Under Armour (UAA) Q4 2026 earnings call transcript

I would now like to turn the conference over to Mr. Lance Elega, Senior Vice President, Finance and Capital Markets. Please go ahead. Welcome Underalmer's fiscal 2026 fourth quarter earnings call. Today's call is being recorded, and a replay will be available on our investor relations website shortly after the call concludes. Joining us this morning are Kevin Plank, President and CEO and Reza Telegani, Chief Financial Officer.

Before we begin, please note that certain statements made on today's call are forward-looking statements within the meaning of federal securities law. These statements reflect management's current expectations as of May 12th, 2026, and are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially. For a discussion of these risks and uncertainties, please refer to this morning's press release, our filings with the SEC, including our most recent forms, 10K and 10Q and other public disclosures.

During today's call, we may reference certain non-gap financial measures. We believe these measures provide additional insight to the underlying trends of our business when considered alongside our gap results.

Reconciliations of the non-gap measures to the most directly comparable gap measures are included in today's press release and are available on our investor relations website at about. underrummer. com.

With that, thank you for joining us this morning and for your continued interest in Under Armour. I'll now turn the call over to Kevin.

Good morning. Thank you Lance and welcome everyone. To start, I want to welcome Reza Telegani to Under Armour. He joined earlier this year as our CFO and important time for the brand. Reza brings strong capital discipline, financial clarity and a sharp strategic lens on decision making. We are early in this chapter that that impact is already evident in how we define and evaluate our performance metrics and in the way we prioritize across the business.

As we move into the next phase of our transformation, our operational rigor and financial accountability become even more critical. We are better positioned with Reza's fresh perspective, driving toward a more intentional brand and business with stronger profitability.

As we sharpen the way we operate the business, we're equally focused on elevating the strength and credibility of our product. And with that, a big congratulations to Sharon Locati for securing her second consecutive Boston Marathon victory in the Under Armour Velocity Elite 3. On one of the most demanding stages in sport, that level of repeat performance is not just impressive.

It's definitive. Playing the podium for UA at the most coveted marathon race in the world is the clearest possible proof point of what Under Armour stands for, delivering at the highest level when it matters most.

Under Armour makes pinnacle performance footwear. It's now our job to ensure the world knows that too and commercialize that fact. The same innovation, fit, speed and performance DNA that powers a Boston Marathon champion will also power the everyday runner. This includes products like the Velocity Pro and Velocity Distance, as well as the balance of our increasingly edited line of footwear, where we're consistently applying the concept of less being more.

Intentionality will define this chapter for the brand. In that spirit, and as I've shared before, over the past two years, we've executed a deliberate reset of the business, making more intentional choices about where and how we compete. Our focus is on elevating product, strengthening the brand and reducing complexity through structural changes, not just surface adjustments.

That work requires difficult trade-offs. We've walked away from certain non-profitable parts of our business. We implemented a category management model that helps us focus investment on the categories, products and stories that strengthen the brand and improve the quality of our growth.

As a result, Under Armour is becoming a more focused, disciplined and intentional company, which is reflected in our execution.

That progress is increasingly becoming more visible in how we go to market, the manifestation of marketing excellence. A more modern marketing engine rooted in what has always made Under Armour distinct, credibility earned through the athletes and teams who compete in our product.

We are clearer in our position as a podium brand built to outfit athletes from head to toe at the highest levels of competition.

Our core consumer, the 16 to 24 year old team sport athlete, remains our creative anchor while we serve all athletes. Our mission is to equip them to push beyond their perceived limits as the most authentic, incredible brand in sports.

Our innovation pipeline will continue to deliver products that become indispensable for athletes by meeting needs they never knew they had. And once they've tried, could not imagine living without.

That drum beat of innovation is already beginning to show up in our product. A strong commercial example is the Bouncy T, launching later this month in APAC and exclusively in the US through Dix and our own DTC channels with a mayor coming on line late summer. It brings premium performance, the most essential item in the athletes draw, the T-shirt.

Historically for UA, this level of innovation lived in sports specific gear. Now we are elevating everyday essentials with the same engineering in a way that feels natural to consumers.

Coming back to UA as a management team, we felt it was important to have a defining product that showcased our ability to move from field sports pitches in the gym into our consumers daily lives. We wanted a product that would define this versatility for the UA brand, that is the UA Bouncy Cotton T. Now please bear with me as this is not meant to describe a singular silver bullet of success, but instead serve as a larger or broader metaphor which you can expect from us going forward and not just making another item.

In our industry, it's been said that whoever invents the next white or black T-shirt wins. This means if you can master the simplest of items with meaningful effortless innovation, then we can do anything. The $65 Bouncy T delivers for Friday night wear under sport coat with the perfect neckline or Saturday morning in the gym. It features full UA innovation, including ultra smooth game of cotton and is built with our UA-developed neo-last recyclable stretch fiber.

It's Friday's Saturday performance translates just as easily to simply chilling on a Sunday and transitions from training to daily life without compromise.

This is what we mean by premiumization, delivering greater performance, versatility, and value through fewer, more purposeful products. It's also a reflection of where we know we have real strength today.

Peril remains the foundation of Under Armour in one of our greatest competitive advantages. Throwing our billion dollar plus footwear business is central to our midterm strategy. And as we reset footwear to build greater consistency, we're leaning into our leadership in apparel, where innovation fit and performance credibility are already well established.

