Chris Compton
38 posts



5 minutes before Trump’s announcement: * $1.5B notional worth of S&P500 (ES) futures are bought in a single clip. * $192M notional of oil futures (CL) sold. More than 4x-6x any other trade size during the market close. Insiders profited from his lies in broad daylight!


$UAA / $UA: 3Q26 Immediate Call Postmortem Kevin talked about the one-off items as “frustrating”. Shareholders are way past that word when talking about this company. Can only hope that this “kitchen sink” (unadjusted) sets Under Armour up to have no issues as the business gets better – unlike all the other “kitchen sinks” we have seen all the way down. “The most destructive phase of this reset is behind us” – Dave as one of his last comments as CFO. Will admit that Kevin’s voice sounded serious when he mentioned North America is beginning to turn the corner and this quarter market the bottom of the reset. But he has fooled me many many time before. Ecommerce conversion is up and factory house performance is improving. Focus in wholesale remains building the right partnerships. Encouraged by how fall order book is shaping up. Feel like we have heard this story before but not with the positive KPI’s from DTC. Wonder if Lance (IR) saw how that helped $VFC (where he used to work) last week so made sure to include that commentary. Unleashing Intentionality – Kevin’s new buzz phrase. Made further management changes to make everything more efficient, cohesive, and faster. Talked up leadership in answer to first Q&A question about “confidence”. They are done with the 25% SKU reduction plan they launched in FY25. 30 fabrics are driving 80% of their volume. Under Armour has five products in the NPD top 10, nine in the top 25 – bears really need to reconcile this fact with their view the “brand is dead” and after YEARS of challenges at the company. Kevin called out performance in products he always seems to mention: baselayer, Icon fleece, etc. The women’s Meridian franchise is “gaining traction”. Sell through of newer franchise improving year over year. Full price realization trending higher. More “elevated” products coming in spring/summer 26. Icon mentioned once again along with an “improved” women’s Vanish Elite. Of course, Kevin just had to mention the StealthForm hat and No Weigh backpack yet again – really wish he could start calling out some other “new” innovation consistently like how the NEOLAST technology mentioned last quarter was noticeably not mentioned this quarter (although maybe it was “captured” in the generic baselayer commentary). I get the need to be consistent with platforms like Icon and Vanish but would be nice to hear more about why product is different. Assert 11 performs well and delivered higher ASP vs Assert 10 as predicted. Am somewhat amazed by that comment as it almost immediately went on sale right after launch but maybe the level of discount was not as bad as the prior iteration. Kevin called out the HB-LOW as “off the charts” price to value and the “gateway” to court shoes and sportswear. While it is a cool looking shoe, most of us probably thought Curry was likely a better gateway that never seemed to get utilized (albeit super expensive). $JD Sports and Sports Direct are getting behind the brand and relationship has never been stronger. Kevin thinks they are the #1 “underground” brand in France. The region is getting more promotional though, particularly in the UK. “A lot of people are just buying business”. “Not interested in being a fashion company.” – it is somewhat refreshing to hear an athletic apparel company explicitly say this. Pay attention $LULU. *These are our unabridged quick thoughts and notes from the call. We get them out as soon as possible after the call ends. Management has given some topics to dig deeper into and will circle back afterwards with much more in depth work on what was mentioned. You can find that work (and more on Under Armour and other retail/consumer research) at the website link in our profile or in the first reply.

Gamma plunges after opex

Matt McClintock is a tour de force when it comes to covering the retail sector and especially athletic companies like Under Armour $UA, Lululemon $LULU and Nike $NKE. We were fortunate enough to have him join us for our next podcast and discuss how the turnarounds at these three companies and $VFC are proceeding. @MattJMcClintock's experience covering the industry on Wall Street at Lehman Brothers and then for more than a decade Barclays shines through in this Special Situations Report podcast. A small clip from the podcast regarding $UAA is given below and we will be publishing the full podcast on Tuesday.



$UAA / $UA: 3Q26 Immediate Call Postmortem Kevin talked about the one-off items as “frustrating”. Shareholders are way past that word when talking about this company. Can only hope that this “kitchen sink” (unadjusted) sets Under Armour up to have no issues as the business gets better – unlike all the other “kitchen sinks” we have seen all the way down. “The most destructive phase of this reset is behind us” – Dave as one of his last comments as CFO. Will admit that Kevin’s voice sounded serious when he mentioned North America is beginning to turn the corner and this quarter market the bottom of the reset. But he has fooled me many many time before. Ecommerce conversion is up and factory house performance is improving. Focus in wholesale remains building the right partnerships. Encouraged by how fall order book is shaping up. Feel like we have heard this story before but not with the positive KPI’s from DTC. Wonder if Lance (IR) saw how that helped $VFC (where he used to work) last week so made sure to include that commentary. Unleashing Intentionality – Kevin’s new buzz phrase. Made further management changes to make everything more efficient, cohesive, and faster. Talked up leadership in answer to first Q&A question about “confidence”. They are done with the 25% SKU reduction plan they launched in FY25. 30 fabrics are driving 80% of their volume. Under Armour has five products in the NPD top 10, nine in the top 25 – bears really need to reconcile this fact with their view the “brand is dead” and after YEARS of challenges at the company. Kevin called out performance in products he always seems to mention: baselayer, Icon fleece, etc. The women’s Meridian franchise is “gaining traction”. Sell through of newer franchise improving year over year. Full price realization trending higher. More “elevated” products coming in spring/summer 26. Icon mentioned once again along with an “improved” women’s Vanish Elite. Of course, Kevin just had to mention the StealthForm hat and No Weigh backpack yet again – really wish he could start calling out some other “new” innovation consistently like how the NEOLAST technology mentioned last quarter was noticeably not mentioned this quarter (although maybe it was “captured” in the generic baselayer commentary). I get the need to be consistent with platforms like Icon and Vanish but would be nice to hear more about why product is different. Assert 11 performs well and delivered higher ASP vs Assert 10 as predicted. Am somewhat amazed by that comment as it almost immediately went on sale right after launch but maybe the level of discount was not as bad as the prior iteration. Kevin called out the HB-LOW as “off the charts” price to value and the “gateway” to court shoes and sportswear. While it is a cool looking shoe, most of us probably thought Curry was likely a better gateway that never seemed to get utilized (albeit super expensive). $JD Sports and Sports Direct are getting behind the brand and relationship has never been stronger. Kevin thinks they are the #1 “underground” brand in France. The region is getting more promotional though, particularly in the UK. “A lot of people are just buying business”. “Not interested in being a fashion company.” – it is somewhat refreshing to hear an athletic apparel company explicitly say this. Pay attention $LULU. *These are our unabridged quick thoughts and notes from the call. We get them out as soon as possible after the call ends. Management has given some topics to dig deeper into and will circle back afterwards with much more in depth work on what was mentioned. You can find that work (and more on Under Armour and other retail/consumer research) at the website link in our profile or in the first reply.

What happened to Kevin Plank and Under Armour? In 2016, the company had enjoyed 26 quarters of >20% growth. Plank got Baltimore to provide $660 million in public financing for a huge waterfront district w/ 10,000 UA employees in a series of skyscrapers. Now, the district is a fraction of what was envisioned, w/ only 1,500 employees. Plank has pulled out of the development. And UA paid $434 million to settle a class-action lawsuit alleging shareholder fraud. This is such a strong @BaltimoreBanner story on a man and company that were supposed to transform the city: thebanner.com/economy/under-…






