Shares of Under Armour Inc. sprinted higher Wednesday toward a nine-month high, after the athletic apparel and gear seller reported a big beat in fiscal third quarter profit and raised its full-year outlook.
Net income for the quarter to Dec. 31 rose to $121.6 million, or 27 cents a share, from $109.7 million, or 23 cents a share, in the year-ago period. Excluding nonrecurring items, adjusted earnings per share of 16 cents was well above the FactSet consensus of 9 cents.
Revenue grew 3.4% to $1.58 billion, above the FactSet consensus of $1.55 billion, as a 25% jump in footwear revenue offset 2% declines in apparel and accessories revenue. Meanwhile, a 2% decline in North America revenue was offset by a 14% increase in international revenue.
The Class C shares
UA,
shot up 6.8% in premarket trading, which puts them on track to open at the highest price seen during regular-sessions hours since May 5, 2022. The Class A shares
UAA,
jumped 6.9%.
Gross margin contracted by 6.5 percentage points, due primarily to higher promotions, sales mix impacts and the negative impact of currency fluctuations.
For fiscal 2023, the company raised its adjusted EPS guidance range to 52 cents to 56 cents from 44 cents to 48 cents, but kept its revenue growth guidance at a low single-digit percentage range. The FactSet consensus for EPS was 46 cents, and the FactSet revenue consensus of $5.86 billion implied 2.7% growth.
The Class C shares have soared 53.5% over the past three months through Tuesday, while the S&P 500
SPX,
has gained 8.8%.