That same discipline is shaping how we manage our broader product portfolio. We're working to strengthen our top 10 volume driving products across apparel footwear accessories with fresh styling, stronger innovation, and clearer consumer storytelling. While also identifying opportunities to improve price-to-value perception, to drive healthier profitability across key Under Armour franchises.

The goal is not simply to sell more units. It's to build better products with stronger margins and greater brand impact across the categories and products where consumers already know us or are meeting us for the first time. Growing new consumers is a priority for us.

That mindset extends beyond product and shapes how we operate company-wide. Over the past year, we took a decisive step and shifted to category management. We streamlined into about a dozen sports and activities, competing head to toe. This focus simplifies our workflow and market approach. Expectations are clear, roles defined, and teams are aligned around one goal, making athletes better.

We reinforce this focus with one question before any endeavor. As we deploy the resources of time, people, and money, will this help us sell more premium shirts and shoes? That answer must be yes, and the impact is already evident. Decisions are faster, coordination tighter, execution more consistent.

Taken together, these changes are creating a stronger, more disciplined foundation for the businesses we enter fiscal 27. After significant revenue rebase since our fiscal 25, particularly in North America, we expect the year ahead to see revenue stabilization in our largest region. That means fewer surprises and greater confidence in how decisions translate into results.

We're seeing early science have improved self-through, cleaner inventory, and stronger partner engagement. That progress gives us more control than we've had in years and positions us to build a model that can scale over time.

To support this, we're being precise about where we invest, where we leverage partners, and where we make trade-offs, prioritizing which drives value and stepping away from what does not. This is critical to improving the quality of our growth. At the center of this intentionality, making clear choices about where we compete and which products we back, prioritizing those products we want to be famous for.

We're removing friction and focusing the organization on what drives the brand forward. Now, all that being said, we are not improving our bottom line fast enough. While confident in our strategy, we will continue to work the mix and prioritize near, mid, and long-term profitability, consistency blended with agility. This is essential to seeing our transformation through, and there are no sacred cows, just the lens of what is the best decision for the brand.

Execution must tighten, and we are holding ourselves accountable for accelerating progress. This also includes bringing an even sharper focus on editing and optimizing our product assortment, marketing spend, processes, and cost structure to improve UA's profitability.

Along those lines, we've made strong progress simplifying our product offering, while building a focused pipeline of innovation, that you will begin to see in a much more consistent way in the coming quarters.

Over the past two years, we've reduced SKUs by 25%. And with Cara now in place, and her new role as chief merchandising officer, we expect further reductions as we continue to sharpen the assortment. Fewer, better products with concentrated demand, and a more succinct consumer proposition, with less complexity across the supply chain, resulting in healthier margins for UA, as well as our factory and wholesale partners.

The focus discipline we've been building into product is now expanding into marketing, with the goal becoming more product-led and more intentional in how we activate and deploy our resources.

I define this as a more focused product-to-brand marketing mix, and as we really get it right, you shouldn't be able to tell the difference between the two.

Every dollar spent should be brand-elevating, rather than trying to say everything at once. We're concentrating investment behind the products, athletes, and stories, that most clearly communicate our performance credibility and differentiate UA.

We believe the strongest way to elevate underarmour is not through broader messaging alone, but by amplifying great product with sharper storytelling and more consistent execution at retail.

We're applying greater rigor to how marketing investments are allocated and measured across the organization. We see a meaningful opportunity to operate with more precision, more curation, and stronger returns on investment.

Importantly, unlike product transformation cycles that can take multiple seasons to materialize, we expect elements of this marketing evolution to move faster and improve how the brand connects with consumers in the near-term.

Pulling all of this together as we look ahead to fiscal 27, we do expect to stabilize with revenue down slightly.

That outlook reflects both continued consumer uncertainty and the deliberate choices we're making to reshape the business. We are prioritizing revenue quality over volume, strengthening the foundation and positioning the company to return to growth, with stronger profitability and a more consistent brand expression. This is not about stepping back, it's about building a more focused discipline and premium underarmour with a stronger right to win in the marketplace.

And while our ambition is to operate as one global brand, the business remains at different stages of evolution across regions today. Importantly, we're supported by strong experienced leadership teams with deep tenure who understand both the brand and the markets we serve.

In North America, we expect stabilization in the year ahead and are focused on revenue quality, restoring marketplace discipline and rebuilding momentum with both consumers and wholesale partners. What we're seeing gives us great confidence. Inventory's cleaner, product feedback is positive and engagement with key accounts is strengthening. These are early but important signs that the foundation is moving in the right direction.

In Amaya, the business remains solid and continues to serve as a stable anchor for the brand. In an uncertain environment, our priority there is to protect and extend that strength by expanding in key markets while maintaining the discipline that's made the region such a consistent contributor to our global performance.

In APAC, we're sharpening our focus and driving greater efficiency with a clear emphasis on China. We're tightening the assortment, elevating the consumer experience and ensuring we are positioned to compete effectively in this critically important market. As we do this, we're applying the same principles that guide our broader reset, focus, optimization and clarity of brand.

In fiscal 27, we expect Rose Margin to expand approximately 220 to 270 basis points, primarily driven by the assumed benefit of a tariff related refund, along with pricing actions to elevate our brand that are managed promotions and a more favorable channel mix. At the same time, our outlook reflects ongoing external pressures, including tariffs and broader geopolitical uncertainty.

All in, we expect adjusted operating income to be in the range of 140 to $160 million. In closing, what you're seeing taking shape is a more intentional and connected under armor with focused product, more aligned marketing and improved financial performance, which all reinforce one another. Over the past two years, we've rebuilt important parts of the company with greater clarity, discipline and accountability.

