Under Armour Brand Check-up: The Growth It Pulled Forward
Under Armour once reported 26 straight quarters of revenue growth of 20% or more. On June 2, 2026, its Class A shares closed at $5.43, about 90% below their 2015 record. Revenue has fallen three years running, and founder Kevin Plank, back as CEO since April 2024, is two years into a reset. We look at how a performance brand lost its price position.
Key takeaways
- Under Armour’s Class A shares closed at $5.43 on June 2, 2026, 89.6% below their record close of $52.05 in September 2015 (adjusted for 2016 Class C dividend).
- Revenue fell for a third straight year to $4.97 billion in fiscal 2026, with North America down 8% and footwear down 11%, and management expects a slight decline in fiscal 2027.
- The SEC found that the company pulled forward $408 million of orders over six quarters from 2015 without disclosing its reliance on them; in 2024 it agreed to pay $434 million to settle a shareholder suit, without admitting fault.
- Founder Kevin Plank, back as CEO since April 2024, is cutting styles and promotions to rebuild a premium position, while Stephen Curry announced in November 2025 that he is ending his partnership with the brand.
Download the full Under Armour Brand Check-up (PDF): vital signs, timeline, diagnosis, treatment and sources.
Vital signs
All figures are in U.S. dollars, and the share price is for Under Armour’s Class A shares (NYSE: UAA). They closed at $5.43 on June 2, 2026, 89.6% below their record close of $52.05 on September 17, 2015 (adjusted for 2016 Class C dividend) and 16.6% below their $6.51 close a year earlier. In the year to March 31, 2026, revenue fell 4% to $4.97 billion and the company posted a net loss of $496 million, including a $247 million tax valuation allowance. It was the third straight annual decline, down from $5.90 billion in fiscal 2023. North America, the largest region, fell 8% to $2.86 billion. Footwear fell 11%.
How the growth story ended
In October 2016, Kevin Plank called the third quarter “our 26th consecutive quarter of 20+% revenue growth”. Three months later, the story broke. On January 31, 2017, the company missed holiday sales expectations, set a 2017 revenue target below analysts’ forecasts and said its CFO was leaving. The Class A shares closed down 25.7% that day.
Diagnosis: growth pulled from future quarters
According to the SEC, part of that run was borrowed. In 2021 the regulator said Under Armour had pulled forward $408 million of existing orders over six straight quarters, starting in the third quarter of 2015, without disclosing how much it relied on them. The company paid $9 million without admitting or denying the findings. In June 2024 it agreed to pay $434 million to settle a shareholder class action, again with no admission of fault. Pulled-forward orders flatter one quarter and take from the next. They also hide how much real demand the brand has.
Diagnosis: promotions became the price position
Under Armour grew through wholesale. In early 2017 about 85% of its revenue still came from North America, and retailer bankruptcies such as Sports Authority’s hurt its ability to get product on shelves, while Nike and Adidas were investing in their own retail. In May 2024 the company said it would reset the business “following years of heightened promotional activities”, and Plank said it would “build a premium positioning for our brand.”
That is a brand positioning problem as much as a sales problem. A brand cannot sell premium performance while its shoppers learn to wait for the discount.
Diagnosis: too many priorities, fewer anchors
On his first earnings call back, Plank told analysts: “Too many areas of our product strategy have been designated as priorities.” The plan was to cut the style count by roughly 25% over 18 months and reduce heavy promotions. Meanwhile, the brand lost anchors. Stephen Curry, a partner since 2013, announced the end of the partnership in November 2025, and Curry Brand will continue independently. In January 2026, Have I Been Pwned said a breach affected 72 million email addresses. The company said: “Any implication that sensitive personal information of tens of millions of customers has been compromised is unfounded.”
Treatment so far
Plank returned as CEO on April 1, 2024, after Stephanie Linnartz had served just over a year. The restructuring plan announced in May 2024 at $70 million to $90 million in charges now has a total cost of about $305 million and should be substantially complete by December 31, 2026. The company has chosen a smaller business in exchange for fuller prices. That is the balance between brand building and sales activation run in reverse: after years of heavy promotion, rebuilding the brand costs revenue first.
Prognosis
For fiscal 2027, management expects revenue to decline slightly, with North America down and EMEA and Asia-Pacific up. The test is at home: whether North American sales stop falling at fuller prices, and whether footwear holds up after Curry’s remaining Under Armour shoes release in 2026. Track those with a short list of marketing KPIs, not revenue alone.
What growing companies can learn
Do not borrow growth from next quarter. Pulled-forward orders and steady discounts can make the revenue line look healthy while the brand weakens underneath. Pick fewer priorities, set a price position and defend it, and measure the demand you did not have to buy.
This check-up uses public information available on June 2, 2026. It is brand and marketing analysis, not investment advice.
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