SGB Executive Sports & Fitness

Under Armour’s Shares Jump As Q1 Loss Less Than Feared

Shares of Under Armour rose $1.68, or 9.3 percent to $19.82 on Wednesday after the company posted a loss that was lower than Wall Street expected. Officials kept its guidance for the year but indicated that its category management initiatives are making progress.

Deckers Shares Pop On Acquisition Talk

Shares of Deckers Outdoor Corp. rose $1.81, or 3.1 percent, on Wednesday to $60.55 after it reported it was exploring a sale. The move comes as activist investors had pushed for a sale.

How Bad Were The Tax Refund Delays?

Hibbett Sports Inc., in slashing its guidance for the year, joined a number of retailers finding the delay in tax refunds created a worse-than-expected drag on first-quarter sales.

Run Specialty’s Digital Disconnection

According to interviews with executives attending the industry’s premier race, the Boston Marathon, many local running shops are struggling to adapt to the shift toward digital retailing.

Academy Can’t Sidestep Industry Pressures

Unable to shrug off the many challenges facing the sporting goods channel, Academy Sports + Outdoors’ same-store sales slid in the low-single-digit range and management-adjusted EBITDA dropped 23 percent in 2016.

Americas Drives Puma’s Q1 Growth

“Retailers ordered more because they needed more which has not been the case for a long time at Puma,” Bjørn Gulden, CEO of Puma SE, said on a conference call with journalists.

Sports Direct Breaks Into U.S. Retailing

Sports Direct said the Eastern Outfitters acquisition will provide Sports Direct “with a footprint in U.S. bricks-and-mortar retail and a platform from which to grow U.S. on-line sales.”

International Momentum Helps Skechers Beat Plan

Said David Weinberg, EVP, COO and CFO, on the domestic wholesale channel, “While we are cautious due to the closing of numerous stores in 2016 and again, in the first quarter of 2017, we remain optimistic and poised to move quickly to fulfill consumer demands in our dedicated wholesale accounts.”

Is Casual Participation Growth More Important Than Core Growth?

Among the sports seeing healthier gains in core versus casual participants were a number of fitness-oriented activities, including yoga, cross training, bodyweight exercise & bodyweight accessory-assisted training, weight/resistance machines, treadmill and kettlebells. Others seeing higher growth in core versus casual participation included adventure racing, field hockey, volleyball (grass), target shooting (rifle) and mixed martial arts for competition.

Omega Sports Sold To Former Fresh Market CEO

Phil Bowman, Omega Sports’ president, told SGB, “It was a perfect situation for someone to come in and still grow our company, protect our culture and carry on the Omega tradition.”