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Enough top-performing CAPS investors have turned bullish on Under Armour (NYSE: UA ) recently to upgrade the sports apparel and footwear maker from its middling three-star rank to a more inspiring four stars. A large base – 2,080 members -- have given their opinion on Under Armour, with many of them offering analysis and commentary explaining the recent optimism.
A pioneer in the market for compression sports apparel, which keeps athletes cool and dry, Under Armour dominates the niche with a 79% market share -- far outpacing competitors Nike (NYSE: NKE ) and Columbia Sportswear (Nasdaq: COLM ) . But while the company has branched out into performance footwear and European markets, inventory has been piling up for the past several quarters, sending shares reeling.
Management has acknowledged the inventory problem, though, and Under Armour's recent quarter shows good progress on many fronts. Inventories rose "only" 43% from the previous year, and sales paced forward with a 30% increase. Gross margins came in at 45.3%, which is in the ballpark of competitors like Skechers (NYSE: SKX ) and K-Swiss (Nasdaq: KSWS ) .
The company also scored a big win recently when it secured a new president, David McCreight, a veteran of top retailers Sears Holdings (Nasdaq: SHLD ) and Disney (NYSE: DIS ) . Overall, the lower price and better prospects have more CAPS members voting bullishly on the company -- 91% of those rating the company now see Under Armour beating the S&P going forward.
To see what the very best CAPS analysts are saying now about Under Armour -- as well as other winning stocks they are picking -- head on over to CAPS and have a look. The community research and resources in CAPS are totally free, unlike analyst opinions reserved for paying clients.
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