NIKE Has To Face Up To The New Opponent -- UA

Armour means armor and war armor. Under Armour, as the name suggests, is the best choice under the armor.

In 1996, Kevin Plank, a former American football captain, found the protective gear under the protection of sports in the sport.

After being permused by sweat, he believed that he would have a better choice. He successfully developed the first functional T-shirt in the world. His final choice of polyester material can be breathable, fast drying, and assist in muscle strength. At the same time, it can be compressed into a very small volume and easy to carry, so that athletes can keep their body relaxed and light in vigorous exercise. Even if they are soaked in sweat, they can quickly dry in a very short time, and will not affect the state of athletes' competition.

At that time, he did not know that this tight speed dry T-shirt will change the sports world from now on.

First, he persuaded two college football teams in hot climates to buy his equipment: Georgia science and Technology (in hot and humid Atlanta) and great Arizona (in the Phoenix area near the desert).

After trying out the first batch of samples to several university football teams, Plank's fast drying business quickly spread to the top league circles such as NFL (NFL). Atlanta falcons also wore the brand's equipment.

More and more athletes began to place orders with him privately. Under Armour also took the opportunity to sign a now very cost-effective sponsorship business that could sponsor us baseball star Barry Bonds for the whole season with us $5000.

It's hard to imagine that a sports brand is heated up by sports such as rugby and baseball, which rely highly on professional protective gear.

But many sportsmen feel that wearing a tight UA, fast drying suit can also make them look cool.

At that time, middle school athletes even wore an alternative method: buy UA long sleeved fast drying clothes, then cut off their sleeves to show off their muscles better.

So far, UA has completely infiltrated into the American youth market.

In 2004, after fast drying clothes from rugby athletes' equipment gradually to the wider range of users, such as the gym,

Its annual sales exceeded $200 million and was successfully listed on the NYSE in 2005.

On the day of listing, the price of the stock was doubled.

In 2014, in the United States, the world's largest sportswear market, only 18 years old brand UA has surpassed Adidas for the first time, becoming the second largest sports brand in the United States after Nike, causing a stir in the sports brand industry.

According to data provided by Sterne Agee and SportScanInfo, UA sales increased by 20% to 1 billion 200 million US dollars in the first eight months of 2014, while sales of Adidas AG group fell 23% to 1 billion 100 million dollars over the same period. Meanwhile, the US sales of sports apparel boss Nike were 8 billion 900 million dollars, and they were still proud of the group.

After releasing the brightest fourth quarter earnings in 2014, Under Armour also gave Adidas a piece of advice: in the interview with Bloomberg TV, the founder and CEO Kevin Plank of the 41 year old company (Kevin).

Planck said he did not want to be compared with the "most stupid competitor".

In the sports market of North America, competition for second is much easier than competition. In 2014, the total revenue of Under Armour exceeded $3 billion, but this is still only 1/10 of Nike.

However, in the stock market, the price of Under Armour listed in 2005 was almost two times that of Nike.

Under Armour does not seem to be afraid of confrontation with Nike.

In the summer of 2014, NBA star Kevin, who jumped out of the Nike sponsorship contract.

Durant (Kevin Durant) once faced Under Armour's very sincere sponsorship contract - the total price of 10 years was US $285 million.

Finally, Nike had to match the offer before winning the NBA leader.

Although the status of the industry leader can not be shaken, but the UA's rush to catch up is also the time for Nike to start worrying.

In the past 19 years, UA's sales rose from $17 thousand in 1996 to $3 billion 800 million today. The whole history of growth can be described by a miracle.

Moreover, UA is the only enterprise in the S & P 500 index that has a sales growth of over 20% in each quarter in the past 21 quarters.

From the 2011 fiscal year to the 2015 fiscal year five, no matter sales or net profit, it has continued to grow.

No matter from which angle, it is a good phenomenon. Enterprises that can keep the profit growth continuously will not be bad.

With the increase of sales volume, UA's stock also increased significantly in five years. Next, let's take a look at the inventory turnover rate in UA 2015. By dividing the cost by the average stock in 2014 and 2015 fiscal year, the inventory turnover rate of UA is about 3.12, while that of Nike and Adidas is 3.99 and 3.10. respectively.

This shows that the rising star of UA has already been in the leading position in the industry, and the brand recognition of consumers has become a real purchasing power for UA.

Starting from the 2013 fiscal year, the cash flow of UA has been increasing significantly, and it has increased by 88.5% over the past 15 years. It can be seen that UA's operation is very healthy.