Under Armour Shares, Sales Up; Did Stephen Curry, Jordan Spieth Endorsement Click?

By Jane Smith

Apr 22, 2016 03:17 AM EDT

Under Armour has seen an increase in its quarterly sales following the endorsement from NBA star Stephen Curry and golfer Jordan Spieth.

In the first quarter, Under Armour reported an increase in sales of sports and outdoor apparel by 20 percent, owing to customers buying the brand's training and golf clothing. In terms of footwear, Under Armour's sales also increased by 64 percent after SpeedForm running shoes, Curry One and Curry Two basketball shoes and Spieth's Drive One golf shoes were in demand.

Meanwhile, Fox Business reports that the shares of the company increased by 8.7 percent Thursday morning. It has been noted that the brand's quarterly sales have been consistently rising for the past six years. This resulted to Under Armour overtaking Adidas in the second spot in sportswear maker category in the US last year, following Nike Inc.

"The recent market fears about the apparel slowdown were unfounded as they demonstrated another quarter of 20 percent growth, and gross margins were much better than we expected," BB&T Capital Markets analyst Corinna Freedman said.

The company is expecting for more growth for the second quarter of this year.

Meanwhile, Real Money reported a slow growth in terms of Under Armour's women's apparel section.

"SportScan data shows -2% 1Q total UA US wholesale apparel growth and -7% for women's apparel: This is in-line with 4Q trends. Some argue SportScan doesn't capture all of UA's business, which is true. However, UA's own SEC filings show sales to its biggest customer, which we believe is Dick's Sporting Goods (DKS), were -8% in 4Q15," analysts from Morgan Stanley noted.

The firm further commented that the company could benefit a lot from a female endorser, especially now that the company's women's apparel segment continues to lag. "Much of the company's growth over the last three years has been due to the visibility of its top endorsers, but those endorsers have been male athletes," the Real Money report states.