Under Armour Swot Analysis Paper

Under Armour Incorporated

Jake Montalbano

August 1, 2014

MGT 111 – Summer 2014

Prof. Robin James

Company Introduction

Under Armour is being selected because it is becoming a bigger and bigger player in the sports apparel and equipment industry. It is quickly gaining more notoriety and market share in the sporting world as they compete with Nike to be top American sporting company.

Company Overview

Under Armour was started in 1996 by Kevin Plank. Plank was a fullback and special teams captain on the University of Maryland football team. He found that the undershirts he wore as a player would get soaked with sweat and would need to be changed often. So he developed shirts that were made of the same material as compression

The industry is worth $244 billion worldwide and $80 billion in the United States (Euromonitor, 2013).

Company Strengths/Weaknesses

A SWOT analysis analyzes the current state of the company and shows the companies strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats.

Under Armour’s strengths are diverse product offerings, innovation, and recognized brand name. More strengths financially are that their operating income is rising, stock price is up 126% over last 12 months, and their forward price-to-earnings ratio is 60, and sales are growing. (Marder, 2014) Under Armour’s willingness to test the boundaries of conventional clothing and uniforms helps steer discussions towards the company. Two uniforms have made Under Armour a huge talking point on social media and around the water cooler in the past couple years, University of Maryland’s Maryland flag football uniforms and Northwestern University’s blood spattered Wounded Warrior Project football uniforms.

Weaknesses for Under Armour are that they don’t have as wide a product line as other sports apparel companies, lacks in quality and number of sponsorships compared to other sports apparel/equipment companies. Financially only 8% of their revenue is from outside the U.S. (Marder,

The company is also going after women to help bolster their revenue (Marder, 2014). The company has a lot of brand recognition as many athletes and unique sponsors that help spread the brand’s recognition past just sports. The company also has an extensive involvement in community and charities. These include UA Power in Pink that focuses on giving to breast cancer charities, UA Freedom that supports the Wounded Warrior Project, UA Green which uses green technology to make that line of clothing, and UA Youth Movement that works on promoting youth fitness and sports. They also work with The Boomer Esiason Foundation, Habitat for Humanity, Living Classrooms Foundation, Ronald McDonald House, and The V Foundation (UA Give