Watch Under Armour's (NYSE: UA) earnings report to see if it can beat analyst expectations for the fifth consecutive quarter. The company will unveil its latest earnings on Tuesday. Under Armour is a developer, marketer, and distributor of branded performance apparel, footwear, and accessories.

What analysts say:

  • Buy, sell, or hold?: Analysts think investors should stand pat on Under Armour with 12 of 23 analysts rating it hold. Analysts don't like Under Armour as much as competitor Hanesbrands overall. Seven out of 10 analysts rate Hanesbrands a buy compared to 10 of 23 for Under Armour. Analysts still rate the stock a hold, but they are a bit more wary about it compared to three months ago.
  • Revenue forecasts: On average, analysts predict $445.6 million in revenue this quarter. That would represent a rise of 35.6% from the year-ago quarter.
  • Wall Street earnings expectations: The average analyst estimate is earnings of $0.83 per share. Estimates range from $0.77 to $0.89.

What our community says:
CAPS All-Stars are solidly behind the stock with 96.6% giving it an outperform rating. The community at large concurs with the All-Stars with 92% granting it a rating of outperform. Fools are bullish on Under Armour and haven't been shy with their opinions lately, logging 1,084 posts in the past 30 days. Even with a robust four out of five stars, Under Armour's CAPS rating falls a little short of the community's upbeat outlook.

Management:
Under Armour's profit has risen year over year by an average of 57.9% over the past five quarters. The company's gross margin shrank by 2.5 percentage points in the last quarter. Revenue rose 42.3% while cost of sales rose 49.3% to $156.6 million from a year earlier.

Now let's look at how efficient management is at running the business. Traditionally, margins represent the efficiency with which companies capture portions of sales dollars. The following table shows gross, operating, and net margins over the past four quarters.

Quarter

Q2

Q1

Q4

Q3

Gross Margin

46.3%

46.4%

51.7%

50.9%

Operating Margin

3.9%

6.8%

11.7%

17.3%

Net Margin

2.1%

3.9%

7.6%

10.6%

One final thing: If you want to keep tabs on Under Armour movements, and for more analysis on the company, make sure you add it to your watchlist.

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