Item 1A. Risk Factors 12
Item 1B. Unresolved Staff Comments 25
Item 2 Properties 26
Item 3 Legal Proceedings 26
Item 4 Mine Safety Disclosures 26
PART II.
Item 6 Selected Financial Data 29
Item 7A. Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosures About Market Risk 53
Item 8 Financial Statements and Supplementary Data 55
Item 9A. Controls and Procedures 100
Item 9B Other Information 103
PART III.
Item 10. Directors, Executive Officers and Corporate Governance 102
Item 11 Executive Compensation 102
Item 14. Principal Accountant Fees and Services 102
PART IV.
Item 15. Exhibits and Financial Statement Schedules 103
Item 16 Form 10-K Summary N/A
PART I
Forward-Looking Statements
Some of the statements contained in this Form 10-K constitute forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements relate to expectations, beliefs, projections, future plans and strategies, anticipated events or trends and similar expressions concerning matters that are not historical facts, such as statements regarding our future financial condition or results of operations, our prospects and strategies for future growth, the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on our business and results of operations, our plans to reduce our operating expenses, anticipated charges and restructuring costs, projected savings related to our restructuring plans and the timing thereof, the development and introduction of new products, the implementation of our marketing and branding strategies, and the future benefits and opportunities from significant investments. In many cases, you can identify forward-looking statements by terms such as “may,” “will,” “should,” “expects,” “plans,” “anticipates,” “believes,” “estimates,” “predicts,” “outlook,” “potential” or the negative of these terms or other comparable terminology.
The forward-looking statements contained in this Form 10-K reflect our current views about future events and are subject to risks, uncertainties, assumptions and changes in circumstances that may cause events or our actual activities or results to differ significantly from those expressed in any forward-looking statement. Although we believe that the expectations reflected in the forward-looking statements are reasonable, we cannot guarantee future events, results, actions, levels of activity, performance or achievements. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements. A number of important factors could cause actual results to differ materially from those indicated by these forward-looking statements, including, but not limited to, those factors described in “Risk Factors” and “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations.” These factors include without limitation:
•the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on our industry and our business, financial condition and results of operations;
•changes in general economic or market conditions that could affect overall consumer spending or our industry;
•increased competition causing us to lose market share or reduce the prices of our products or to increase significantly our marketing efforts;
•fluctuations in the costs of raw materials and commodities we use in our products and our supply chain;
•changes to the financial health of our customers;
•our ability to successfully execute our long-term strategies;
•our ability to effectively drive operational efficiency in our business and successfully execute any restructuring plans and realize their expected benefits;
•our ability to effectively develop and launch new, innovative and updated products;
•our ability to accurately forecast consumer shopping preferences and consumer demand for our products and manage our inventory in response to changing demands;
•loss of key customers, suppliers or manufacturers or failure of our suppliers or manufacturers to produce or deliver our products in a timely or cost-effective manner;
•our ability to further expand our business globally and to drive brand awareness and consumer acceptance of our products in other countries;
•our ability to manage the increasingly complex operations of our global business;
•our ability to successfully manage or realize expected results from significant transactions and investments;
•our ability to effectively market and maintain a positive brand image;
•the availability, integration and effective operation of information systems and other technology, as well as any potential interruption of such systems or technology;
•any disruptions, delays or deficiencies in the design, implementation or application of our global operating and financial reporting information technology system;
•our ability to attract key talent and retain the services of our senior management and key employees;
•our ability to access capital and financing required to manage our business on terms acceptable to us;
•our ability to accurately anticipate and respond to seasonal or quarterly fluctuations in our operating results;
•risks related to foreign currency exchange rate fluctuations;
•our ability to comply with existing trade and other regulations, and the potential impact of new trade, tariff and tax regulations on our profitability;
•risks related to data security or privacy breaches; and
•our potential exposure to litigation and other proceedings.
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The forward-looking statements contained in this Form 10-K reflect our views and assumptions only as of the date of this Form 10-K. We undertake no obligation to update any forward-looking statement to reflect events or circumstances after the date on which the statement is made or to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events.
Throughout this Annual Report on Form 10-K: (i) the term "Fiscal 2021" means our fiscal year beginning on January 1, 2021 and ending December 31, 2021; (ii) the term “Fiscal 2020” means our fiscal year beginning on January 1, 2020 and ended December 31,2020; (iii) the term “Fiscal 2019” means our fiscal year beginning on January 1, 2019 and ended December 31, 2019; and (iv) the term “Fiscal 2018” means our fiscal year beginning on January 1, 2018 and ended December 31, 2018. Our Consolidated Financial Statements are presented in U.S. dollars. As used in this report, the terms “we,” “our,” “us,” “Under Armour” and the “Company” refer to Under Armour, Inc. and its subsidiaries unless the context indicates otherwise.
ITEM 1. BUSINESS
General
Our principal business activities are the development, marketing and distribution of branded performance apparel, footwear and accessories for men, women and youth. The brand’s performance apparel and footwear are engineered in many designs and styles for wear in nearly every climate to provide a performance alternative to traditional products. Our products are sold worldwide and are worn by athletes at all levels, from youth to professional, on playing fields around the globe, as well as by consumers with active lifestyles.
We generate net revenues from the sale of our products globally to national, regional, independent and specialty wholesalers and distributors. We also generate net revenue from the sale of our products through our direct-to-consumer sales channel, which includes our brand and factory house stores and e-commerce websites. In addition, we generate net revenues through product licensing as well as digital fitness subscriptions and digital advertising on our Connected Fitness applications. A majority of our products are sold in North America; however we believe that our products appeal to athletes and consumers with active lifestyles around the globe.
We plan to continue to grow our business over the long term through increased sales of our apparel, footwear and accessories, expansion of our wholesale distribution, growth in our direct-to-consumer sales channel and expansion in international markets. Our digital strategy is focused on supporting these long term objectives, emphasizing the connection and engagement with our consumers through multiple digital touch points.
We were incorporated as a Maryland corporation in 1996. We have registered trademarks around the globe, including UNDER ARMOUR®, HEATGEAR®, COLDGEAR®, UA HOVRTM and the Under Armour UA Logo, and we have applied to register many other trademarks. This Annual Report on Form 10-K also contains additional trademarks and tradenames of our Company and our subsidiaries. All trademarks and tradenames appearing in this Annual Report on Form 10-K are the property of their respective holders.
Products
Our product offerings consist of apparel, footwear and accessories for men, women and youth. We market our products at multiple price levels and provide consumers with products that we believe are a superior alternative to traditional athletic products. In Fiscal 2020, sales of apparel, footwear and accessories represented 64%, 21% and 9% of net revenues, respectively. Licensing arrangements and revenue from our Connected Fitness business represented the remaining 6% of net revenues. In December 2020, we completed the sale of our MyFitnessPal platform, which represented the largest business within our Connected Fitness segment, as well as discontinued our Endomondo platform. We continue to offer digital fitness subscriptions through our MapMyFitness platform, which includes MapMyRun and MapMyRide. Refer to Note 19 to the Consolidated Financial Statements for net revenues by product.
Apparel
Our apparel is offered in a variety of styles and fits intended to enhance comfort and mobility, regulate body temperature and improve performance regardless of weather conditions. Our apparel is engineered to replace traditional non-performance fabrics in the world of athletics and fitness with performance alternatives designed and merchandised with a variety of innovative techniques and product styles. Our highly technical products extend primarily across the sporting goods, outdoor and active use markets. We market our apparel for consumers to provide a benefit you never knew you needed, but can't imagine living without, including HEATGEAR® to wear
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when it is hot, COLDGEAR® to wear when it is cold, or our RUSHTM or RECOVERTM designed to increase blood flow. Our apparel comes in three primary fit types: compression (tight fit), fitted (athletic fit) and loose (relaxed).
HEATGEAR® is designed to be worn in warm to hot temperatures under equipment or as a single layer. While a sweat-soaked traditional non-performance T-shirt can weigh two to three pounds, HEATGEAR® is engineered with a microfiber blend designed to wick moisture from the body which helps the body stay cool, dry and light. We offer HEATGEAR® in a variety of tops and bottoms in a broad array of colors and styles for wear in the gym or outside in warm weather.
COLDGEAR® is designed to wick moisture from the body while circulating body heat from hot spots to help maintain core body temperature. Our COLDGEAR® apparel provides both dryness and warmth in a single light layer that can be worn beneath a jersey, uniform, protective gear or ski-vest, and our COLDGEAR® outerwear products protect the athlete, as well as the coach and the fan from the outside in. Our COLDGEAR® products generally sell at higher prices than our other product styles.
Footwear
Footwear primarily includes products for running, basketball, cleated sports, slides, training, and outdoor. Our footwear is light, breathable and built with performance attributes for athletes. Our footwear is designed with under-foot cushioning technologies including UA HOVRTM, UA Micro G®, UA FlowTM, and Charged Cushioning®, engineered to a specific sport with advanced outsole construction.
Accessories
Accessories primarily includes the sale of athletic performance gloves, bags, headwear and sports masks. Our accessories include HEATGEAR® and COLDGEAR® technologies and are designed with advanced fabrications to provide the same level of performance as our other products.
Connected Fitness
We offer digital fitness subscriptions, along with digital advertising through our MapMyFitness platform, and until December 2020 through our MyFitnessPal and Endomondo platforms. As noted above, in December 2020 we sold our MyFitnessPal platform and discontinued our Endomondo platform. Our MapMyFitness platform includes applications, such as MapMyRun and MapMyRide.
License
We have agreements with licensees to develop certain Under Armour apparel, accessories and equipment. In order to maintain consistent quality and performance, our product, marketing, sales and quality assurance teams are involved in substantially all steps of the design and go to market process in order to maintain brand and compliance standards and consistency. During 2020, our licensees offered collegiate apparel and accessories, baby and youth apparel, team uniforms, socks, water bottles, eyewear and other specific hard goods equipment that feature performance advantages and functionality similar to our other product offerings.
Marketing and Promotion
We currently focus on marketing our products to consumers primarily for use in athletics, fitness, and training activities, with an emphasis on connecting with our target consumer - the focused performer. We seek to drive consumer demand by building brand awareness that our products deliver advantages to help athletes perform better.
Sports Marketing
Our marketing and promotion strategy begins with providing and selling our products to high-performing athletes and teams at the high school, collegiate and professional levels. We execute this strategy through outfitting agreements, professional, club, and collegiate sponsorship, individual athlete and influencer agreements and by providing and selling our products directly to teams and to individual athletes. We also seek to sponsor and host consumer events to drive awareness and brand authenticity from a grassroots level by hosting combines, camps and clinics for young athletes in many sports. As a result, our products are seen on the field and on the court, and by various consumer audiences through the internet, television, magazines and live at sporting events. This exposure to consumers helps us establish on-field authenticity as consumers can see our products being worn by high-performing athletes.
We are the official outfitter of athletic teams in several high-profile collegiate conferences as well as multiple
professional sport organizations supporting the athletes on and off the field. We sponsor and sell our products to international sports teams, which helps to drive brand awareness in various countries and regions around the world.
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Media
We feature our products in a variety of national digital, broadcast, and print media outlets. We also utilize social and mobile media to engage consumers and promote connectivity with our brand and our products while engaging with our consumer throughout their performance journey. For example, in the first quarter of Fiscal 2020 we launched a new brand campaign, “The Only Way Is Through”, which was introduced during a Performance Summit with over 180 social media influencers and was re-activated through brand authentic moments across the calendar year. Additionally, during the initial wave of the COVID-19 pandemic, we transitioned our campaign from “The Only Way is Through” to "Through This Together" that provided consumers with at home workout solutions across various digital platforms.
Retail Presentation
The primary goal of our retail marketing strategy is to increase brand floor space dedicated to our products within our major retail accounts. The design and funding of Under Armour point of sale displays and concept shops within our major retail accounts has been a key initiative for securing prime floor space, educating the consumer and creating an exciting environment for the consumer to experience our brand. Under Armour point of sale displays and concept shops enhance our brand’s presentation within our major retail accounts with a shop-in-shop approach, using dedicated floor space exclusively for our products, including flooring, lighting, walls, displays and images.
Sales and Distribution
The majority of our sales are generated through wholesale channels, which include national and regional sporting goods chains, independent and specialty retailers, department store chains, mono-branded Under Armour retail stores in certain international markets, institutional athletic departments and leagues and teams. In various countries where we do not have direct sales operations, we sell our products to independent distributors or we engage licensees to sell our products.
