Under Armour Raises Profit Forecast After Upbeat First Quarter

BALTIMORE, United States — Under Armour Inc raised its full-year earnings forecast and beat estimates for quarterly profit on Thursday, as it kept a tight lid on costs and sold more sneakers in international markets, sending its shares up nearly 5 percent.

The company has shut underperforming stores, cut jobs and revamped its supply chain as its battles intense competition from sneaker giants Nike Inc and Adidas AG.

Those efforts boosted first-quarter gross margins by 100 basis points to 45.2 percent.

Sales in international markets, including Europe and Asia, rose 12 percent and accounted for 27 percent of overall revenue. Total footwear sales were up 8 percent in the quarter.

The Baltimore-based company, known for its Stephen Curry-line of shoes, now expects profit of 33 cents to 34 cents per share for the year, up from a previously expected range of 31 cents to 33 cents.

The company reported a net income of $22.5 million, or 5 cents per share, in the first quarter ended March 31, compared with a loss of $30.2 million, or 7 cents per share, a year earlier, when the company recorded restructuring charges.

Analysts on average were expecting the company to break even, according to IBES data from Refinitiv.

Net revenue rose to $1.20 billion from $1.19 billion, edging past analysts' average estimate of $1.18 billion.

By Aishwarya Venugopal; editor: Shinjini Ganguli.