Now, following the progress we've made in re-engineering our product organization, we are now applying that same focus and lens with rigor to marketing. With the goal of amplifying our product strength, deepening consumer connection and driving more consistent demand.

Most importantly, strategies increasingly driving the decisions across the organization were becoming more intentional about where we compete, how we invest, and where we believe we can create the greatest long-term value.

In fiscal 27, we are operating from a position of greater strength. And while we remain a work in progress throughout this transformation, the model is simpler, the strategy is clear, execution is improving. We have a core team that is deeply committed to winning for this brand and our shareholders. We've made significant and important progress over the last two years, and I'm excited to see forward momentum translate into discipline delivery and into building a more predictable and profitable business in the coming quarters and years.

And with that, I'll turn it over to Reza.

Thank you. Thank you and good morning, everyone. I'll start by thanking Kevin on the board for the opportunity to join Under Armour at such an important time for the brand. It's a company I've long admired, and I'm excited to step into this role as we move into the next phase of the transformation.

I also want to take a moment to recognize David Bergman for his leadership and partnership during this transition. It's 21 years with the company and the foundation he's helped build, had positioned us well for what comes next.

Over the past few months, what has stood out most is the alignment across the organization. The strategy is clear, priorities are well defined, and there's a strong sense of ownership and accountability across teams. Just as important, there's a clear connection between the strategic choices we are making and how they translate into performance. As Kevin outlined, we've spent the past two years executing a reset, simplifying the model, strengthening the brand and improving execution across the organization.

From my perspective, that work is creating a more focused, more controlled, and ultimately more predictable company. My role is to build on that foundation by driving greater financial clarity, consistency, and accountability as we move forward.

This is a brand that has been navigating tariffs, softer consumer demand and supply chain disruption. At the same time, there's a strong sense of control across the organization, and I'm excited to strengthen that momentum.

As Kevin outlined in fiscal 26, we focused on building structure and discipline, and our performance reflects that progress. While we're still early in stabilization, we're beginning to see more consistent execution. And with that context, let me turn to our results.

Fiscal 26 brought its share of external pressures, particularly from tariffs. Revenue declined 4% to $5 billion. By region, North America was down 8%, and Mia was up 9%, and APEC declined 5%. Adjusted gross margin declined 220 basis points to 45.7%. Primarily driven by higher US tariffs, along with a more promotional second half, partially offset by favorable FX and product mix.

Adjusted SG&A decreased 5% to $2.2 billion. Adjusted operating income was $107 million. And adjusted diluted EPS was 12 cents.

Turning to our fourth quarter results, revenue was down 1% to 1.2 billion. By region, North America revenue declined 7%. Primarily due to a decrease in wholesale, with a slight decline in our direct-to-consumer business. And Mia, revenue increased 7%, with about three points of negative impact coming from shipment timing that shifted from Q4 into Q1.

Orders' results included growth across both wholesale and direct-to-consumer channels. Revenue Mia was down 1% constant currency. APEC revenue increased 13% and 8% constant currency, with growth in both DTC and wholesale channels. In Latin America, revenue increased 22% or 8% constant currency, with strong double-digit growth across both wholesale and direct-to-consumer businesses.

From a channel perspective, wholesale revenue declined 3% and driven by a decrease in full price sales, partially offset by distributor growth. Direct-to-consumer revenue increased 5% in the quarter, with 8% growth in our owned and operated stores and flat e-commerce revenue.

And licensing revenue increased 11% driven by strength in our international business. By product type, apparel revenue was flat, with growth in train, outdoor and sportswear, offset by softness in run, team sports and golf. But where revenue was also flat, with strength in run and team sports, offset by softness in other categories.

Accessories' revenues increased 2%, driven largely by strength in sportswear and train. Growth margin declined 470 basis points over the year to 42% in the fourth quarter. Excluding restructuring efforts, adjusted gross margin, declined 360 basis points to 43.1%. This decline was driven by 315 basis points of supply chain headwinds, including roughly 260 basis points of pressure from U. S. tariffs.

90 basis points from increased promotional pressure, particularly in direct-to-consumer, as we managed through softer traffic and took proactive steps on inventory. And 20 basis points of unfavorable regional mix.

These headwinds were partially offset by 65 basis points of favorable foreign currency and channel mix impact. Moving to SG&A expenses, which decreased 15% to 518 million in the fourth quarter, primarily driven by lower marketing spend due to timing shifts, as most of last year's spend was weighted towards the second half. We also saw benefits from lower incentive compensation, as well as declines in several other cost areas, as we continue to focus on expense management.

Excluding 15 million in transformation costs, adjusted SG&A declined 14% to $503 million. Over the past few months, we've conducted a comprehensive review of the business to ensure we are fully capturing the intended benefits. To complete the remaining work, we're initiating a targeted expansion of the plan. This includes incremental cost necessary to deliver the full value of this effort, bringing the total anticipated cost to approximately $305 million.

We now expect the plan to be substantially complete by December 31st. Moving down the P&L, we reported a fourth quarter operating loss of $34 million, excluding transformation expenses and restructuring charges are adjusted operating income with $3 million.

To the bottom line, our diluted loss per share was 10 cents. Excluding transformation and restructuring charges are adjusted diluted loss per share in the fourth quarter with three cents.

On the balance sheet, we ended the year with $915 million in inventory, down 3% year over year, reflecting continued discipline as we reshaped the business. This includes deliberate actions in the fourth quarter to further reduce inventory, accelerating the reset and positioning us well for fiscal 27.