We also sell our products directly to consumers through our own network of brand and factory house stores and through e-commerce websites globally. Factory house store products are specifically designed for sale in our factory house stores and serve an important role in our overall inventory management by allowing us to sell a portion of excess, discontinued and out-of-season products, while maintaining the pricing integrity of our brand in our other distribution channels. Through our brand house stores, consumers experience the premium full expression of our brand while having broader access to our performance products. In Fiscal 2020, sales through our wholesale, direct-to-consumer, licensing and Connected Fitness channels represented 53%, 41%, 2% and 3% of net revenues, respectively.
We believe the trend toward performance products is global and plan to continue to introduce our products and simple merchandising story to athletes throughout the world. We plan to continue to grow our business over the long term in part through continued expansion in new and established international markets. We are introducing our performance products and services outside of North America in a manner consistent with our past brand-building strategy, thereby providing us with product exposure to broad audiences of potential consumers.
Our primary business operates in four geographic segments: (1) North America, comprising the United States and Canada, (2) Europe, the Middle East and Africa ("EMEA"), (3) Asia-Pacific, and (4) Latin America. Each of these geographic segments operate predominantly in one industry: the development, marketing and distribution of branded performance apparel, footwear and accessories. We also operate our Connected Fitness business as a separate segment. Effective January 1, 2021, following the sale of MyFitnessPal and the winding down of the Endomondo platform in December 2020, revenues for the remaining MapMyFitness business will be included in Corporate Other, and Connected Fitness will no longer be a separate reportable segment. Refer to Note 19 to the Consolidated Financial Statements for net revenues by segment.
Corporate Other consists largely of general and administrative expenses not allocated to an operating segment, including expenses associated with centrally managed departments such as global marketing, global IT, global supply chain, innovation and other corporate support functions; costs related to our global assets and global marketing, costs related to our headquarters; restructuring and restructuring related charges; and certain foreign currency hedge gains and losses.
Our North America segment accounted for approximately 66% of our net revenues for Fiscal 2020. Approximately 31% of our net revenues were generated from our international segments in Fiscal 2020. Approximately 3% of our net revenues were generated from our Connected Fitness segment in Fiscal 2020.No customer accounted for more than 10% of our net revenues in Fiscal 2020. Refer to Note 19 to the Consolidated Financial Statements for net revenues by segment.
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North America
We sell our apparel, footwear and accessories in North America through our wholesale and direct-to-consumer channels. Net revenues generated from the sales of our products in the United States were $2.7 billion and $3.4 billion for Fiscal 2020 and 2019, respectively.
Our direct-to-consumer sales are generated through our brand and factory house stores and e-commerce website. As of December 31, 2020, we had 176 factory house stores in North America primarily located in outlet centers throughout the United States and Canada. As of December 31, 2020, we had 18 brand house stores in North America throughout the United States and Canada. Consumers can purchase our products directly from our e-commerce website, www.underarmour.com.
In addition, we earn licensing revenue in North America based on our licensees’ sale of collegiate apparel and accessories, as well as sales of other licensed products.
We distribute the majority of our products sold to our North American wholesale customers and our own retail stores and e-commerce businesses from distribution facilities we lease and operate in California, Maryland and Tennessee. In addition, we distribute our products in North America through third-party logistics providers with primary locations in Canada, New Jersey and Florida. In some instances, we arrange to have products shipped from the factories that manufacture our products directly to customer-designated facilities.
EMEA
We sell our apparel, footwear and accessories primarily through wholesale customers, independent distributors, e-commerce websites, and brand and factory house stores within Europe. We also sell our branded products to various sports clubs and teams in Europe. We generally distribute our products to our retail customers and e-commerce consumers in Europe through a third-party logistics provider in the Netherlands as well as a bonded warehouse in the United Kingdom. We sell our apparel, footwear and accessories through independent distributors in the Middle East, Africa and Russia.
Asia-Pacific
We sell our apparel, footwear and accessories products in China, South Korea, Australia and India through stores operated by our distribution and wholesale partners, along with e-commerce websites and brand and factory house stores we operate. In March 2020, we completed the acquisition of our Southeast Asia distribution partner, and now have direct sales operations in Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand. We also sell our products to distributors in New Zealand, Taiwan, Hong Kong and other countries in Southeast Asia where we do not have direct sales operations. We distribute our products in Asia-Pacific through third-party logistics providers based in Hong Kong, China, South Korea, Australia and India.
We have a license agreement with Dome Corporation, which produces, markets and sells our branded apparel, footwear and accessories in Japan. Our branded products are sold in Japan to large sporting goods retailers, independent specialty stores and professional sports teams, and through licensee-owned retail stores. We hold an equity method investment in Dome.
Latin America
We sell products through wholesale customers in Mexico, Chile, Argentina and Colombia. We also sell though e-commerce websites, our own brand houses and factory houses in both Mexico and Chile, while we sell through wholesale partner stores in Argentina and Colombia. During the fourth quarter of Fiscal 2020, we determined to change to a distributor model in Chile and have executed an asset sale agreement. We expect to close this sale in early Fiscal 2021. In certain other Latin America countries we distribute our products through independent distributors which are sourced primarily through our international distribution hub in Panama. We have license and distribution agreements with third parties that sells our products in Brazil and other markets within the region.
Connected Fitness
Thoughout Fiscal 2020, we offered digital fitness subscriptions, along with digital advertising through our MapMyFitness, MyFitnessPal and Endomondo platforms. Our MapMyFitness platform includes applications, such as MapMyRun and MapMyRide. We engage this community by developing innovative services and other digital solutions to impact how athletes and fitness-minded individuals train, perform and live. As noted above, in December 2020, we completed the sale of our MyFitnessPal platform, which represented the largest business within our Connected Fitness segment and discontinued our Endomondo platform.
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Product Design and Development
Our products are developed in collaboration with our product development teams and manufactured with technical fabrications produced by third parties. This approach enables us to select and create superior, technically advanced materials, curated to our specifications, while focusing our product development efforts on style, performance and fit.
With a mission to make athletes better, we seek to deliver superior performance in all products. Our developers proactively identify opportunities to create and improve performance products that meet the evolving needs of our consumer. We design products with consumer-valued technologies, utilizing color, texture and fabrication to enhance our consumers perception and understanding of product use and benefits.
Our product development team works closely with our sports marketing and sales teams as well as professional and collegiate athletes to identify product trends and determine market needs. For example, these teams worked closely to identify the opportunity and market for our COLDGEAR® Infrared product, which is a ceramic print technology on the inside of our garments that provides athletes with lightweight warmth, and UA HOVRTM, a proprietary underfoot cushioning wrapped in a mesh web, equipped with a MapMyRun powered sensor designed to deliver energy return and real-time coaching.
Sourcing, Manufacturing and Quality Assurance
Many of the specialty fabrics and other raw materials used in our apparel products are technically advanced products developed by third parties and may be available, in the short term, from a limited number of sources. The fabric and other raw materials used to manufacture our apparel products are sourced by our contracted manufacturers from a limited number of suppliers pre-approved by us. In Fiscal 2020, approximately 39% of the fabric used in our apparel products came from 5suppliers. These fabric suppliers have primary locations in Taiwan, China, Malaysia, and Vietnam. The fabrics used by our suppliers and manufacturers are primarily synthetic and involve raw materials, including petroleum based products that may be subject to price fluctuations and shortages. We also use cotton in some of our apparel products as a blended fabric. Cotton is a commodity that is subject to price fluctuations and supply shortages. Additionally, our footwear uses raw materials that are sourced from a diverse base of third party suppliers. This includes chemicals and petroleum-based components such as rubber that are also subject to price fluctuations and supply shortages.
Substantially all of our products are manufactured by unaffiliated manufacturers. In Fiscal 2020, our apparel and accessories products were manufactured by 50 primary contract manufacturers, operating in 18 countries, with approximately 68% of our apparel and accessories products manufactured in Vietnam, Jordan, Malaysia and China. Of our 50 primary contract manufacturers, 10 produced approximately 57% of our apparel and accessories products. In Fiscal 2020, our footwear products were manufactured bysix primary contract manufacturers, operating primarily in Vietnam, Indonesia and China. These six primary contract manufacturers produced substantially all of our footwear products.
All manufacturers across all product divisions are evaluated for quality systems, social compliance and financial strength by our internal teams prior to being selected and on an ongoing basis. Where appropriate, we strive to qualify multiple manufacturers for particular product types and fabrications. We also seek out vendors that can perform multiple manufacturing stages, such as procuring raw materials and providing finished products, which helps us to control our cost of goods sold. We enter into a variety of agreements with our contract manufacturers, including non-disclosure and confidentiality agreements, and we require that all of our manufacturers adhere to a code of conduct regarding quality of manufacturing, working conditions and other social concerns. We do not, however, have any long term agreements requiring us to utilize any manufacturer, and no manufacturer is required to produce our products for the long term. We have subsidiaries strategically located near our key partners to support our manufacturing, quality assurance and sourcing efforts for our products. We also manufacture a limited number of products, primarily for high-profile athletes and teams, on-premises in our quick turn, Special Make-Up Shop located at one of our facilities in Maryland.
Inventory Management
Inventory management is important to the financial condition and operating results of our business. We manage our inventory levels based on existing orders, anticipated sales and the rapid-delivery requirements of our customers. Our inventory strategy is focused on continuing to meet consumer demand while improving our inventory efficiency over the long term by putting systems and processes in place to improve our inventory management. These systems and processes, including our global operating and financial reporting information
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technology system, are designed to improve our forecasting and supply planning capabilities. In addition to systems and processes, key areas of focus that we believe will enhance inventory performance are added discipline around the purchasing of product, production lead time reduction, and better planning and execution in selling of excess inventory through our factory house stores and other liquidation channels.
Our practice, and the general practice in the apparel, footwear and accessory industries, is to offer retail customers the right to return defective or improperly shipped merchandise. As it relates to new product introductions, which can often require large initial launch shipments, we commence production before receiving orders for those products from time to time.
Intellectual Property
We believe we own the material trademarks used in connection with the marketing, distribution and sale of our products, both domestically and internationally, where our products are currently sold or manufactured. Our major trademarks include the UA Logo and UNDER ARMOUR®, both of which are registered in the United States, Canada, Mexico, the European Union, Japan, China and numerous other countries. We also own trademark registrations for other trademarks including, among others, UA®, ARMOUR®, HEATGEAR®, COLDGEAR®, PROTECT THIS HOUSE®, I WILL®, and many trademarks that incorporate the term ARMOUR such as ARMOUR® FLEECE and ARMOUR BRA®. We also own registrations to protect our connected fitness branding such as MapMyFitness® and associated MapMy marks. We own domain names for our primary trademarks (most notably underarmour.com and ua.com) and hold copyright registrations for several commercials, as well as for certain artwork. We intend to continue to strategically register, both domestically and internationally, trademarks and copyrights we utilize today and those we develop in the future. We will continue to aggressively police our trademarks and pursue those who infringe, both domestically and internationally.
We believe the distinctive trademarks we use in connection with our products are important in building our brand image and distinguishing our products from those of others. These trademarks are among our most valuable assets. In addition to our distinctive trademarks, we also place significant value on our trade dress, which is the overall image and appearance of our products, and we believe our trade dress helps to distinguish our products in the marketplace.
We traditionally have had limited patent protection on some of the technology, materials and processes used in the manufacture of our products. In addition, patents are increasingly important with respect to our innovative products and new businesses and investments. As we continue to expand and drive innovation in our products, we seek patent protection on products, features and concepts we believe to be strategic and important to our business. We will continue to file patent applications where we deem appropriate to protect our new products, innovations and designs that align with our corporate strategy. We expect the number of applications to increase as our business grows and as we continue to expand our products and innovate.
Competition
The market for performance apparel, footwear and accessories is highly competitive and includes many new competitors as well as increased competition from established companies expanding their production and marketing of performance products. Our competitors include, among others, Nike, Adidas, Puma and lululemon athletica, some of which are large apparel and footwear companies with strong worldwide brand recognition and significantly greater resources than us. Many of the fabrics and technology used in manufacturing our products are not unique to us, and we own a limited number of fabric or process patents. We also compete with other manufacturers, including those specializing in performance apparel and footwear, and private label offerings of certain retailers, including some of our retail customers.
In addition, we must compete with others for purchasing decisions, as well as limited floor space at retailers. We believe we have been successful in this area because of the relationships we have developed and the strong sales of our products. However, if retailers earn higher margins from our competitors’ products, they may favor the display and sale of those products.
