Under Armour topped $3B in annual sales for the "first time" in '14, with its $3.08B in revenue up 32% from '13, according to Sarah Meehan of the BALTIMORE BUSINESS JOURNAL. UA saw a "strong" Q4 in which it posted a profit of $88M, up 37% from $64M in the same period the year before. UA's Q4 revenue came in at $895M, up from $683M in Q4 '13. Apparel revenue for the year grew 30% to $2.29B, up from $1.76B in '13. Sales "were driven by new products" in UA's training, outdoor, golf and studio categories. UA's footwear revenue increased 44% in '14 to $431M from $299M in '13, "driven by expansions in running and basketball." Int'l revenue grew 96% year-over-year and represented 9% of overall revenue in '14, up from 6% in '13 (BIZJOURNALS.com, 1/4). The WALL STREET JOURNAL's Sara Germano notes UA last fall surpassed adidas to "become the No. 2 sportswear brand in the U.S. by retail sales." But both companies "remain far behind," which has "long held the top perch in sales of sweats and sneakers in the U.S." (WALL STREET JOURNAL, 1/5). At presstime, shares of UA were trading at $72.74, down 1% from the close of business yesterday (THE DAILY).
TECH CRUNCHING: UA yesterday announced that it has "agreed to buy two makers of fitness-tracking apps, MyFitnessPal and Endomondo," for a combined total of $560M. The deals collectively "are the latest move" by UA to "create an athletics-minded online network, an effort that began" with the '13 acquisition of MapMyFitness for $150M. The new deals value MyFitnessPal at $475M and Endomondo at $85M. UA "will pay for the MyFitnessPal deal through bank loans and cash on hand" (NYTIMES.com, 1/4). In Baltimore, Ryan Sharrow noted MyFitnessPal "has over 80 million registered users," while Endomondo "boasts 20 million registered users," 80% of which are outside the U.S. The deal for Endomondo is "expected to close" in Q1. Both companies "will continue to operate" out of S.F. and Copenhagen, respectively (BIZJOURNALS.com, 1/4). Also in Baltimore, Lorraine Mirabella notes UA "released its own fitness app, called UA Record, at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas." Endomondo "will help provide global scale, while MyFitnessPal is known for nutritional expertise -- both areas that were lacking in Under Armour's existing digital community" (Baltimore SUN, 1/5). UA Founder, Chair & CEO Kevin Plank said, "Our job isn't to follow to our competitors and what they have or haven't done, particularly in digital media and the digital space in general. When we looked at wearables and we see the energy around it … it just reaffirmed everything that we assumed and thought” ("Squawk Box," CNBC, 2/5).