Importantly, this is not just lower inventory, but better inventory, but improved quality to run by tighter buys and more focused assortment and stronger alignment with demand. We closed the year with $309 million in cash and $605 million in restricted investments, which are set aside to fully cover the principal and interest on our senior notes to this June.

With that obligation coming off the books by the end of the quarter, this marks a meaningful step forward in strengthening our balance sheet. We also ended the year with $200 million in borrowings under our revolving credit facility.

Looking ahead to our fiscal 27 outlook, we expect revenue to be down slightly. This includes approximately one point of impact from the Curry brand exit. Meaning we would have been roughly flat absent that. That outlook includes a low single digit decline in North America, partially offset by low single digit growth in EMEA and APAC. As Kevin mentioned, this reflects both the dynamic retail environment and deliberate choices we are making to strengthen and protect the brand, including tightening assortment and stepping away from lower value opportunities.

But some of these actions may impact near-term volume. They are intentional and aligned with our focus on driving a more profitable higher quality business over time.

For gross margin, we expect expansion of approximately 220 to 270 basis points versus last year's gross margin. This outlook assumes a potential refund related to IAPA tariffs expense through the P&L in fiscal 26. This positive impact is expected to contribute roughly 150 basis points with most of the benefit recognized in the first quarter. Excluding this gross margin improvement reflects pricing actions as we continue to elevate our brand, reduce discounting, and a more favorable channel mix, partially offset by supply chain headwinds, related to the Middle East conflict.

It also includes an assumption that the current 10% incremental tariffs through July remain at the same level for the rest of fiscal 27. We expect our adjusted SG&A expenses to increase at a low single digit rate versus the prior year. This is driven primarily by about two points of higher compensation related costs as we normalize against actions we took last year to offset tariff pressures, which resulted in reduced incentive compensation, lower merit increases and changes in employee benefits.

There's also about a point from additional marketing investments that we'll be making this year. We'll still be within the 10% to 12% of revenue that we've kept to historically. Balance this out as we dig in further on the year ahead, we anticipate that we will find other opportunities for operational improvements. That together, an excluding anticipated transformation expenses and restructuring charges, we expect adjusted operating income for fiscal 27 to be in the range of 140 to $160 million.

This assumes approximately 70 million of benefit from the refund of IAPA tariffs, expense through the P&L in fiscal 26. That tariff benefit absorbs approximately 35 million of headwinds that we're seeing related to the Middle East conflict, as well as 30 million in strategic marketing investments to strengthen our brand momentum as we begin to stabilize.

Below the operating line, we expect an unusually high gap effective tax rate for the year. This is primarily driven by restructuring expenses, which will increase losses in the U. S. and certain international markets where accounting valuation allowances prevent the recognition of related tax benefits. For non-GAAP, we also expect to hire the normal effective tax rate, primarily due to the geographic mix of earnings.

We expect taxable profits in most international markets with losses in some others. Your subject evaluation allowances that negate the related tax benefits. Both GAAP and non-GAAP tax rates are also being impacted by a current level of profitability, or even a modest tax expense can result in higher effective tax rate.

As profitability improves in the U. S. , we would expect tax rates to normalize over time. All in, this results in full year, adjusted diluted EPS in the range of eight to 12 cents.

Currently, some color for our first quarter, we expect revenue to decline two to 3%, driven by an anticipated high single-digit decline in North America, reflecting a challenging retail environment in recent and reset in seasonal wholesale ordering. This will be partially offset by a low-teen percentage increase in amia, which includes a three-point benefit from a shift in shipment timing from Q4 into Q1.

Eight-back revenues expect to be roughly flat. Overall, we expect the first quarter to represent the weakest revenue performance of the year with growth rates improving progressively through the balance of fiscal 27.

First margin for the first quarter is expected to increase by 610 to 630 basis points, largely due to the assumption of a benefit from my EIPA tariff refunds associated with the expenses that hit the P&L in fiscal 26, which it contribute about 600 basis points. Excluding this benefit, favorable channel and product mix are expected to offset higher tariff rates currently in effect. Supply chain headwinds related to the Middle East conflict and unfavorable effects in regional mix.

Adjusted SGA expenses in the quarter are expected to increase at a high single-digit rate compared to last year's adjusted SGA, driven by higher marketing expenses, which should result in first-quarter adjusted operating income of $30 to $40 million or an adjusted diluted EPS of break-even two cents.

In closing, our focus is on continuing to build a more disciplined and predictable financial model grounded in clear priorities and consistent execution. We are aligning our financial framework tightly with our strategy focusing on improving the quality of revenue, expanding margins and driving more efficient capital allocation. That includes maintaining strong marketplace discipline being intentional in where we invest and ensuring that every dollar supports long-term brand strength and profitability.

The opportunity before us is ultimately about building a more focused, higher quality business, one where product, marketing and financial performance are aligned and where we are better positioned to translate strategy into repeatable results. We've made meaningful progress strengthening the foundation and while there is more work ahead, we are moving forward with greater clarity, discipline and control.

With that, we'll open the call for questions.

Yeah, thanks, let me let, maybe rather jump in and sort of break in a little bit here with some tactics and then let me come on the backside of that. Thanks, Kevin and Jay. Fiscal 27, it includes a one-point reduction from the cardiac that we talked about. So we're looking at really the underlying being closer to flat.

Recall that stabilization for us is roughly defined as plus or minus one to two percent. So we are in that range. North America, we are expecting down low single digits. EMEA, we're expecting to be up low single digits and APAC, up low single digits. So the international markets should be continuing to perform. If I'm looking at it for the first quarter specifically, North America is expected to be down about seven to eight percent, whereas EMEA is going to be up in the low teens.