We believe we have been able to compete successfully because of our brand image and recognition, the performance and quality of our products and our selective distribution policies. We also believe our focused product style merchandising story differentiates us from our competition. In the future we expect to compete for consumer preferences and expect that we may face greater competition on pricing. This may favor larger competitors with lower production costs per unit that can spread the effect of price discounts across a larger array of products and across a larger customer base than ours. The purchasing decisions of consumers for our products often reflect
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highly subjective preferences that can be influenced by many factors, including advertising, media, product sponsorships, product improvements and changing styles.
Human Capital Management
Under Armour is led by its purpose—We Empower Those Who Strive for More—and our teammates, who bring their different backgrounds, experiences and perspectives, are central to driving our long-term success as an organization and brand. Consistent with our purpose, we believe that our brand is stronger when our collective team is fully engaged and working together to support our athletes around the world. We also believe that having an engaged, diverse and committed workforce not only enhances our culture, it drives our business success, ultimately helping us to deliver the most innovative products that make athletes better. Our human capital management strategy is therefore focused on creating an inclusive workplace where our teammates can thrive by attracting, developing and retaining talent through a competitive total rewards program, numerous development opportunities and a diverse, inclusive and engaging work environment.
As of December 31, 2020, we had approximately 16,600 teammates worldwide, including approximately 12,000 in our brand and factory house stores and approximately 1,300 at our distribution facilities. Approximately 7,000 of our teammates were full-time. Of our approximately 9,600 part-time teammates, approximately 27% were seasonal teammates.
Diversity, Equity and Inclusion
Our commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion starts at the top with a highly skilled and diverse Board of Directors. Our Board of Directors has ongoing oversight of our human capital management strategies and programs and regularly reviews our progress towards achieving our diversity, equity and inclusion goals.
We have set measurable goals for improving diversity amongst our team, including a commitment to increase the number of historically underrepresented teammates throughout the levels of leadership within our organization by 2023. These goals are publicly outlined on our corporate website, where we also publish our representation statistics annually. We are also committed to continuing to increase representation of women in key areas of our business particularly in leadership, commercial and technical roles globally. Our annual incentive plan for all teammates, including executives, incorporates performance measures in furtherance of our diversity, equity and inclusion goals.
As of December 31, 2020:
•the race and ethnicity of our teammate population in the United States, including teammates in our brand and factory house stores and our distribution facilities, was 51% White, 21% Hispanic or Latino, 17% Black or African American, 6% Asian and 5% other;
•the race and ethnicity of our "director" level and above positions in the United States was 78% White, 7% Hispanic or Latino, 7% Black or African American, 6% Asian and 2% other; and
•53% of our global teammates were women, and women represented 37% of our “director” level and above positions.
In addition to building a more diverse team, we believe fostering an inclusive and ethical culture is key to our values and who we are as an organization. We believe open lines of communication are critical to fostering this environment. This starts with “tone at the top” and we emphasize the importance of our Code of Conduct and encourage our teammates to “speak-up” when they have concerns. We require unconscious bias training for all of our corporate teammates and our retail and distribution facility leadership, including training focused on promoting diversity during our new-hire interview process. In Fiscal 2020, we launched a company-wide virtual series to facilitate meaningful conversations on anti-racism and racial justice issues. For our senior leadership, we require mandatory training on cultural competency and building inclusive environments. We also invest in professional development specifically for our historically underrepresented and women teammates to improve retention and advancement. We currently have nine teammate-led Teammate Resource Groups, which amplify business initiatives, provide networking opportunities, support community outreach and promote cultural awareness. In addition, in Fiscal 2020 we established the Global T.E.A.M. (Teammate Equity and Accountability Movement) Council, our internal diversity, equity and inclusion council, comprising “director” level and above corporate teammates focused on fostering a diverse and inclusive work environment across our organization.
Total Rewards
Our total rewards strategy is focused on providing market competitive and internally equitable total rewards packages that allow us to attract, engage and retain a talented, diverse and inclusive workforce. In determining our
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compensation practices, we focus on offering competitive pay that is based on market data with packages that appropriately reflect roles and geographic locations. We believe in “pay for performance” and seek to design plans and programs to support a culture of high performance where we reward what is accomplished and how. We are also committed to achieving pay equity within all teammate populations, and with the assistance of third-party experts, conduct an annual review of pay equity and market comparison data. When we identify opportunities, we take prompt actions to close any gaps.
Our total rewards programs, which are outlined on the careers page of our corporate website, are aimed at the varying health, financial and home-life needs of our teammates. In the United States, where approximately 69% of our workforce is located, in addition to market-competitive pay and broad-based bonuses, our full-time teammates are eligible for healthcare benefits; health savings accounts; flexible spending accounts; retirement savings plan; paid time off; family, maternity and paternity leave; adoption assistance; child and adult care resources; flexible work schedules; short and long term disability; life and accident insurance; tuition assistance; fitness benefits at on-site gyms or eligible fitness programs; commuter benefits; Under Armour merchandise discounts; and a Work-Life Assistance Program. We believe in promoting alignment between our teammates and stockholders. As such, these teammates are also eligible to participate in our Employee Stock Purchase Plan, and corporate teammates within our “director” level and above positions receive restricted stock unit awards as a key component of their total compensation package. Outside of the United States, we provide similarly competitive benefit packages to those of our U.S.-teammates but tailored to market-specific practices and needs.
We believe that giving back to the communities where we live and work is central to our culture. In addition to competitive time off benefits, our full-time teammates also receive 40 hours of additional paid time off each year for personal volunteer activities performed during working hours.
Talent Development and Engagement
Our purpose of empowering those who strive for more is embodied in our commitment to helping our teammates develop their skills, grow their careers and achieve their goals. We believe our investment in these areas enhances our teammate engagement, improves the efficiency and productivity of our work and ultimately drives better results for our business. We prioritize and invest in a wide range of training and development opportunities for teammates at all levels, including through both online and instructor-led internal and external programs. All of our teammates have access to an online learning platform and knowledge database, Armour U, which offers an extensive, regularly updated library of seminars on a variety of topics. We also offer resources to support individual development planning, including emphasizing development opportunities as part of teammates’ annual goal setting process.
We invest in developing the leadership strength and capabilities of people-leaders at all levels, including through trainings focused on how to effectively manage, communicate with and drive the performance of teams. Through our succession planning efforts, we further focus on talent development for key roles within our organization.
We believe these efforts keep our teammates engaged and motivated to do their best work. We regularly collect feedback to better understand and improve our teammate experience and identify opportunities to continually strengthen our culture.
Health and Safety
In Fiscal 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic brought unprecedented challenges to our business, our communities, our athletes and our teammates. As we managed through these challenges, we prioritized the health, safety and overall well-being of our teammates. We implemented a new COVID-19 sick leave policy, which offers full-time and part-time teammates in the United States and Canada additional paid sick time if they are unable to work due to COVID-19 related circumstances, including experiencing COVID-19 related symptoms. At each of our office, retail store and distribution house locations, we follow applicable local, state and national government regulations, laws and recommended guidance. At our distribution houses, which have remained open, we have implemented government-recommended COVID-19 prevention measures, including reworking all job areas to reduce close contact, implementing daily health questioning, enhancing cleaning protocols, requiring face coverings and social distancing and adding physical distancing barriers and increased hand sanitizing stations. As discussed in “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations - COVID-19,” in Fiscal 2020, primarily in the second and third quarters, we closed many of our brand and factory house retail stores due to the COVID-19 pandemic. As we have reopened certain of our retail stores, in addition to requiring daily teammate wellness assessments, we have implemented COVID-19 prevention measures at these locations similar to those described above. With respect to our corporate teammates, many of our corporate offices remain closed (including our global headquarters) or are open in a limited capacity and the majority of our corporate teammates have shifted
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to working remotely. We offer resources for teammates working remotely, which are targeted at optimizing remote work environments and managing COVID-19 related challenges and address topics such as office ergonomics and mental and emotional health and well-being.
Available Information
We will make available free of charge on or through our website at https://about.underarmour.com/ our annual reports on Form 10-K, quarterly reports on Form 10-Q, current reports on Form 8-K and amendments to these reports filed or furnished pursuant to Section 13(a) or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the "Exchange Act") as soon as reasonably practicable after we electronically file these materials with the Securities and Exchange Commission. We also post on this website our key corporate governance documents, including our board committee charters, our corporate governance guidelines and our code of conduct and ethics.
Information About Our Executive Officers
Our executive officers are:
Name Age Position
Kevin Plank 48 Executive Chairman and Brand Chief
Patrik Frisk 58 Chief Executive Officer and President
David Bergman 48 Chief Financial Officer
Colin Browne 57 Chief Operating Officer
Lisa Collier 55 Chief Product Officer
Alessandro de Pestel 55 Chief Marketing Officer
Stephanie Pugliese 50 President of the Americas
Tchernavia Rocker 47 Chief People and Administrative Officer
John Stanton 60 General Counsel and Corporate Secretary
Kevin Plank has been Executive Chairman and Brand Chief since January 2020. Prior to that, he served as Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of the Board of Directors from 1996, when he founded our Company, to 2019, and President from 1996 to July 2008 and August 2010 to July 2017. Mr. Plank also serves on the Board of Directors of the National Football Foundation and College Hall of Fame, Inc., and is a member of the Board of Trustees of the University of Maryland College Park Foundation.
Patrik Frisk has been Chief Executive Officer and President and a member of our Board of Directors since January 2020. Prior to that, he served as President and Chief Operating Officer from July 2017 to December 2019. Prior to Under Armour, he was Chief Executive Officer of The ALDO Group, a global footwear and accessories company. Previous to that, he spent more than a decade with VF Corporation where he held numerous leadership positions including Coalition President of Outdoor Americas (The North Face® and Timberland®), President of the Timberland® brand, President of Outdoor & Action Sports (EMEA), and Vice President and General Manager of The North Face®. Before joining VF Corporation, Mr. Frisk ran his own retail business in Scandinavia and held senior positions with Peak Performance and W.L. Gore & Associates.
David Bergman has been Chief Financial Officer since November 2017. Mr. Bergman joined the Company in 2005 and has served in various Finance and Accounting leadership roles for the Company, including Corporate Controller from 2006 to October 2014, Vice President of Finance and Corporate Controller from November 2014 to January 2016, Senior Vice President, Corporate Finance from February 2016 to January 2017, and acting Chief Financial Officer from February 2017 to November 2017. Prior to joining the Company, Mr. Bergman worked as a C.P.A. within the audit and assurance practices at Ernst & Young LLP and Arthur Andersen LLP.
Colin Browne has been Chief Operating Officer since February 2020. Prior to that, he served as Chief Supply Chain Officer from July 2017 to January 2020 and President of Global Sourcing from September 2016 to June 2017. Prior to joining our Company, he served as Vice President and Managing Director for VF Corporation, leading its sourcing and product supply organization in Asia and Africa from November 2013 to August 2016 and as Vice President of Footwear Sourcing from November 2011 to October 2013. Prior thereto, Mr. Browne served as Executive Vice President of Footwear and Accessories for Li and Fung Group LTD from September 2010 to
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November 2011 and Chief Executive Officer, Asia for Pentland Brands PLC from April 2006 to January 2010. Mr. Browne has over 25 years of experience leading sourcing efforts for large brands.
Lisa K. Collier has been Chief Product Officer since April 2020. Prior to joining our Company, Ms. Collier served as President, Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of NYDJ (Not Your Daughter’s Jeans) from June 2016 to January 2020. Prior thereto, Ms. Collier served as Executive Vice President and President of Global Dockers Brand of Levi Strauss & Company from July 2013 to May 2016 and as Chief Transformation Officer from October 2013 to January 2015. Ms. Collier also served as Senior Vice President of Product Development and Innovation across all brands from 2012 to 2013, Senior Vice President Global Dockers Merchandising, Licensing, Supply Chain from 2010 to 2012, as Managing Director and General Manager of Levi Strauss Australia and New Zealand from 2007 to 2011, and prior to that in various other leadership roles at Levi Strauss & Company. Ms. Collier served in various leadership roles at Sunrise Brands (formerly Tarrant Apparel Group) from 1999 to 2003. She also served in various merchandising positions at The Limited from 1987 to 1999 and started her career in retail and apparel at Hess’s Department Store.
Alessandro de Pestel has been Chief Marketing Officer since October 2018. Prior to joining our Company, he served as Executive Vice President of Global Marketing, Communications and Consumer Insights for Tommy Hilfiger Global from October 2014 to September 2018 and as Senior Vice President of Marketing and Communication from January 2007 to September 2014. Prior thereto, Mr. de Pestel served in various leadership roles in Marketing and Communications at brands such as Calvin Klein, Fila, Omega and Christian Dior from 1999 to 2006.
