Steph Curry Is Helping Under Armour In Asia, Too

FBR’s Susan Anderson maintained an Outperform rating for Under Armour Inc (NYSE: UA), with a price target of $115. The analyst said that market share gains and brand recognition had positioned the company for high growth in China.

Presence In China

Under Armour recorded $3 million in revenue from China in 2012. The company’s revenues more than doubled in 2013 to $7 million, and tripled in 2014 to $30 million. In 2015, Under Armour grew its business triple digits in China - it opened a flagship store in downtown Shanghai, hosted a Curry tour and recorded its first $1 million online revenue day.

Analyst Susan Anderson estimates China to add 190bps, 170bps and 210bps to total revenue growth in 2016, 2017 and 2018, respectively, with China revenue approaching ~$400 million by 2018.

Stephen Curry

“We believe strong brand recognition has been driven by Stephen Curry’s rise to stardom in the NBA,” Anderson wrote. According to the NBA, China has about 300 million people who play basketball and nearly 450 million basketball fans.

“In addition, in fall 2015, UA toured Stephen Curry throughout Asia (Japan, Philippines, Beijing, Shanghai). We believe the sales and brand recognition benefits from this tour are just starting to accrue, and 2016 could be a bigger growth year than 2015 as a result,” the analyst added.