Under Armour Is Having a Moment. But A Comeback Is Still a Long Way Off.
The brand is beginning to generate positive sentiment for the first time in years through a series of smart marketing moves. But the prospect of a turnaround is still lightyears away.
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Under Armour has been on shaky ground as a business for what feels like an eternity.
My articles over the years for SportsVerse and previously at The Business of Fashion have chronicled everything from Under Armour’s financial struggles under its controversial founder and CEO Kevin Plank to the haphazard strategy calls that led to the untimely end of NBA legend Steph Curry’s lifetime deal with the brand, and the divestment of their Curry Brand joint venture, which ended up in the hands of Li-Ning.
We’ve become accustomed to a very gloomy outlook for Under Armour, which has lurched from posting sales declines quarter after quarter, announcing strategy U-turns, guidance cuts and boardroom reshuffles, and discarding parts of the company that was once a roaring all-American sportswear success story.
Recently, things have begun to feel a little different. Under Armour has worked its way back into the news cycle, but in a far more positive light. From LinkedIn sports-marketing-ChatGPT-warriors to sportswear market commentators to mainstream media outlets, various people have begun to notice a different tone and identity emanating from recent marketing activity coming from the brand.
The most high-profile example — and arguably what initiated this discourse — was the fortuitous moment when Spain’s Ferran Torres scored the only goal of the World Cup Final in a pair of Under Armour boots (cleats), which happened to be pretty much the only boots worn by anyone at that tournament that were not bright pink.
Under Armour seized the opportunity with Nike-like speed and style, posting a graphic within minutes that featured the caption: “The boots of a champion don't come in pink.” The post quickly went viral and is still being credited today by internet folks as the reason why Under Armour “won” the World Cup, clinching the defining moment after spending next to nothing on marketing around the tournament vs. the millions invested by Nike and Adidas. While that’s a reductive (and wholly inaccurate) argument, it is nevertheless representative of something that hasn’t been true for a long time: Under Armour is once again part of the conversation.
Under Armour has also received praise for its alignment with American rapper Gunna, who has put the brand in front of new eyeballs and fans thanks to his popular multi-city run club series. The brand recently cast him alongside country music singer and newly signed ambassador Parker McCollum to help launch a new perfomance T-shirt, with a campaign that again won praise from various corners of the internet.
Gunna has also been helping the brand publicise its more fashion-forward projects, such as a recent collaboration with LA-based label 424, founded by Guillermo Andrade. He wore a biker jacket from that collection at Paris Fashion Week, while other Under Armour athletes Ollie Watkins and Ferran Torres have also sported the collection in recent weeks.
Under Armour has also been courting fashion influencer types with lavish brand trips to destinations such as Marbella.
The above efforts are beginning to develop a level of goodwill and positive sentiment that Under Armour has struggled to come anywhere close to in years.
Reality Check
One thing that doesn’t feel different, however, is the brand’s performance on the business side. Under Armour most recently reported earnings for the fiscal year ended March 31. As expected, it was very bleak. Revenue of $5 billion constituted a four percent decrease from the previous year, with an especially sharp drop-off in North America sales of 8 percent.
The Baltimore-based sportswear brand also reported a loss of $496 million. It will report earnings for the first quarter of its 2027 fiscal year on August 7, which are not expected to show signs of growth. Meanwhile, rival sportswear labels from Adidas to On continue to outperform Under Armour in North America.
Under Armour stock, which finished Wednesday trading at $6.91 per share, is light-years off its all-time high of $53.78 in 2015. It would be nothing short of a miraculous turnaround in all aspects of the business were it ever to reach anywhere near these levels again. But the stock is up 33 percent since the beginning of the year (albeit from a tiny base).
There are also still significant improvements that need to be made to Under Armour’s very confused fashion collaborations strategy. Partnerships with Balenciaga (2024) and Marine Serre (June 2026) both failed to answer the eternal question: Who is this actually for? I’ll leave photos of the latter below.
Under Armour, which has always traditionally skewed towards men’s apparel, is attempting to build a better assortment of womenswear. Under Armour recently announced the London-based Chinese designer Feng Chen Wang as the creative lead of its upcoming “Rebel Daughter” womenswear line, after chief design officer John Varvatos left his role last year.
For all the fun marketing moments and goodwill, getting its product right is really the only thing that should matter to Under Armour if it is to have any sort of turnaround and return to growth. That reality is still a long way away.
That’s all for today, friends. Thanks for coming along for the ride.
See you next time,
DYM
i hate to say it but i simply cannot think of UA as anything but a Jan 6 outfit.