Stephanie Pugliese has been President of the Americas since June 2020. Prior to that she served as President of North America from September 2019 to May 2020. Prior to joining our Company, Ms. Pugliese served as Chief Executive Officer and President of Duluth Trading Company from February 2015 to August 2019, and as President from February 2012 to August 2019. Prior thereto, Ms. Pugliese served as President and Chief Operating Officer of Duluth Trading Company from February 2014 to February 2015, Senior Vice President and Chief Merchandising Officer from July 2010 to February 2012 and as Vice President of Product Development from November 2008 to July 2010. Ms. Pugliese also served in various leadership roles with Lands’ End, Inc. from 2005 to 2008 and at Ann Inc. from 2000 to 2003.
Tchernavia Rocker has been Chief People and Administrative Officer since June 2020. Prior to that she served as Chief People and Culture Officer from February 2019 to May 2020. Prior to joining our Company, she served more than 18 years in Human Resources leadership roles at Harley-Davidson, Inc., most recently as Vice President and Chief Human Resources Officer from June 2016 through January 2019, as General Manager, Human Resources from January 2012 through May 2016, and in various other Human Resources leadership positions since joining the company in 2000. Prior to that, she served in various HR and operations roles at Goodyear Dunlop North America Tire Inc.
John Stanton has been General Counsel since March 2013, and Corporate Secretary since February 2008. Prior thereto, he served as Vice President, Corporate Governance and Compliance from October 2007 to February 2013 and Deputy General Counsel from February 2006 to September 2007. Prior to joining our Company, he served in various legal roles at MBNA Corporation from 1993 to 2005, including as Senior Executive Vice President, Corporate Governance and Assistant Secretary. He began his legal career at the law firm Venable, LLP.
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ITEM 1A. RISK FACTORS
Our results of operations and financial condition could be adversely affected by numerous risks. You should carefully consider the risk factors detailed below in conjunction with the other information contained in this Form 10-K. Should any of these risks actually materialize, our business, financial condition, results of operations and future prospects could be negatively impacted.
Economic and Industry Risks
The COVID-19 pandemic has caused significant disruption in our industry, which has and may continue to materially impact our business, financial condition and results of operations.
Our business has been and may continue to be materially impacted by the effects of the widespread outbreak of COVID-19, which was reported to have surfaced first in December 2019 and declared a global pandemic in March 2020. This pandemic has negatively affected the U.S. and global economies, disrupted global supply chains and financial markets, and led to significant travel and business restrictions, including mandatory closures, orders to “shelter-in-place” and restrictions on how businesses operate.
The COVID-19 pandemic materially negatively impacted our business and results of operations in Fiscal 2020, and the extent and duration of ongoing impacts remain uncertain. The pandemic resulted in temporary closures of our retail stores and the stores of our wholesale customers where our products are sold, reduced consumer traffic and consumer spending, temporary layoffs of certain employees in our North America retail stores and distribution centers and incremental operating expenses from adopting preventative health and safety measures in our stores and distribution centers. These negative impacts to our business may continue through Fiscal 2021 or later depending on the development of the virus and related responses. Related industries have been and may continue to be adversely affected, including distribution and logistics and manufacturing and textile production. Professional, collegiate and amateur sporting leagues, events and activities experienced postponements or cancellations. We are unable to predict with certainty the near and long-term impacts of the pandemic on consumer behavior. To the extent the impact of COVID-19 continues or worsens, consumer behavior may be altered for an extended period, which could impact our sales, cash generated from operations and liquidity and financial condition.
Additionally, the COVID-19 pandemic and resulting economic disruption has also led to significant volatility in the capital markets and adversely impacted our stock price. While we took measures throughout Fiscal 2020 to maintain our operations and preserve and enhance our access to liquidity, our cash generated from operations has been negatively impacted and future cash flows may be further impacted by the development of the pandemic. If we are unable to effectively manage our spending in response, our profitability may be negatively impacted. Further, currently many of our employees in our corporate offices are working remotely. An extended period of remote work arrangements could strain our business continuity plans, introduce operational risk, including but not limited to cybersecurity risks, and impair our ability to manage our business. The disruption caused by the pandemic has also disrupted the operations of our business partners, including our customers, suppliers, and vendors, and the financial condition of certain of our partners has been significantly impacted. We cannot predict the impact the pandemic will continue to have on these partners and any material effect on these parties could negatively impact us.
The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic may also exacerbate other risks discussed below, any of which could have a material effect on us. Though we continue to monitor the COVID-19 pandemic closely, the situation is changing rapidly, including a resurgence in many countries, and additional impacts may arise that we are not aware of currently.
During a downturn in the economy, consumer purchases of discretionary items are affected, which could materially harm our sales, profitability and financial condition and our prospects for growth.
Many of our products may be considered discretionary items for consumers. Many factors impact discretionary spending, including general economic conditions, unemployment, the availability of consumer credit and consumer confidence in future economic conditions. Uncertainty in global economic conditions continues, particularly in light of the impacts of COVID-19, and trends in consumer discretionary spending remain unpredictable. The United States and other countries have experienced a significant increase in unemployment and financial markets remain turbulent. Historically, consumer purchases of discretionary items tend to decline during recessionary periods when disposable income is lower or during other periods of economic instability or uncertainty, which may lead to declines in sales and slow our long-term growth expectations. Any near or long-term downturn in
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the economies in markets in which we sell our products, particularly in the United States, China or other key markets, may materially harm our sales, profitability and financial condition and our prospects for growth. In addition, as pandemic conditions improve and restrictions begin to lift, we are unable to predict whether consumer preferences for discretionary items will shift and the level of consumer spending within our industry will be negatively impacted for a period of time. If this were to occur, our sales and prospects for growth may be negatively impacted.
We operate in highly competitive markets and the size and resources of some of our competitors may allow them to compete more effectively than we can, resulting in a loss of our market share and a decrease in our net revenues and gross profit.
The market for performance apparel, footwear and accessories is highly competitive and includes many new competitors as well as increased competition from established companies expanding their production and marketing of performance products. Many of our competitors are large apparel and footwear companies with strong worldwide brand recognition. Due to the fragmented nature of the industry, we also compete with other manufacturers, including those specializing in products similar to ours and private label offerings of certain retailers, including some of our retail customers. Many of our competitors have significant competitive advantages, including greater financial, distribution, marketing, digital and other resources, longer operating histories, better brand recognition among consumers, more experience in global markets, greater ability to invest in technology and the digital consumer experience and greater economies of scale. In addition, our competitors have long-term relationships with our key retail customers that are potentially more important to those customers because of the significantly larger volume and product mix that our competitors sell to them. As a result, these competitors may be better equipped than we are to influence consumer preferences or otherwise increase their market share by quickly adapting to changes in customer requirements or consumer preferences, readily taking advantage of acquisition and other opportunities, discounting excess inventory that has been written down or written off, devoting resources to the marketing and sale of their products, including significant advertising, media placement, partnerships and product endorsement, adopting aggressive pricing policies and engaging in lengthy and costly intellectual property and other disputes.
In addition, while one of our growth strategies has been to increase floor space for our products in retail stores and in certain markets expand our distribution to other retailers, retailers have limited resources and floor space, and we must compete with others to develop relationships with them. Increased competition by existing and future competitors could result in reductions in floor space in retail locations, reductions in sales or reductions in the prices of our products, and if retailers have better sell through or earn greater margins from our competitors’ products, they may favor the display and sale of those products. Our inability to compete successfully against our competitors and maintain our gross margin could have a negative effect on our brand image and a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.
Our profitability may decline or our growth may be negatively impacted as a result of increasing pressure on pricing.
Our industry is subject to significant pricing pressure caused by many factors, including intense competition, consolidation in the retail industry, pressure from retailers to reduce the costs of products and changes in consumer demand. These factors may cause us to reduce our prices to retailers and consumers or engage in more promotional activity than we anticipate, which could negatively impact our margins and cause our profitability to decline if we are unable to offset price reductions with comparable reductions in our operating costs. For example, in response to the COVID-19 pandemic’s impact on our industry, we and many of our competitors have engaged in, and may continue to engage in, additional promotional activities focused around e-commerce sales in managing excess inventory levels. Ongoing and sustained promotional activities could negatively impact our brand image. On the other hand, if we are unwilling to engage in promotional activity on a scale similar to that of our competitors, for instance, to protect our premium brand positioning, and unable to simultaneously offset declining promotional activity with increased sales at premium price points, our ability to achieve short-term growth targets may be negatively impacted, which could have a material adverse effect on our results of operations and financial condition.
Fluctuations in the cost of raw materials and commodities we use in our products and our supply chain could negatively affect our operating results.
The fabrics used by our suppliers and manufacturers are made of raw materials including petroleum-based products and cotton. Significant price fluctuations or shortages in petroleum or other raw materials can materially adversely affect our cost of goods sold. In addition, certain of our manufacturers are subject to government regulations related to wage rates, and therefore the labor costs to produce our products may fluctuate. The cost of
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transporting our products for distribution and sale is also subject to fluctuation due in large part to the price of oil. Because most of our products are manufactured abroad, our products must be transported by third parties over large geographical distances and an increase in the price of oil can significantly increase costs. Manufacturing delays or unexpected transportation delays can also cause us to rely more heavily on airfreight to achieve timely delivery to our customers, which significantly increases freight costs. Any of these fluctuations may increase our cost of products and have an adverse effect on our profit margins, results of operations and financial condition.
Our financial results and ability to grow our business may be negatively impacted by global events beyond our control.
We operate retail, distribution and warehousing facilities and offices around the world and substantially all of our manufacturers are located outside of the United States. We are subject to numerous risks and events beyond our control which could negatively impact consumer spending or the operations of us or our customers or business partners, and therefore our results of operations, including political or labor unrest, military conflict, terrorism, public health crises, disease epidemics or pandemics (such as COVID-19), natural disasters, extreme weather conditions and economic instability resulting in the disruption of trade from foreign countries; the imposition of new laws and regulations, including those relating to labor conditions, minimum wage, quality and safety standards and disease epidemics or other public health concerns, as well as rules and regulations regarding climate change; uncertainties and the ongoing effect of the United Kingdom’s withdrawal from the European Union; changes in trade policy or actions of foreign or U.S. governmental authorities impacting trade and foreign investment, particularly during periods of heightened tension between U.S. and foreign governments, including the imposition of new import limitations, duties, tariffs, anti-dumping penalties, trade restrictions or restrictions on the transfer of funds; and changes in local economic conditions in countries where our stores, customers, manufacturers and suppliers are located.
These risks could hamper our ability to sell products, negatively affect the ability of our manufacturers to produce or deliver our products or procure materials and increase our cost of doing business generally, any of which could have an adverse effect on our results of operations, profitability, cash flows and financial condition. In the event that one or more of these factors make it undesirable or impractical for us to conduct business in a particular country, our business could be adversely affected.
Business and Operational Risks
We derive a substantial portion of our sales from large wholesale customers. If the financial condition of our customers declines, our financial condition and results of operations could be adversely impacted.
In Fiscal 2020, sales through our wholesale channel represented approximately 53% of our net revenues. We extend credit to our wholesale customers based on an assessment of a customer’s financial condition, generally without requiring collateral or getting customer insurance against non-collection. We face increased risk of order reduction or cancellation when dealing with financially ailing customers or customers struggling with economic uncertainty. As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, many of our wholesale customers throughout the world have had to temporarily close their stores or operate their stores under significant restrictions and continue to experience reduced consumer traffic and purchasing, which has resulted in lower sales and cancellations of orders of our products. The financial impact of continued temporary store closures and operating restrictions on many of our wholesale customers remains uncertain. However, if our wholesale customers continue to experience significant disruptions, this could result in further reductions or cancellations of orders or late or extended payment terms to us, which could negatively impact our results of operations. In addition, during weak economic conditions, customers may be more cautious with orders or may slow investments necessary to maintain a high quality in-store experience for consumers, which may result in lower sales of our products. Furthermore, a slowing economy in our key markets or a continued decline in consumer purchases of sporting goods generally could have an adverse effect on the financial health of our company.
From time to time certain of our customers have experienced financial difficulties. To the extent one or more of our customers experience significant financial difficulty, bankruptcy, insolvency or cease operations, this could have a material adverse effect on our sales, our ability to collect on receivables and our financial condition and results of operations.
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We may not successfully execute our long-term strategies, which may negatively impact our results of operations.
