Under Armour Rises After Announcing 3% Cut To Global Workforce

Shares of Under Armour (UA, UAA) are rising after the company provided an update on its restructuring plan and announced a roughly 3% cut to its workforce.

RESTRUCTURING PLAN: On Thursday, Under Armour announced an update to its 2018 restructuring plan and an approximately 3% cut to its global workforce. Previously, the company expected to incur total estimated pre-tax restructuring and related charges of roughly $190M-$210M in connection with the plan but, following further evaluation, the company identified about $10M of cash severance charges related to the workforce reduction. Accordingly, the company now expects approximately $200M-$220M of pre-tax restructuring and related charges to be incurred in 2018. The reduction in workforce is expected to be completed by March 31, 2019, and represents the final component to the 2018 restructuring plan.

MANAGEMENT COMMENTS: “In our relentless pursuit of running a more operationally excellent company, we continue to make difficult decisions to ensure we are best positioned to succeed,” said Under Armour Chief Financial Officer David Bergman. “This redesign will help simplify the organization for smarter, faster execution, capture additional cost efficiencies, and shift resources to drive greater operating leverage as we move into 2019 and beyond.”

GUIDANCE: Based on the operational efficiencies driven by the plan, the company now expects operating loss is to be approximately $60M versus the previous range of $50M-$60M. Excluding the impact of the restructuring plan, adjusted operating income is now expected to be $140M-$160M versus the prior expectation of $130M-$160M. Excluding the impact of the restructuring efforts, adjusted earnings per share is now expected to be in the range of 16c-19c versus the previously expected range of 14c-19c. This compares to analyst estimates of 12c.

WHAT’S NOTABLE: Last year, Under Armour approved a restructuring plan to better align its financial resources to support the company’s efforts as the consumer landscape shifts. As part of the plan, Under Armour said it was cutting about 2% of its global workforce of 15,000 and streamlining “all aspects” of the organization to improve business operations. On Tuesday, Matt Powell, Senior Industry Advisor, Sports at The NPD Group, stated in a LinkedIn post that “As expected, August was a disappointing month for sport footwear. Sales were down low singles in dollars and in units, yielding a flat performance in average selling price.” Powell noted that Nike (NKE) brand sales grew in the very low singles on strong lifestyle results, Adidas (ADDYY) sales grew “only in the low singles digits,” Skechers (SKX) athletic improved “in the low singles” and Under Armour footwear “declined more than 25%” last month.