brands handily exceed guidance in its holiday quarter. Hoka One One also remained on fire with sales now expected to reach $220 million in its fiscal year.
Brunswick Sees Fitness Sales Declining Again In 2019, Commits To Separation
Brunswick Corp. said its Fitness segment, which includes Life Fitness, saw continued sluggish results in the fourth quarter and is now expected to show a mid-single digit percent drop in sales in 2019. But Brunswick officials remain committed to spinning off or selling its fitness brands this year.
Fanatics And Nike Increase Domination of Sports Licensing
With deals with Wal-Mart and Major League Baseball (MLB) respectively, Fanatics and Nike continue to take bigger chunks of the fan apparel pie.
Retail Reports Roundup – January 28
Retail studies arrived last week around growing consumer demands for free shipping, Nike and Adidas landing among most admired companies, more brands expecting to start selling on Amazon in the next five years and more.
Active Lifestyle Falls Short On CDP’s Rankings Of Environmental Practices
Johnson & Johnson, Nestle, China Mobile and Microsoft did but no firms in the active lifestyle industry scored top marks in CDP’s prestigious annual rankings of corporate efforts to slow climate change. Hanesbrands, Adidas and Puma scored above-average grades.
Aisle Talk Week Of January 21
Top headlines from the active lifestyle industry you may have missed this week, including, Emerald Expositions saying that after canceling Interbike, it is considering two options that could bring a bike element to either the Outdoor Retailer Winter or Summer Market.
RunnerClick Survey Finds Women, Seniors Pacing Marathon Growth
RunnerClick, the online community dedicated to running, has come out with what it describes as the “largest recreational marathon research study,” spanning 39 countries. Among the findings was that the U.S. has the highest proportion of female runners, making it the most gender equal country (45 percent female), followed by Canada (40 percent female). Greece is the worse in terms of female participation with 90 percent male and 10 percent female.
NRF Big Show: Retail’s Transformation On Display
While the trade show floor was packed with many new retail technologies driven by artificial intelligence, the seminars at the NRF Big Show 2019 explored how those digital advances are working their way to retail’s selling floors.
Nike And Under Armour Both Earn Stock Upgrades
Cowen on Tuesday raised its rating on Nike to “Outperform” in part because the brand’s strong innovation pipeline and quick-turnaround capabilities are expected to drive margins higher. Goldman Sachs lifted its rating on Under Armour to “Buy” due also to signs of margin improvement near-term along with healthier growth in the long term.
Retail Reports Roundup – January 21
A stack of retail surveys and studies arrived just in time for last week’s NRF Big Show in New York City. Research included the arrival of the “Emerging Male ‘Power Shopper” as well as retail developments with artificial intelligence, mobile apps, smart speakers, fulfillment technologies, personalization, card-not-present fraud and more.
VF Corp.’s Shares Pop On Blowout Q3
With another blockbuster performance for Vans and an acceleration of growth at The North Face, VF Corp scored its best quarter in two years in its third quarter ended December 31 and again raised its full-year guidance. Shares of VF rose $9.08, or 12.4 percent, to $82.34 Friday on the New York Stock Exchange.
Aisle Talk Week Of January 14
Top headlines from the active lifestyle industry you may have missed this week, including Foot Locker making a strategic investment in Pensole Footwear Design Academy.
Shopko Becomes Latest Casualty Of Online Disruption
Shopko, already weighed down by a heavy debt load due to a leveraged buyout, said competition against the national big box chains and consolidation in the pharmacy industry both played a role in its trip to bankruptcy court. But in an affidavit in Nebraska’s bankruptcy court, Russell Steinhorst, CEO, blamed the retailer’s eroding operating performance largely on the dramatic shifts across retailer in recent years to online selling.
ICR Recap: Which Brands Won Over Investors?
The ICR Conference in Orlando, FL, gave brands across the consumer and retail industries a chance to present their current financial profile and plans for 2019 and beyond. Some companies, like Lululemon (whose presentation wasn’t public), have seen values surge post-conference.