Our ability to execute on our long-term strategies depends, in part, on successfully executing on strategic growth initiatives in key areas, such as our international business, footwear and our global direct-to-consumer sales channel. Our growth in these areas depends on our ability to continue to successfully grow our e-commerce and mobile application offerings and digital experiences throughout the world, expand our global network of brand and factory house stores and continue to successfully increase our product offerings and market share in footwear. Our ability to invest in these growth initiatives on the timeline and at the scale we expect will be negatively impacted if we continue to experience significant market disruption due to COVID-19 or other significant events, particularly if our North America business, which represented 66% of our total net revenues in Fiscal 2020, does not grow sufficiently. In addition, as we expand our global network of brand and factory house stores, if we are unable to operate our stores profitably, our financial results could be impacted, or we could be required to recognize impairment charges. For example, during Fiscal 2020, we recognized impairment charges related to a number of our retail stores as individual store profitability was significantly impacted by the effects of COVID-19. Our long-term strategy also depends on our ability to successfully drive expansion of our gross margins, manage our cost structure and drive return on our investments. If we cannot effectively execute our long-term growth strategies while managing costs effectively, our business could be negatively impacted and we may not achieve our expected results of operations.
We may not fully realize the expected benefits of our restructuring plans or other operating or cost-saving initiatives, which may negatively impact our profitability.
Since 2017, we have executed three separate restructuring plans designed to more closely align our financial resources against the critical priorities of our business and rebalance our cost base to further improve future profitability and cash flow generation. We have also implemented several changes to our operating model. We may not achieve the operational improvements and efficiencies that we targeted in our restructuring plans and operating model changes, which could adversely impact our results of operations and financial condition. Implementing any restructuring plan or operating model change presents significant potential risks including, among others, higher than anticipated implementation costs, management distraction from ongoing business activities, failure to maintain adequate controls and procedures while executing our restructuring plans and operating model changes, damage to our reputation and brand image and workforce attrition beyond planned reductions. If we fail to achieve targeted operating improvements and/or cost reductions, our profitability and results of operations could be negatively impacted, which may be dilutive to our earnings in the short term.
If we are unable to anticipate consumer preferences, successfully develop and introduce new, innovative and updated products or engage our consumers, or if consumer preferences shift away from performance products, our sales, net revenues and profitability may be negatively impacted.
Our success depends on our ability to identify and originate product trends and anticipate and react to changing consumer demands in a timely manner. All of our products are subject to changing consumer preferences that shift rapidly and cannot be predicted with certainty. Accordingly, our new products may not receive consumer acceptance. In addition, long lead times for certain of our products may make it hard for us to respond quickly to changes in consumer demands. Our ability to adequately react to and address consumer preferences depends in part upon our continued ability to develop and introduce innovative, high-quality products. Moreover, if consumers are not convinced performance apparel, footwear and accessories are a better choice than, and worth the additional cost over, traditional alternatives, sales of performance products may not grow or decline and growth in the industry and our business could be adversely affected. In addition, consumers are increasingly focused on the environmental and social policies of brands, including the sustainability of the products sold. From time to time, we may also introduce limited run or specialized products that may increase our sales in the near term, but that may fail to maintain sustained consumer demand. If we are unable to effectively anticipate and respond to consumer preferences as a result of any of these factors, our brand image could be negatively impacted, and our sales, net revenues and profitability may be negatively impacted.
Consumer shopping preferences and shifts in distribution channels continue to evolve and could negatively impact our results of operations or our future growth.
Consumer preferences regarding the shopping experience continue to rapidly evolve. We sell our products through a variety of channels, including through wholesale customers and distribution partners, as well as our own direct-to-consumer business consisting of our brand and factory house stores and e-commerce platforms. If we or our wholesale customers do not provide consumers with an attractive in-store experience, our brand image and
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results of operations could be negatively impacted. In addition, as part of our strategy to grow our e-commerce revenue, we are investing significantly in enhancing our platform capabilities and implementing systems to drive higher engagement with our consumers, which has become particularly important in light of increased online shopping due to COVID-19. If we do not successfully execute this strategy or continue to provide an engaging, reliable and user-friendly digital commerce platform that attracts consumers, our brand image, and results of operations as well as our opportunities for future growth could be negatively impacted. In addition, we cannot predict whether and how the COVID-19 pandemic will impact consumer shopping preferences in the long term and how quickly and effectively we will adapt to those preferences.
A decline in sales to, or the loss of, one or more of our key customers could result in a material loss of net revenues and negatively impact our prospects for growth.
We generate a significant portion of our wholesale revenues from sales to our largest customers. We currently do not enter into long-term sales contracts with our key customers, relying instead on our relationships with these customers and on our position in the marketplace. As a result, we face the risk that these key customers may not increase their business with us as we expect, or may significantly decrease their business with us or terminate their relationship with us. The failure to increase or maintain our sales to these customers as much as we anticipate would have a negative impact on our growth prospects and any decrease or loss of these key customers' business could result in a material decrease in our net revenues and net income or loss. For example, during Fiscal 2020 certain of our wholesale customers delayed purchases of our products or cancelled previously placed orders in response to pandemic-related store closures. These risks have materially increased and may persist as the COVID-19 pandemic continues. In addition, our customers continue to experience ongoing industry consolidation, particularly in the sports specialty sector. As this consolidation continues, it increases the risk that if any one customer significantly reduces their purchases of our products, we may be unable to find sufficient alternative customers to continue to grow our net revenues, or our net revenues may decline materially. In addition, we may from time to time exit relationships with certain wholesale customers to further drive our premium brand position. This may negatively impact our net revenues if we are unable to replace those sales with additional sales to our other customers.
We must successfully manage the increasingly complex operations of our global business, including continued expansion in certain markets where we have limited brand recognition, or our business and results of operations may be negatively impacted.
A significant element of our growth strategy depends on our continued expansion outside of North America, and we have limited brand recognition and operating experience in certain regions. We must continue to successfully manage the operational difficulties associated with expanding our business to meet increased consumer demand throughout the world. We have limited experience with regulatory requirements and market practices in certain regions outside of North America, and may face difficulties expanding into and successfully operating in those markets, including differences in regulatory environments, labor and market practices, and difficulties in keeping abreast of market, business and technical developments and consumers’ tastes and preferences. We must also continually evaluate the need to expand critical functions in our business, including sales and marketing, product development and distribution functions, our management information systems and other processes and technology. We may not manage these efforts cost-effectively or these efforts could increase the strain on our existing resources. If we experience difficulties in supporting the growth of our business, we could experience an erosion of our brand image or operational challenges leading to a decrease in net revenues and results from operations.
Our results of operations could be materially harmed if we are unable to accurately forecast demand for our products.
To ensure adequate inventory supply, we must forecast inventory needs and place orders with our manufacturers before firm orders are placed by our customers. In addition, a significant portion of our net revenues may be generated by at-once orders for immediate delivery to customers, particularly during the last two quarters of the year, which historically has been our peak season. If we fail to accurately forecast customer demand we may experience excess inventory levels or a shortage of product to deliver to our customers. Excess inventory may result in inventory write-downs or write-offs or sales at discounted prices or in less preferred distribution channels, negatively impacting gross margin. On the other hand, if we underestimate the demand for our products, our manufacturers may not be able to produce products to meet our customer requirements, resulting in delays in the shipment of our products and our ability to recognize revenue, lost sales, as well as damage to our reputation and retailer and distributor relationships.
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Factors that could affect our ability to accurately forecast demand for our products include: changing consumer demand for our products; product introductions by competitors; unanticipated changes in general market or economic conditions or other factors, which may result in cancellations of advance orders or a reduction or increase in the rate of reorders or at-once orders placed by retailers; the impact on consumer demand due to unseasonable weather conditions; and terrorism or acts of war, or the threat thereof, political or labor instability or unrest or public health concerns and disease epidemics, such as the current COVID-19 pandemic.
The difficulty in forecasting demand also makes it difficult to estimate our future results of operations and financial condition from period to period. A failure to accurately predict the level of demand for our products could adversely impact our profitability or cause us not to achieve our expected financial results. These risks have materially increased and may persist with the market disruption caused by COVID-19 and the expected high levels of inventory across our industry.
We rely on third-party suppliers and manufacturers to provide raw materials for and to produce our products, and we have limited control over these suppliers and manufacturers and may not be able to obtain quality products on a timely basis or in sufficient quantity.
Many of the materials used in our products are technically advanced products developed by third parties and may be available, in the short-term, from a very limited number of sources. Substantially all of our products are manufactured by unaffiliated manufacturers, and, in Fiscal 2020, 10 manufacturers produced approximately 57% of our apparel and accessories products, and 6 produced substantially all of our footwear products. We have no long-term contracts with our suppliers or manufacturing sources, and we compete with other companies for fabrics, raw materials, production and import quota capacity.
A number of factors may require us to seek alternative or additional suppliers, which we may not be able to do in a timely or cost-effective manner. We may experience a significant disruption in the supply of fabrics or raw materials from current sources or, in the event of a disruption, we may be unable to locate alternative materials suppliers of comparable quality at an acceptable price, or at all. Moreover, our suppliers may not be able to fill our orders in a timely manner depending on market conditions or increased demand for product. In addition, in Fiscal 2020 certain of our manufacturers experienced significant financial and operational disruption due to COVID-19. We have historically provided supply chain finance support to certain of our supply chain partners, and the financial markets supporting supply chain finance programs experienced disruption in 2020, resulting in a temporary disruption to our program and challenging the cash flow and liquidity of our partners. While we worked with our partners through the disruption and have re-established a supply chain finance program, if one or more of our suppliers were to experience significant financial difficulty, bankruptcy, insolvency or cease operations, we may be required to seek alternative suppliers. In addition, if we lose or need to replace an existing manufacturer or supplier as a result of adverse economic conditions or other reasons, additional supplies of fabrics or raw materials or additional manufacturing capacity may not be available when required on terms that are acceptable to us, or at all, or suppliers or manufacturers may not be able to allocate sufficient capacity to us in order to meet our requirements. Even if we are able to expand existing or find new manufacturing or fabric sources, we may encounter delays in production and added costs as a result of the time it takes to train our suppliers and manufacturers on our methods, products and quality control standards. Any delays, interruption or increased costs in the supply of fabric or manufacture of our products could have an adverse effect on our ability to meet retail customer and consumer demand for our products and result in lower net revenues and net income (or higher net loss) both in the short and long term.
We have occasionally received, and may in the future continue to receive, shipments of product that fail to conform to our quality control standards. If we are unable to obtain replacement products in a timely manner, we risk the loss of net revenues resulting from the inability to sell those products and related increased administrative and shipping costs. In addition, because we do not control our manufacturers, products that fail to meet our standards or other unauthorized products could end up in the marketplace without our knowledge, which could harm our brand and our reputation in the marketplace.
Labor or other disruptions at ports or our suppliers or manufacturers may adversely affect our business.
Our business depends on our ability to source and distribute products in a timely manner. As a result, we rely on the free flow of goods through open and operational ports worldwide and on a consistent basis from our suppliers and manufacturers. Labor disputes and disruptions at various ports or at our suppliers or manufacturers could create significant risks for our business, particularly if these disputes result in work slowdowns, decreased operations, lockouts, strikes or other disruptions during our peak importing or manufacturing seasons. For example, COVID-19 has resulted in delays and disruptions at ports due to workforce decreases, shipping backlogs and
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capacity constraints and other disruptions. This has resulted in slower than planned deliveries of inventory and delayed sales to customers. If we experience significant delays or disruption in receiving and distributing our products, this could have an adverse effect on our business, potentially resulting in canceled orders by customers, unanticipated inventory accumulation or shortages, increased expense (including air freight) to deliver our products and reduced net revenues and net income or higher net loss.
If we fail to successfully manage or realize expected results from significant transactions or investments, or if we are required to recognize an impairment of our goodwill, it may have an adverse effect on our results of operations and financial position.
From time to time, we may engage in acquisition opportunities we believe are complementary to our business and brand. Integrating acquired businesses can require significant efforts and resources, which could divert management attention from more profitable business operations. From time to time we have also disposed of certain assets where we did not think our activities aligned to our operating model. If we fail to successfully integrate acquired businesses or effectively manage dispositions, we may not realize the financial benefits or other synergies we anticipated. In addition, in connection with our acquisitions, we may record goodwill or other indefinite-lived intangible assets. We have recognized goodwill impairment charges in the past, including in Fiscal 2020 with respect to our Latin America reporting unit, and our Canada reporting unit, within our North America operating segment. Additional goodwill impairment charges could have an adverse effect on our results of operations and financial position. Additionally, from time to time, we may invest in business infrastructure, new businesses and expansion of existing businesses, such as the expansion of our network of brand and factory house stores and our distribution facilities, implementing our global operating and financial reporting information technology system, supporting our digital strategy (including our e-commerce platform), or supporting our corporate infrastructure (including our global and regional headquarters). These investments require substantial cash investments and management attention, and infrastructure investments may also divert funds from other potential business opportunities. We believe cost effective investments are essential to business growth and profitability. The failure of any significant investment to provide the returns or synergies we expect could adversely affect our financial results.
