Under Armour today raised its full-year earnings forecast and beat estimates for quarterly profit, as it kept a tight lid on costs and sold more runners in international markets.
The company has shut underperforming stores, cut jobs and revamped its supply chain as its battles intense competition from sporting wear giants Nike and Adidas.
Those efforts boosted first-quarter gross margins by 100 basis points to 45.2%.
Sales in international markets, including Europe and Asia, rose 12% and accounted for 27% of overall revenue. Total footwear sales were up 8% in the quarter.
The Baltimore-based company 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 $22.5m, or 5 cents per share, in the first quarter ended March 31.
This compared with a loss of $30.2m, or seven 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.
The company said its net revenue rose to $1.20 billion from $1.19 billion, edging past analysts' average estimate of $1.18 billion.