Some of that is that shift that we talked about from Q4 into Q1, but still strong performance overall for EMEA in the quarter. And APAC is expected to be roughly flat. So overall for Q1, we're expecting revenue to be down about two to three percent.

But Kevin, I'll turn it over to you for the color.

Yeah, so Jay, thanks for the question. And I think it's important for us to ground ourselves in the numbers. And I do just want to mark the fact that we've been targeting after establishing North America, minus 12 percent traction in two years ago to minus eight percent, looking at that roughly stabilization is something that I think our team has worked incredibly hard for and something that we looked to build on. But I want to emphasize that we're focusing and prioritizing the quality of our revenue over the volume, making really deliberate decisions, particularly about our growth and our margins. So we expect to accomplish all this by doing much less things, much better. So I've said that a few times and I hope that theme of intentionality is something that really comes through for the call.

But by removing this amount of volume from the system, we're reducing the amount of work that our teams have to deal with, our consumers have to digest, our customers have to place in their stores. And it's all coming with a very heavy lens of, will this deployment of time people or money help us sell more shirts and shoes? And so we do believe that the inflection point is upon us in fiscal 27, this is turnaround.

But we also recognize consistency matters. So our operating model, our go-to-market, none of these things are massively changing. However, we're also keeping our head on a swivel. Sorry for the sports terms, but doing things like implementing a chief merchant and having care there who can edit as aggressively as the business calls for. We're now looking to take that same sort of rigor that we've applied across the 25% reduction and we're going deeper than that through the seasons and upcoming seasons that we have in front of us and applying that rigor to marketing is the next focus that we have. The good news, we have a large denominator, nearly half a billion dollars of marketing dollars in how we think about deploying that money.

But this is something we believe is an important time of inflection for us to invest greater sales for the brand. And that greater sales will bring greater profitability for us. And so we are certainly, again, we are bottom line focused, but we think it's important we have our storytelling capability and driving behind things because we're not sitting here flat footed. We have an incredible innovation pipeline coming from things like the bouncy T I mentioned in my prepared remarks to what we have coming back with fleece and the support we're getting from our partners there and of course of base layer compression business that we have. So the good news about all of this is that we're seeing greater buy-in from our key strategic partners across the world really and Europe and the JDs and STIs and El Cortez and Glasses through right here at home with the biggest partners that you of course know and are aware of.

So we do believe this is an inflection force and we look to grow forward from here. Got it. Sounds great. Thank you so much. Thank you, Jay.

Yeah, thank you. Let me kick off, and then I'll have Reza kick in. So what we're seeing right now is when we talk about stabilization, we recognize Q1 is going to be the trough force and not the trend. And so it's a bit of an outlier. The decline that we see reflects some of the softer carryover we had from spring, summer, 26 order books and, frankly, a bit of a cautious retail environment.

There is a stronger foundation now in place I mentioned Cara taking over Chief Merchant, Adam Stepping in and filling her shoes with a long time under our Mervette. So we've got zero real transition value with those two experts. The partner confidence that we're getting, I just want to emphasize that. And we're beginning to see that show up with better reaction or a fall 26 order books. And so I can't emphasize enough, particularly here in North America, the trend that we're on, which, again, was minus 12, minus eight, and now we're calling flatish. And so while we are seeing some modesty there, the quality of that revenue, the way they're expecting us, they're opening us to bringing in new innovations from us is something which is really important.

So the better products that we have is, I think, we've made this point on a few crawls, which is focusing on our top 10 volume and drivers, full price sell-throughs. And the good news is that we are seeing the trend. We talk about the trough. I think it's a good way to think about sort of where we've been at this moment is that looking for the opportunity for us to grow up from here because we're watching awareness grow positively, consideration grow positively. So the metrics are also heading in our ways, but we want to see that translate into full price sales. We want to see that into growth. We want to see that into bottom line profitability.

So while 27 is a deliberate stabilization year with improving trends beyond just the first quarter, we believe we're positioned really well for sustainable growth in fiscal 28 and beyond.

And let me just step in on the gross margin points that you asked as well. So for fiscal 27, we're expecting, we're guiding around 220 to 270 basis points increase or benefit to gross margin. If you back out the fiscal 26 tariff refund that I talked about, the 150 basis points, that gets you to about plus 70 to plus 120 basis points versus 26.

For Q1, you're really going to see it in Q1, where we're basically looking at 610 to 630 basis points versus last year. So gross margin going up.

And if you back out tariff, that's about 600 basis points of that as well. I think the message around gross margin really is we're looking at 2027. We're definitely expecting gross margins to not only stabilize but to improve. So even if you back out the tariff benefits, we're expecting that the strategy around improving, but taking the products that we have and selling them at a full price, some of the channel mix that we have should lead to a benefit in terms of overall gross margins for the brand.

Yeah. There's a general theme that we're looking at in terms of the quality of sales. So it's one of the things that we saw in Q4. We strategically were looking at basically resetting the year. So we talked about reducing the inventory in Q4 on purpose as we started the balance of fiscal 27. There is a brand elevation strategy that we're pursuing here. So as you look at product, Kevin and the team has spent the last couple of years really resetting on the product side. And we have some good product introductions that are coming. But if you go to any of our stores, you'll see an elevated product offering already.