The value of our brand and sales of our products could be diminished if we are associated with negative publicity.
Our business could be adversely impacted if negative publicity regarding our brand, our company or our business partners diminishes the appeal of our brand to consumers. For example, while we require our suppliers, manufacturers and licensees of our products to operate their businesses in compliance with applicable laws and regulations as well as the social and other standards and policies we impose on them, including our code of conduct, we do not control the conduct of these third parties. A violation, or alleged violation of our policies, labor laws or other laws could interrupt or otherwise disrupt our sourcing or damage our brand image. Negative publicity regarding production methods, alleged practices or workplace or related conditions of any of our suppliers, manufacturers or licensees could adversely affect our reputation and sales and force us to locate alternative suppliers, manufacturers or licensees. The risk that our business partners may not act in accordance with our expectations may be exacerbated in markets where our direct sales, supply chain or logistics operations are not as widespread. In addition, we have sponsorship contracts with a variety of athletes, teams and leagues, and many athletes and teams use our products. Negative publicity regarding these partners could negatively impact our brand image and result in diminished loyalty to our brand, regardless of whether such claims are accurate. Furthermore, social media can potentially accelerate and increase the scope of negative publicity. This could diminish the value of our proprietary rights or harm our reputation or have a negative effect on our sales and results of operations.
The costs and return on our investments for our sports marketing sponsorships may become more challenging and this could impact the value of our brand image.
A key element of our marketing strategy has been to create a link in the consumer market between our products and professional and collegiate athletes. We have developed licensing agreements to be the official supplier of performance apparel and footwear to a variety of sports teams and leagues at the collegiate and professional level and sponsorship agreements with athletes. However, as competition in the performance apparel and footwear industry has increased, the costs associated with athlete sponsorships and official supplier licensing agreements, including the costs of obtaining and retaining these sponsorships and agreements, have varied and at times increased greatly. If we are unable to maintain our current association with professional and collegiate athletes, teams and leagues, or to do so at a reasonable cost, we could lose the on-field authenticity associated with our products, and we may be required to modify and substantially increase our marketing investments. In addition, because professional and collegiate athletics and other sporting events have been largely cancelled or delayed in connection with the COVID-19 pandemic and future plans for these remain uncertain, we may not realize
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the expected benefits of these relationships. As a result, our brand image, net revenues, expenses and profitability could be materially adversely affected.
If we encounter problems with our distribution system, our ability to deliver our products to the market could be adversely affected.
We rely on a limited number of distribution facilities for our product distribution. Our distribution facilities utilize computer controlled and automated equipment, which means the operations are complicated and may be subject to a number of risks related to security or computer viruses or malware, the proper operation of software and hardware, power interruptions or other system failures. In addition, because many of our products are distributed from a limited number of locations, our operations could also be interrupted by severe weather conditions, floods, fires or other natural disasters in these locations, as well as labor or other operational difficulties or interruptions, including public health crises or disease epidemics. For example, the current COVID-19 pandemic may impede our ability to operate our distribution facilities at full capacity and may similarly impact our third-party logistics providers. We maintain business interruption insurance, but it may not adequately protect us from the adverse effects that could be caused by significant disruptions in our distribution facilities or from all types of events causing such disruptions. Significant disruptions could lead to loss of customers or an erosion of our brand image. In addition, our distribution capacity is dependent on the timely performance of services by third parties. This includes the shipping of product to and from our distribution facilities, as well as partnering with third-party distribution facilities in certain regions where we do not maintain our own facilities. From time to time, certain of our partners have experienced disruptions to their operations, including cyber-related disruptions. If we or our partners encounter such problems, our results of operations, as well as our ability to meet customer expectations, manage inventory, complete sales and achieve objectives for operating efficiencies could be materially adversely affected.
We rely significantly on information technology and any failure, inadequacy or interruption of that technology could harm our ability to effectively operate our business.
Our business and global operations rely on information technology. Our ability to effectively manage and maintain our inventory and internal reports, and to ship products to customers and invoice them on a timely basis depends significantly on our enterprise resource planning, warehouse management, and other information systems. We also heavily rely on information systems to process financial and accounting information for financial reporting purposes. Any of these information systems could fail or experience a service interruption for a number of reasons, including computer viruses or malware, programming errors, hacking or other unlawful activities, disasters or our failure to properly maintain system redundancy or protect, repair, maintain or upgrade our systems, and, although we maintain business continuity plans, there can be no assurance that our business continuity plans, or those of our vendors, will effectively resolve the issues in a timely manner or adequately protect us from the adverse effects that could be caused by significant disruptions in our information systems. The failure of our information systems to operate effectively or to integrate with other systems, or a breach in security of these systems could cause delays in product fulfillment and reduced efficiency of our operations, which could negatively impact our financial results. If we experience any significant disruption to our financial information systems that we are unable to mitigate, our ability to timely report our financial results could be impacted, which could negatively impact our stock price. We also communicate electronically throughout the world with our employees and with third parties, such as customers, suppliers, vendors and consumers. A service interruption or shutdown could have a material adverse impact on our operating activities. Remediation and repair of any failure, problem or breach of our key information systems could require significant capital investments.
In addition, we interact with many of our consumers through our e-commerce website and our mobile applications, and these systems face similar risk of interruption or cyberattack. Consumers increasingly utilize these services to purchase our products and to engage with our digital community. If we are unable to continue to provide consumers a user-friendly experience and evolve our platform to satisfy consumer preferences, the growth of our e-commerce business and our net revenues may be negatively impacted. The performance of our digital business is dependent on reliable performance of its products, applications and services and the underlying technical infrastructure, which incorporate complex software. If this software contains errors, bugs or other vulnerabilities which impede or halt service, this could result in damage to our reputation and brand, loss of users or loss of revenue.
We are implementing a global operating and information system, which involves risks and uncertainties that could adversely affect our business.
In 2015, we began the process of implementing a global operating and financial reporting information technology system, SAP Fashion Management Solution ("FMS"), as part of a multi-year plan to integrate and
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upgrade our systems and processes. The third and final phase of this implementation became operational in April 2020. Implementation of new information systems, particularly across global operations, involves risks and uncertainties. Any disruptions, delays, or deficiencies in the design, implementation or application of these systems could result in increased costs, disruptions in our ability to effectively source, sell or ship our products, delays in the collection of payment from our customers or adversely affect our ability to timely report our financial results, each of which could materially adversely affect our business, results of operations, and financial condition.
Our future success is substantially dependent on the continued service of our senior management and other key employees, and our continued ability to attract and retain highly talented new team members.
Our future success is substantially dependent on the continued service of our senior management, particularly Kevin A. Plank, our founder, Executive Chairman and Brand Chief, Patrik Frisk, our Chief Executive Officer and President, other top executives and key employees who have substantial experience and expertise in our business, including product creation, innovation, sales, marketing, operational and other support personnel. The loss of the services of our senior management or other key employees could make it more difficult to successfully operate our business and achieve our business goals and could result in harm to key customer relationships, loss of key information, expertise or know-how and unanticipated recruitment and training costs.
In addition, to profitably grow our business and manage our operations, we will need to continue to attract, retain and motivate highly talented management and other employees with a range of skills, backgrounds and experiences. Competition for employees in our industry is intense and we may experience difficulty in attracting the personnel necessary to support the growth of our business. If we are unable to attract, assimilate and retain management and other employees with the necessary skills, we may not be able to grow or successfully operate our business and achieve our long-term objectives. In addition, we have invested significant time and resources in building, maintaining and evolving our company culture and our values, which we believe to be critical to our future success. Failure to maintain and continue to evolve our culture could negatively affect our ability to attract, retain and motivate our employees and to achieve our long-term objectives.
Financial Risks
Our credit agreement contains financial covenants, and both our credit agreement and debt securities contain other restrictions on our actions, which could limit our operational flexibility or otherwise adversely affect our financial condition.
We have, from time to time, financed our liquidity needs in part from borrowings made under our credit facility and the issuance of debt securities. Our Senior Notes limit our ability to, subject to certain significant exceptions, incur secured debt and engage in sale leaseback transactions. Our amended credit agreement contains negative covenants that, subject to significant exceptions limit our ability, among other things to incur additional indebtedness, make restricted payments, sell or dispose of assets, pledge assets as security, make investments, loans, advances, guarantees and acquisitions, undergo fundamental changes and enter into transactions with affiliates. In addition, during specified periods, we must maintain a certain leverage ratio and interest coverage ratio as defined in the amended credit agreement. Our ability to continue to borrow amounts under our amended credit agreement is limited by continued compliance with these financial covenants, and in the past we have amended our credit agreement to provide certain relief from and revisions to our financial covenants for specified future periods and provide us with sufficient access to liquidity during those periods. During certain quarters, our amended credit agreement requires us to maintain a specified amount of minimum liquidity. If our cash flows and capital resources are insufficient to maintain this liquidity level, we may need to take further actions to reduce our expenditures, and potentially seek alternative sources of liquidity, including but not limited to accessing the capital markets, sale leaseback transactions or other sales of assets, or other alternative financing measures. Failure to comply with these operating or financial covenants could result from, among other things, changes in our results of operations or general economic conditions. These covenants may restrict our ability to engage in transactions that would otherwise be in our best interests. Failure to comply with any of the covenants under the amended credit agreement or our Senior Notes could result in a default, which could negatively impact our access to liquidity.
In addition, the amended credit agreement includes a cross default provision whereby an event of default under certain other debt obligations (including our debt securities) will be considered an event of default under the amended credit agreement. If an event of default occurs, the commitments of the lenders under the amended credit agreement may be terminated and the maturity of amounts owed may be accelerated. Our debt securities include a cross acceleration provision which provides that the acceleration of certain other debt obligations (including our credit agreement) will be considered an event of default under our debt securities and, subject to certain time and notice periods, give bondholders the right to accelerate our debt securities.
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We may need to raise additional capital to manage and grow our business, and we may not be able to raise capital on terms acceptable to us or at all.
Managing and growing our business will require significant cash outlays and capital expenditures and commitments. We have utilized cash on hand and cash generated from operations, accessed our credit facility and issued debt securities as sources of liquidity. During the first and second quarter of Fiscal 2020, our cash generated from operations was negatively impacted due to widespread temporary store closures as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. In response, we amended our credit agreement to provide certain relief from and revisions to our financial covenants for specified future periods and provide us with sufficient access to liquidity during those periods. In May 2020, we issued $500 million of Convertible Senior Notes and utilized the net proceeds to repay amounts outstanding under our revolving credit facility, thereby increasing our borrowing capacity under that facility. We also took a number of actions to preserve existing capital, including managing payments to vendors, allowing extended payment terms to certain customers, reducing capital expenditures and managing inventory levels. As of December 31, 2020, our cash and cash equivalents totaled $1.5 billion. However, if in future periods our cash on hand, cash generated from operations and availability under our credit agreement are not sufficient to meet our cash requirements, we will need to seek additional capital, potentially through debt or equity financing, to fund our operations and future growth. Our ability to access the credit and capital markets in the future as a source of liquidity, and the borrowing costs associated with such financing, are dependent upon market conditions and our credit rating and outlook. Our credit ratings have been downgraded in the past, and we cannot assure that we will be able to maintain our current ratings, which could increase our cost of borrowing in the future. In addition, equity financing may be on terms that are dilutive or potentially dilutive to our stockholders, and the prices at which new investors would be willing to purchase our securities may be lower than the current price per share of our common stock. The holders of new securities may also have rights, preferences or privileges which are senior to those of existing holders of common stock. If new sources of financing are required, but are insufficient or unavailable, we will be required to modify our growth and operating plans based on available funding, if any, which would harm our ability to grow our business.
In addition, the U.K. Financial Conduct Authority announced in 2017 that it intends to phase out LIBOR by the end of 2021. Our credit agreement permits us to borrow based on an adjusted LIBOR rate, plus an applicable margin. While the credit agreement provides for a mechanism for determining an alternative interest rate following this phase out, uncertainty regarding alternative rates may make borrowing under our credit agreement or refinancing our other indebtedness more expensive or difficult to achieve on terms we consider favorable.
Our operating results are subject to seasonal and quarterly variations in our net revenues and income from operations, which could adversely affect the price of our publicly traded common stock.