So we are expecting that that will result in benefits as it relates to just pricing. So it's not pricing for pricing sake. It's that you have new product that's coming out that is at an elevated price point. And that also fits into the distribution strategy that we have, be it wholesale or in our own direct-to-consumer channels as well.

So there is, as we talked about gross margin improvement, part of that is related to expecting that we're moving more and more to a more elevated product offering that enjoys the higher price point. And I think we've been talking about this for the last 12 or 14 months.

The thing about tariffs, it actually fits in line with our criminalization for the brand. And so we'd be doing this anyway, where we've been aggressive is in some of our top 10s that we have replacing our number one apparel item, the tech team with new innovation will be coming out later this year, introducing some pinnacle North Star products like bouncy teeth that can come in, and again, emphasizing and building around where we already have permission with the consumer to win, things like our base layer and our compression. And so we're being thoughtful. We don't feel like we're being opportunistic. We feel like we're being prudent with what the business calls for. And frankly, just getting confident with where we know that we can win and we can excel and the ability for us to extend from there.

We're taking baby steps towards that, having the right product that moves, of course, locking down on field, on pitch, on court, in the gym, first and foremost, and then finding natural ways that this brand can extend beyond those places where the consumer sees us today.

Yeah, I think as it relates to ECOM, that's something that we constantly look at. You know, we recently had a marketing summit. And one of the proofs we came back with was that if we can improve and grow our e-commerce traffic, it'll take care of everything else in the business. And so I do think it's a good canary in the coal mine for what's happening out there.

Traffic is certainly not brilliant today, but it's something that we're, as I say, and really consolidate our line, the offering that we have and make it get more intentional. So the consumer isn't walking into an environment of, welcome to Under Armour. We sell a bunch of stuff. What would you like to buy versus? Here's three great things that you couldn't live without and that only Under Armour could make. And so leaning and driving on that. But it is the consumer, something that we're watching closely and including consumer confidence right now.

Yes. Let me take the first part of that question. So our sports focus, as I said, we've limited and really called things down, focusing on the leadership, the decision makers we have in the buildings so we can be more deliberate, more intentional and I'll probably wear you out with that word, but it's something that we're driving across the business, ensuring that every dollar is driving an ROI return for what we put into it.

The 12 categories that we have are the ones that you know, and we basically listen out is training, running, and sportswear being our major growth opportunities. All of that underpinned and supported by team sports. You've seen the initiatives we had from a marketing standpoint around flag football, particularly with women as being the articulation of that voice and something that we're driving back toward, making sure that authenticity and credibility is something that always screams from under armor.

You're right. Sharon Locati's win is something which is defining for the brand. As I said in my prepared remarks, it's not just a moment, but when you can do that twice, it tells the consumer that in the largest market that we have to compete in from a footwear standpoint, that under armor can not only compete, but we can absolutely win. Doing it back-to-back is significant.

Sharon, though, is you're not going to sell a lot of $250 running shorts that we have, but we have the greatest opportunity for us to be able to build, I think, something more extraordinary for as we bring that out to our velocity distance, our velocity, pro, and get into commercial price points where we can actually sell and activate with the consumer.

The two largest places where the consumer is participating today is we here you on track and field, and we do support the majority of those sports as helping and supporting some of the 3,000 colleges that under our, or sorry, 400 plus colleges we have and 3,000 plus high schools that we have around the country, so these are things that all feed into it, but we believe that running is a place that we have permission to win. We just need to tell the consumer about that and do it a more articulated way.

Yeah, sure. Thanks. So, on the tax rate, we're not guiding you a specific ETR number, but I think what you need to know is what we mentioned on the call. It's basically both on a gap and on a gap basis. It's really the geography of where the earnings are coming from and the ability to use your deductions against that. So, while I would tell you, if North America starts to return to growth, we're very well positioned in terms of our tax structure. When you have basically certain jurisdictions like China and other areas where you have to pay taxes, and then you're not able to basically use the losses to offset what you have, because some of the restructuring expenses that we've taken, it results in a elevated tax, effective tax rate.

You know, in under normalized instances, we would be in the high 20s, you know, mid to high 20s is where we would be, but that's not what we're looking at currently. In terms of the interest expense, think of it as basically our debt. Once we get past the June payoff and everything, so we have basically 400 million of senior notes, and we have 200 million currently drawn under the revolver. The revolver balances will obviously fluctuate over the course of the year.

On a blended basis, you're looking at around six and a half, 6.6% interest expense against that. So, for modeling purposes, that's where we would guide you. You know, our revolver is priced at so-for-plus 150 basis points, and so that's how it comes out on a blended basis.

I think that's a fair assumption. But, obviously, you can get more of the open as well.

Thank you so much. It's a great question and one that Kevin actually asked me last week, and we had a senior leadership meeting that I basically went through this, so I'll just give you some inside baseball and what I shared with the management team as well.

Really, the first thing that I'll start with is the management team is really impressive. And I'm not just saying that because my boss is in the room, but honestly, from every layer, whether it's the senior management to the levels below my finance team, I think it's very, very clear in terms of what everybody is focused on. So, I would tell you and everybody on this call, rest assured that things that are controllable are being controlled. So, we have a clear strategy, we have a clear way forward. Obviously, I have a partner in Kevin about 30 years of experience in this industry and knows this company intimately, but we are mid-journey and turning around the company.

And just to overly simplify it, I would tell you, and obviously you guys know that I come from a consumer product background as well, but very simplistically, you got to look at it as revenues are driven. It's product plus brand times marketing equals revenues. The biggest surprise for me is really on product.

Product truly is phenomenal. And I'm just going to share with you an example of my daughter, who's literally one of our aspirational slash target consumers is 23. When I started here, for those of you who haven't been here, we have a phenomenal campus store that's in our headquarters building here in Baltimore. I went down and obviously I did some shopping for myself and I did some shopping for my family.

And I bought my daughter a Meridian top. And if you don't know Meridian, I highly recommend buying some. The Meridian top that I got her, and to be fully transparent with you, she was not an under armor consumer previously. My son has always been, but she wasn't. She tries this top on, and again, she is very honest. And she basically said, this is one of the best tops I've ever had. Why don't you sell this? And that really comes down to the point here is we really have brand and product.

And for brand, people want us to win. I can't tell you how many people have reached out and said, we really liked under armor, we wanted to win. I feel like there's really good affinity towards the brand. The product is great. The issue is marketing. And so I'm looking at that as an example of you have somebody who looks at something, it wouldn't even think to have gone and purchased that product.

And so I'll just touch on one other thing, and then I'll segue over to Kevin for more detail on the marketing side. The other thing is, as I come into this role, obviously I bring a fresh perspective. You should just know that we have a huge focus on profitability, like driving profitability. So we're scrubbing the cost structure.

We're looking at the revenue realities where we are. We're right sizing the company for those revenue realities. And there's a huge focus and clear strategy in terms of navigating this dynamic environment that we're in right now. But let me turn it over to Kevin to talk about the marketing point.

Yeah, thank you, Reza. And absolutely getting your daughter to know that what we make and how great it is is critical. So, Bob, thank you for the question, because this is something that's been highly discussed, talked through, contemplated, and frankly, deliberately decided of what we believe is the right thing for us to take for our business. And so, let me just take a minute here and sort of go through marketing.

We recently, we did a structural review to identify, you know, how we can drive greater marketing spend synergy, because we found ourselves really running three smaller companies with a $3 billion dollar one in America, and a billion two-ish one in Europe, and a south of a billion dollar one in APAC that we're looking to grow, and we believe that we can get and drive, I think, just more competency with the way that we're cutting through to our consumer.

At Under Armour, we like to say that our currency is product, but our voice is overwhelming storytelling, and I don't feel like we've been living up to that. I believe that there's more efficiency in our current nearly half a billion dollar marketing budget. We align this year, though, to deploy and spend that additional $30 million, which is we know something that would be highly scrutinized.

But to be honest with you, this isn't just us throwing money at something. We believe that this will actually help us drive more efficiency. We want to better ensure that we can move back to growth in fiscal 28, and so we think it's an important time for us to do it, and there's two places that we're looking to deploy those dollars. Number one, this isn't about acquiring, you know, new products or new properties. This is about celebrating the product that we already have. As I mentioned, Bouncy, our women's bra program, which is something which is extraordinary, with new innovations coming out, heat gear, cold gear, fleece, and making sure the products we have are actually selling through.

We have several launches coming later this year as well, as I've said, emphasizing that our innovation pipeline is full, and so we want to make sure that we're not missing that opportunity. I don't believe that we've been as clear as it could be in the past. Secondly, we also want to make sure that we're paying off the assets where we have spent money, things like our new partnership with the NFL, the collegiate partnerships, and the, you know, nine figures plus that we spend on sports marketing, making sure that we're doing a better job activating that. So where we are now is that we're focused on effectiveness.

Doing fewer but better impactful activations, clearer messaging, and things that will help us, frankly, sell more premium assurance and shoes, everything going through that lens, that discipline, and then also being more data-driven with the allocation of every marketing dollar spent and that we're going through and driving a serious ROI as to, does this investment make sense to us?

And as I said, I like this construct of, you know, when we're doing it right, we're mostly talking and describing the benefits of what our brand, of what our product does, but through a brand lens, it's something that matters. This is going to be a targeting investment to strengthen the brand that will position our business. And as Reza said, it sticks within our current 10 to 11%, but we agree. We want to focus on SG&A. We want to get SG&A down.

We're hyper-aware of that, and we're at bit at this moment where we do think it's an inflection. So I believe that what you've seen us be able to action so far on the product side, which at this point is mostly just for you, as it begins to come through, but that's 25% that we've taken out the additional cuts that we're making to SKUs, just taking simply volume out of the system. We'll leave our team in a much, much better place.

Maybe I could just leave you as we think about marketing too, is just how we're thinking about the business. And, you know, we had recently a two-week summit I described loosely earlier.

But after that, we brought all of our marketing leaders from APAC, from a may of it together. And we spent, you know, three or four days here in Baltimore in an onsite offsite. And we aligned on these four proofs. The first one I said is, you know, if we can drive more consumer traffic to our website, the overall business will grow.

Secondly, it was this heightened focus that we have on new consumers. I mentioned that in my prepared remarks. Third is the need that we have to focus on that product to brand marketing. And again, when we're doing it right, you should not be able to tell the difference between the two. And that's what the brilliance or the cleverness that hopefully you'll be seeing as our marketing.

And fourth and finally is aligning on the pooling of more of our marketing dollars together that we're leveraging and creating content here from a global base. To say that happened to be done exclusively in the regions, of course, allowing them to translate and make it region or market appropriate. But having just a greater strength here from headquarters as well would be stronger point of view. So this brand knows who it is. We know who the consumer that we're hunting for is as well. And we have incredible empathy for the products that they will choose and desire.