We have experienced, and expect to continue to experience, seasonal and quarterly variations in our net revenues and income or loss from operations. These variations are primarily related to the mix of our products sold during the fall selling season, including our higher price cold weather products, along with a larger proportion of higher margin direct-to-consumer sales. Our quarterly results may also vary based on the timing of customer orders. The majority of our net revenues are historically generated during the last two quarters of the calendar year. Our quarterly results of operations may also fluctuate significantly as a result of a variety of other factors, including, among other things, the timing of marketing expenses and changes in our product mix. As a result of these seasonal and quarterly fluctuations, we believe that comparisons of our operating results between different quarters within a single year are not necessarily meaningful and that these comparisons cannot be relied upon as indicators of our future performance. Any seasonal or quarterly fluctuations that we report in the future may not match the expectations of market analysts and investors. This could cause the price of our publicly traded stock to fluctuate significantly.
Our results of operations are affected by the performance of our equity investments, over which we do not exercise control.
We maintain certain minority investments, and may in the future invest in additional minority investments, which we account for under the equity method, and are required to recognize our allocable share of its net income or loss in our consolidated financial statements. Our results of operations are affected by the performance of these businesses, over which we do not exercise control, and our net income or loss has been negatively impacted by losses realized by our Japanese licensee’s business. We are also required to regularly review our investments for impairment, and an impairment charge may result from the occurrence of adverse events or management decisions that impact the fair value or estimated future cash flows to be generated from our investments. During Fiscal 2020, we further impaired our investment in our Japanese licensee and recognized a $7.1 million charge as a result, and there is currently no carrying value associated with this investment. In addition, to the extent our Japanese licensee
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continues to experience challenges in the performance of its business, we may not continue to realize the licensing revenues from our Japanese licensee in line with its past results, which could negatively impact our net revenues and results of operations. Furthermore, based on its financial performance, our ability to recover our investment in the long term may be limited.
Our financial results could be adversely impacted by currency exchange rate fluctuations.
We generated approximately 31% of our consolidated net revenues outside the United States. As our international business grows, our results of operations could be adversely impacted by changes in foreign currency exchange rates. Revenues and certain expenses in markets outside of the United States are recognized in local foreign currencies, and we are exposed to potential gains or losses from the translation of those amounts into U.S. dollars for consolidation into our financial statements. Similarly, we are exposed to gains and losses resulting from currency exchange rate fluctuations on transactions generated by our foreign subsidiaries in currencies other than their local currencies. In addition, the business of our independent manufacturers may also be disrupted by currency exchange rate fluctuations by making their purchases of raw materials more expensive and more difficult to finance. As a result, foreign currency exchange rate fluctuations may adversely impact our results of operations. In addition, we have previously designated cash flow hedges against certain forecasted transactions. If we determine that such a transaction is no longer probable to occur in the time period we expected, we are required to de-designated the hedging relationship and immediately recognize the derivative instrument gain or loss in our earnings. The ongoing impacts of COVID-19 have caused and may continue to cause uncertainty in forecasted cash flows, which has resulted and may continue to result in the de-designation of certain hedged transactions.
Legal, Regulatory and Compliance Risks
Our failure to comply with trade and other regulations could lead to investigations or actions by government regulators and negative publicity.
The labeling, distribution, importation, marketing and sale of our products are subject to extensive regulation by various federal agencies, including the Federal Trade Commission, Consumer Product Safety Commission and state attorneys general in the United States, as well as by various other federal, state, provincial, local and international regulatory authorities in the locations in which our products are distributed or sold. If we fail to comply with these regulations, we could become subject to significant penalties or claims or be required to recall products, which could negatively impact our results of operations and disrupt our ability to conduct our business, as well as damage our brand image with consumers. In addition, the adoption of new regulations or changes in the interpretation of existing regulations may result in significant unanticipated compliance costs or discontinuation of product sales and may impair the marketing of our products, resulting in significant loss of net revenues.
Our international operations are also subject to compliance with the U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, or FCPA, and other anti-bribery laws applicable to our operations, as well as U.S. sanctions laws. Although we have policies and procedures to address compliance with the FCPA and similar laws and sanctions requirements, there can be no assurance that all of our employees, contractors, agents and other partners will not take actions in violations of our policies or that our procedures will effectively mitigate against such risks. Any such violation could subject us to sanctions or other penalties that could negatively affect our reputation, business and operating results.
Data security or privacy breaches could damage our reputation, cause us to incur additional expense, expose us to litigation and adversely affect our business and results of operations.
We collect sensitive and proprietary business information as well as personally identifiable information in connection with digital marketing, digital commerce, our in-store payment processing systems and our digital business (including our Connected Fitness business). In particular, in our digital business we collect and store a variety of information regarding our users, and allow users to share their personal information with each other and with third parties. We also rely on third parties for the operation of certain of our e-commerce websites, and do not control these service providers. Hackers and data thieves are increasingly sophisticated and operate large scale and complex automated attacks. Any breach of our data security or that of our service providers or cyber fraud incident could result in an unauthorized release or transfer of customer, consumer, vendor, user or employee information, or the loss of money, valuable business data or cause a disruption in our business. These events could give rise to unwanted media attention, damage our reputation, damage our customer, consumer or user relationships and result in lost sales, fines or lawsuits. We may also be required to expend significant capital and other resources to protect against or respond to or alleviate problems caused by a security breach, which could negatively impact our results of operations. Like other companies in our industry, we have in the past experienced, and we expect to continue to experience, cyberattacks, including phishing, cyber fraud incidents and other attempts
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to breach, or gain unauthorized access to, our systems. These attempted attacks have increased as COVID-19 has progressed and many employees continue to work from home. To date, these attacks have not had a material impact on our operations, but there can be no assurance that they will not have an impact in the future.
We must also comply with increasingly complex and evolving regulatory standards throughout the world enacted to protect personal information and other data. Compliance with existing, proposed and forthcoming laws and regulations can be costly and could negatively impact our profitability. For example, the European Union adopted the General Data Protection Regulation (“GDPR”), which became effective in May 2018, and California passed the California Consumer Privacy Act (“CCPA”), which became effective in January 2020. These laws impose additional obligations on companies regarding the handling of personal data and provide certain individual privacy rights to persons whose data is stored. In addition, data privacy laws and regulations continue to evolve. For example, in 2016, the European Union and the United States agreed to a framework for data transferred from the European Union to the United States, called the Privacy Shield. However, in July 2020 the Privacy Shield was invalidated by the Court of Justice of the European Union (“CJEU”) and the alternative basis upon which companies can continue to transfer data remains subject to continued regulatory and judicial scrutiny. As requirements continue to evolve, it may be costly for us to adjust our operations to comply with new requirements. Failure to comply with these regulatory standards could result in a violation of data privacy laws and regulations and subject us to legal proceedings against us by governmental entities or others, imposition of fines by governmental authorities, negative publicity and damage to our brand image, all of which could have a negative impact on our profitability.
Changes in tax laws and unanticipated tax liabilities could adversely affect our effective income tax rate and profitability.
We are subject to income taxes in the United States and numerous foreign jurisdictions. Our effective income tax rate could be adversely affected in the future by a number of factors, including changes in the mix of earnings in countries with differing statutory tax rates, changes in the valuation of deferred tax assets and liabilities, changes in tax laws and regulations or their interpretations and application, the outcome of income tax audits in various jurisdictions around the world, and any repatriation of non-U.S. earnings for which we have not previously provided applicable foreign withholding taxes, certain U.S. state income taxes, or foreign exchange rate impacts. We are unable to predict what impact future tax reform efforts may have on our results of operations, including as a result of any changes enacted during the new U.S. presidential administration.
Additionally, we engage in multiple types of intercompany transactions, and our allocation of profits and losses among us and our subsidiaries through our intercompany transfer pricing arrangements are subject to review by the Internal Revenue Service and foreign tax authorities. Although we believe we have clearly reflected the economics of these transactions and the proper documentation is in place, tax authorities may propose and sustain adjustments that could result in changes that may impact our tax provision. Moreover, the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development and many of the countries in which we do business continue to evaluate changes to tax laws which could significantly impact the allocation of profits and losses among us and our subsidiaries and impact our mix of earnings in countries with differing statutory rates.
We regularly assess all these matters to determine the adequacy of our tax provision, which is subject to significant judgment.
Failure to protect our intellectual property rights, or our conflict with the rights of others, could damage our brand, weaken our competitive position and negatively impact our results of operations.
Our success depends in large part on our brand image. We currently rely on a combination of copyright, trademark, trade dress, patent and unfair competition laws, confidentiality procedures and licensing arrangements to establish and protect our intellectual property rights. The steps taken by us to protect our proprietary rights may not be adequate to prevent infringement of our trademarks and proprietary rights by others, including imitation of our products and misappropriation of our brand. In addition, intellectual property protection may be unavailable or limited in some jurisdictions. In addition, intellectual property rights in the technology, fabrics and processes used to manufacture the majority of our products are generally owned or controlled by our suppliers and are generally not unique to us, and our current and future competitors are able to manufacture and sell products with performance characteristics and fabrications similar to certain of our products.
From time to time, we have brought claims relating to intellectual property rights of others or have discovered unauthorized products in the marketplace that are either counterfeit reproductions of our products or unauthorized irregulars that do not meet our quality control standards. If we fail to protect, maintain and enforce our intellectual property rights, the value of our brand could decrease and our competitive position may suffer. In
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addition, from time to time others may seek to enforce infringement claims against us. Successful infringement claims against us could result in significant monetary liability or prevent us from selling or providing some of our products. The resolution of such claims may require us to redesign our products, license rights belonging to third parties or cease using those rights altogether. Any of these events could harm our business and have a material adverse effect on our results of operations and financial condition.
We are the subject of a number of ongoing legal proceedings that have resulted in significant expense, and adverse developments in our ongoing proceedings and/or future legal proceedings could have a material adverse effect on our business, reputation, financial condition, results of operations or stock price.
We are currently involved in a variety of litigation, investigations and other legal matters and may be subject to additional investigations, arbitration proceedings, audits, regulatory inquiries and similar actions, including matters related to commercial disputes, intellectual property, employment, securities laws, disclosures, tax, accounting, class action and product liability, as well as trade, regulatory and other claims related to our business and our industry, which we refer to collectively as legal proceedings. For example, we are subject to an ongoing securities class action proceeding regarding our prior disclosures (including regarding the use of "pull forward" sales and the investigations referred to below) and derivative complaints regarding related matters, as well as past related party transactions, among other proceedings. Refer to Note 10 to our Consolidated Financial Statements of this Annual Report on Form 10-K for additional information regarding these specific matters. In addition, as previously disclosed in November 2019, we have been responding to requests for documents and information from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) and Department of Justice (“DOJ”) beginning with submissions to the SEC in July 2017, and in July 2020 we and two members of our senior management received “Wells Notices” from the SEC relating to our disclosures covering the third quarter of 2015 through the period ending December 31, 2016, regarding the use of “pull forward” sales in connection with revenue during those quarters. In the course of cooperating with the SEC and DOJ requests, we have reviewed our disclosures and we continue to believe they were appropriate. However, we cannot predict the outcome of any particular proceeding, or whether ongoing investigations, including the SEC and DOJ investigations, will be resolved favorably or ultimately result in charges or material damages, fines or other penalties, enforcement actions, bars against serving as an officer or director, or practicing before the SEC, or civil or criminal proceedings against us or members of our senior management.
Legal proceedings in general, and securities and class action litigation and regulatory investigations in particular, can be expensive and disruptive. Our insurance may not cover all claims that may be asserted against us, and we are unable to predict how long the legal proceedings to which we are currently subject will continue. An unfavorable outcome of any legal proceeding may have an adverse impact on our business, financial condition and results of operations or our stock price. Any proceeding could negatively impact our reputation among our customers or our shareholders. Furthermore, publicity surrounding ongoing legal proceedings, even if resolved favorably for us, could result in additional legal proceedings against us, as well as damage our brand image.
Risks Related to our Common Stock
Kevin Plank, our Executive Chairman and Brand Chief, controls the majority of the voting power of our common stock.