Start with that, Kevin, and then you can pick up from maybe the Asia point. But the overall in terms of North America, the direct to consumer channels that we're looking at, if I'm thinking about DTC and really our factory house stores is what's driving a lot of that, are expected to continue to outperform. In terms of wholesale, we're seeing decent sell through currently. And I think as we're in the sell-in for the further seasons, the early indications are that it is an improving trend, which is what you're seeing in the numbers that are coming out. If we're looking at it overall, I gave indications around the overall wholesale, not necessarily broken up by region.

But our expectation is that wholesale in this year is going to be up slightly. It'll be flat to up slightly. And then if I'm looking at direct to consumer specifically, we expect that the factory house will perform.

Let me turn that over to Kevin to talk about the China trends. Yeah, so, Laurent, thank you. Let me just back up a little bit on some of that wholesale, because we are seeing incredible partnership where I think some of what, you know, wholesale is seeing from us. DTC plays out real time. Wholesale gets to see some of the trends of where we're going. So we are exploring right now, deeper partnership, deeper collaboration.

And I think collaboration, I mean, literally collabs with things that will help us preemise and elevate the brand. Our wholesale must grow, though. It's 60% of our business, something that we're focused on. And so we know that we have to win there. So this is a total execution from either right product, be the right storytelling for the customer on the sell-in to see the way it executes at retail or online in their stores, too. So we are focused on that full end-to-end throughput that we have as our product goes to market. As it relates to China, Under Armour is in a pretty unique place. We've got a terrific leader across APAC and Simon Peschich, who is a brand-first leader.

Simon took on this commercial role probably 18 or 20 months ago. And what he's done is basically helped us perform a bit of a flip, where we were incredibly promotional, incredibly discounted, and we did a really great job. So far, as we're watching to turn the inflection of that business from, you know, down in the teens where we were a little more than a year ago, to something where we're looking at flattish to, you know, even positive there. The market is not great, meaning the consumer is tough everywhere.

So you're not having sort of any places where you get a free launcher and easy ride. But I think what we're doing right now is brand-right marketing. We've exited or exiting performance marketing, reducing it significantly as we can flip that into brand-right marketing. That's actually driving and selling a product versus selling a price savings or a discount.

We also have a terrific pro there named Carol Chen, who runs the business force, who is an industry vet, who knows the partners, who knows our franchisees, and is someone who's been critical and a real staple for Simon there as we look in market. For us, you know, we're testing new retail concepts. We're trying new things and working the merchandising mix.

I think, you know, China, I don't know if I could compare it to the U. S. I guess I could just say broadly that I don't think there's, as I said, there's no free rides that you get in any market around the world right now. It's more competitive, especially with some of the local options they have there in China. But underarmors certainly holding your phone and we have a great plan for pro there.

With regards to CAPX, I think it will be similar to what you've seen last year. So we're past building our campus here in Baltimore. So that's kind of a more normalized level going forward, I think. In terms of free cash flow, we're expecting free cash flow generation in the year. The expectations are both the core operations as well as well as some working capital benefit building in terms of the free cash flow that we'll see this year. We did have some one timers last year in terms of free cash flow, which you're well aware of in terms of some settlement payments and things like that.

And so, yeah, I mean, I think we expect it to be a good year in terms of overall free cash flow generation, even after CAPX investments.

Second part of the question, sorry. If you've built any benefit from the World Cup in your guidance. Not anything that's of particular note. Obviously, we have some assets that we plan to activate during the course of the World Cup, but there isn't anything that would be a one time that wouldn't be requiring in future years that's outside.

Yeah, and from a pure market standpoint there, we're going to have, I think, ten to a dozen players that will be participating in the World Cup here in the U. S. You know, it's going to be a period of time. It's one where it's incredibly expensive to get in. And so basically the majority, if not all of our marketing in Europe is built around football.

And so bringing the beautiful game here to the U. S. is something we're going to celebrate with a number of our players, like Herman Lopez and the range that we have, which is extraordinary.

And so we want to make sure we're supporting some of the players we'll have on the Spanish national team and some of the other national teams. But as far as a major play in World Cup, it's something that we want to make sure that we're understood and played in football, but we want to definitely take our time and not try to outspend in someplace where we think it may be a bit uphill for us. And so we have a position to win. We're going to continue to do that through our language in Europe, especially.

Thanks. You talked about the e-commerce channel and how things can do well there. They both well for the overall business. Can you double click on the levers you can pull to improve traffic there and will guide into rooms as the year moves forward. And then as a follow on, you know, with product with the product that's sort of evolving towards brand elevation, how are you thinking about segmentation of newness across B2C versus also channels? Start with the number side of it and then Kevin, Kevin can talk to some of the macro points as well.

The e-commerce is is stabilizing after after 2026. We are expecting it to improve as the year goes on. There is a bit of a reset that's happening in e-commerce. One of the focuses that Kevin touched on is how we're trying to, it could be much more intentional in the way that we present ourselves in the e-commerce channel because that really is the best reflection of the brand.

So there are changes that you're going to be seeing, particularly in North America in terms of how that is. We do expect that to take some time to bear fruit. There is, you're absolutely right, traffic is challenged in terms of e-commerce overall. What we're cognizant of is not over-investing marketing dollars on performance to drive the unqualified traffic. I don't think that will have much of a benefit. So we want to make sure that we're executing the brand elevation play we have in e-commerce.

And to do that, you're going to start to see from a marketing perspective a greater mix in terms of what we're doing both at the brand level as well as performance to try to do that. But I think the bigger point is really from a macro perspective strategically resetting the presence that we have on e-commerce to make it more brand elevating and to drive higher price points than ASPs.

Kevin, I don't know if you want to add to that.