Our Class A common stock has one vote per share, our Class B common stock has 10 votes per share and our Class C common stock has no voting rights (except in limited circumstances). Our Executive Chairman and Brand Chief, Kevin A. Plank, beneficially owns all outstanding shares of Class B common stock. As a result, Mr. Plank has the majority voting control and is able to direct the election of all of the members of our Board of Directors and other matters we submit to a vote of our stockholders. Under certain circumstances, the Class B common stock automatically converts to Class A common stock, which would also result in the conversion of our Class C common stock into Class A common stock. As specified in our charter, these circumstances include when Mr. Plank beneficially owns less than 15.0% of the total number of shares of Class A and Class B common stock outstanding, if Mr. Plank were to resign as an Approved Executive Officer of the Company (or was otherwise terminated for cause) or if Mr. Plank sells more than a specified number of any class of our common stock within a one-year period. This concentration of voting control may have various effects including, but not limited to, delaying or preventing a change of control or allowing us to take action that the majority of our stockholders do not otherwise support. In addition, we utilize shares of our Class C common stock to fund employee equity incentive programs and may do so in connection with future stock-based acquisition transactions, which could prolong the duration of Mr. Plank’s voting control.
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The trading prices for our Class A and Class C common stock may differ and fluctuate from time to time.
The trading prices of our Class A and Class C common stock may differ and fluctuate from time to time in response to various factors, some of which are beyond our control. These factors may include, among others, overall performance of the equity markets and the economy as a whole, variations in our quarterly results of operations or those of our competitors, our ability to meet our published guidance and securities analyst expectations, or recommendations by securities analysts. In addition, our non-voting Class C common stock has traded at a discount to our Class A common stock, and there can be no assurance that this will not continue.
ITEM 1B. UNRESOLVED STAFF COMMENTS
Not applicable.
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ITEM 2. PROPERTIES
The following includes a summary of the principal properties that we own or lease as of the end of Fiscal 2020.
Our principal executive and administrative offices are located at an office complex in Baltimore, Maryland, the majority of which we own and a portion of which we lease. For each of our Europe, Latin America and Asia Pacific headquarters, we lease office space.
We lease our primary distribution facilities, which are located in Sparrows Point, Maryland, Mount Juliet, Tennessee and Rialto, California. Combined, these facilities represent approximately 3.5 million square feet of facility space. These leases expire at various dates, with the earliest lease termination date through May 2023. We believe our distribution facilities and space available through our third-party logistics providers will be adequate to meet our short term needs.
In addition, as of December 31, 2020, we leased 439 brand and factory house stores located primarily in the United States, China, Mexico, Korea, Chile, and Canada with lease end dates in 2021 through 2035. We also lease additional office space for sales, quality assurance and sourcing, marketing, and administrative functions. We anticipate that we will be able to extend these leases that expire in the near future on satisfactory terms or relocate to other locations.
ITEM 3. LEGAL PROCEEDINGS
From time to time, we have been involved in litigation and other proceedings, including matters related to commercial disputes and intellectual property, as well as trade, regulatory and other claims related to our business. Refer to Note 10 to our Consolidated Financial Statements for information on certain legal proceedings, which is incorporated by reference herein.
ITEM 4. MINE SAFETY DISCLOSURES
Not applicable.
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PART II
Under Armour’s Class A Common Stock and Class C Common Stock are traded on the New York Stock Exchange (“NYSE”) under the symbols “UAA” and "UA", respectively. As of January 31, 2021, there were 1,765 record holders of our Class A Common Stock, 5 record holders of Class B Convertible Common Stock which are beneficially owned by our Executive Chairman and Brand Chief, Kevin A. Plank, and 1,170 record holders of our Class C Common Stock.
Our Class A Common Stock was listed on the NYSE under the symbol “UA” until December 6, 2016 and under the symbol "UAA" since December 7, 2016. Prior to November 18, 2005, there was no public market for our Class A Common Stock. Our Class C Common Stock was listed on the NYSE under the symbol “UA.C” since its initial issuance on April 8, 2016 and until December 6, 2016 and under the symbol "UA" since December 7, 2016.
Dividends
No cash dividends were declared or paid during Fiscal 2020 or 2019 on any class of our common stock. We currently anticipate we will retain any future earnings for use in our business. As a result, we do not anticipate paying any cash dividends in the foreseeable future. In addition, we may be limited in our ability to pay dividends to our stockholders under our credit facility. Refer to “Financial Position, Capital Resources and Liquidity” within Management’s Discussion and Analysis and Note 9 to the Consolidated Financial Statements for a further discussion of our credit facility.
Stock Compensation Plans
The following table contains certain information regarding our equity compensation plans.
Equity compensation plans not approved by security holders Class A 91,473 $ — —
Equity compensation plans not approved by security holders Class C 92,119 $ — —
The number of securities to be issued upon exercise of outstanding options, warrants and rights issued under equity compensation plans approved by security holders includes 1.4 million Class A and 10.7 million Class C options, restricted stock units and deferred stock units issued to employees, non-employees and directors of Under Armour. These restricted stock units and deferred stock units are not included in the weighted average exercise price calculation above. The number of securities remaining available for future issuance includes 10.1 million shares of our Class A Common Stock and 24.9 million shares of our Class C Common Stock under our Third Amended and Restated 2005 Omnibus Long-Term Incentive Plan (“2005 Stock Plan”) and 2.7 million of our Class A Common Stock and 2.0 million shares of our Class C Common Stock under our Employee Stock Purchase Plans. In addition to securities issued upon the exercise of stock options, warrants and rights, the 2005 Stock Plan authorizes the issuance of restricted and unrestricted shares of our Class A and C Common Stock and other equity awards. Refer to Note 15 to the Consolidated Financial Statements for information required by this Item regarding the material features of each plan.
The number of securities issued upon exercise of outstanding options, warrants and rights issued under equity compensation plans not approved by security holders includes 91.5 thousand shares of our Class A Common Stock and 92.1 thousand shares of our Class C Common Stock issued in connection with the delivery of shares pursuant to deferred stock units granted to certain of our marketing partners. These deferred stock units are not included in the weighted average exercise price calculation above. The deferred stock units are issued to certain of our marketing partners in connection with their entering into endorsement and other marketing services agreements
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with us. The terms of each agreement set forth the number of deferred stock units to be granted and the delivery dates for the shares, which range over a multi-year period, depending on the contract. The deferred stock units are non-forfeitable.
Stock Performance Graph
The stock performance graph below compares cumulative total return on Under Armour, Inc. Class A Common Stock to the cumulative total return of the S&P 500 Index and S&P 500 Apparel, Accessories and Luxury Goods Index from December 31, 2015 through December 31, 2020. The graph assumes an initial investment of $100 in Under Armour and each index as of December 31, 2015 and reinvestment of any dividends. The performance shown on the graph below is not intended to forecast or be indicative of possible future performance of our common stock.
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ITEM 6. SELECTED FINANCIAL DATA
The following selected financial data is qualified by reference to, and should be read in conjunction with, the Consolidated Financial Statements, including the notes thereto, and “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations” appearing elsewhere in this Annual Report on Form 10-K. The selected Consolidated Statements of Operations and Balance Sheets data for each of the five fiscal years indicated below has been derived from our audited Consolidated Financial Statements.
Year Ended December 31,
Income (loss) from equity method investment (7,246) (47,679) 934 — —
Adjustment payment to Class C capital stockholders — — — — 59,000
Net income available per common share
Weighted average common shares outstanding Class A and B common stock
Weighted average common shares outstanding Class C common stock
Dividends declared $ — $ — $ — $ — $ 59,000
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At December 31,
(1) Working capital is defined as current assets minus current liabilities.
(2) As a result of the adoption of ASU 2016-02, Leases (Topic 842), on January 1, 2019, the selected financial data for fiscal year 2019 reflects the recognition of lease assets and liabilities for operating leases with terms of more than twelve months. Prior period amounts were not adjusted and continue to be reported in accordance with our historic accounting policies.
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The information contained in this section should be read in conjunction with our Consolidated Financial Statements and related notes and the information contained elsewhere in this Form 10-K under the captions “Risk Factors,” “Selected Financial Data,” and “Business.”
This Annual Report on Form 10-K, including this Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations ("MD&A"), contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, Section 21E of the U.S. Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the Exchange Act), and Section 27A of the U.S. Securities Act of 1933, as amended ("the Securities Act"), and is subject to the safe harbors created by those sections. All statements other than statements of historical facts are statements that could be deemed forward-looking statements.
The following MD&A is intended to help readers understand our results of operations and financial condition, and is provided as a supplement to, and should be read in conjunction with, our Consolidated Financial Statements and the accompanying Notes to our Consolidated Financial Statements under Part II, Item 8 of this Annual Report on Form 10-K. All dollar and percentage comparisons made herein refer to the year ended December 31, 2020 ("Fiscal 2020") compared with the year ended December 31, 2019 ("Fiscal 2019"), unless otherwise noted. Please refer to Part II, Item 7 of our Annual Report on Form 10-K for Fiscal 2019, filed with the Securities Exchange Commission ("SEC") on February 26, 2020, for a comparative discussion of our Fiscal 2019 financial results as compared to year ended December 31, 2018 ("Fiscal 2018"). See "Forward-looking statements."
Overview
We are a leading developer, marketer and distributor of branded performance apparel, footwear and accessories. The brand’s moisture-wicking fabrications are engineered in many different designs and styles for wear in nearly every climate to provide a performance alternative to traditional products. Our products are sold worldwide and worn by athletes at all levels, from youth to professional, on playing fields around the globe, as well as by consumers with active lifestyles. Our digital strategy is focused on engaging with these consumers and increasing awareness and sales of our products.
We believe that our net revenues have been driven by a growing interest in performance products and the strength of the Under Armour brand in the marketplace. Our long-term growth strategy is focused on increased sales of our products through ongoing product innovation, investment in our distribution channels and international expansion. While we plan to continue to invest in growth, we also plan to improve efficiencies throughout our business as we seek to gain scale through our operations and return on our investments.
Fiscal 2020 Performance
Financial highlights for Fiscal 2020 as compared to Fiscal 2019 include:
•Net revenues decreased 15%.
•Wholesale revenues decreased 25% and direct-to-consumer revenues increased 2%, driven by growth in our e-commerce business.
•Apparel revenue decreased 17%. Footwear revenue declined 14% and accessories revenue was relatively flat.
•Revenue in our North America segment declined 19%. Revenue in our Asia-Pacific, EMEA and Latin America segments decreased 1%, 4% and 16%, respectively.
•Gross margin increased 140 basis points.
•Selling, general and administrative expense decreased 3%.
A large majority of our products are sold in North America; however, we believe our products appeal to athletes and consumers around the globe. Internationally, our net revenues are generated primarily from a mix of sales to retailers and distributors in our wholesale channel and sales through our direct-to-consumer channels.
We believe there is an increasing recognition of the health benefits of an active lifestyle. We believe this trend provides us with an expanding consumer base for our products. We also believe there is a continuing shift in consumer demand from traditional non-performance products to performance products, which are intended to provide better performance by wicking perspiration away from the skin, helping to regulate body temperature and
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enhancing comfort. We plan to continue to grow our business over the long term through increased sales of our apparel, footwear and accessories, expansion of our wholesale distribution, growth in our direct-to-consumer sales channel and expansion in international markets.
Although we believe these trends will facilitate our growth, we also face potential challenges that could limit our ability to take advantage of these opportunities or negatively impact our financial results, including, among others, the risk of general economic or market conditions that could affect consumer spending and the financial health of our retail customers. For example, recent and ongoing developments regarding COVID-19 may negatively impact our results of operations. Additionally, we may not be able to successfully execute on our long-term strategies, or successfully manage the increasingly complex operations of our global business effectively. Although we have implemented restructuring plans in the past and may implement additional plans in the future, we may not fully realize the expected benefits of these plans or other operating or cost-saving initiatives. In addition, we may not consistently be able to anticipate consumer preferences and develop new and innovative products that meet changing preferences in a timely manner. Furthermore, our industry is very competitive, and competition pressures could cause us to reduce the prices of our products or otherwise affect our profitability. We also rely on third-party suppliers and manufacturers outside the U.S. to provide fabrics and to produce our products, and disruptions to our supply chain could harm our business. For a more complete discussion of the risks facing our business, refer to the “Risk Factors” section included in Item 1A.
COVID-19
In March 2020, a novel strain of coronavirus (COVID-19) was declared a global pandemic by the World Health Organization. This pandemic has negatively affected the U.S. and global economies, disrupted global supply chains and financial markets, and led to significant travel and transportation restrictions, including mandatory closures and orders to “shelter-in-place”.
During the first quarter of Fiscal 2020, we took action to close substantially all of our brand and factory house stores based on regional conditions, a majority of which remained closed into the second quarter of Fiscal 2020. By the end of the third quarter of Fiscal 2020, substantially all of our brand and factory house stores were re-opened. As pandemic conditions worsened globally during the fourth quarter of Fiscal 2020, we again closed certain stores based on regional conditions, particularly in EMEA and Latin America. The following is a summary of our owned and operated store closures and their status throughout Fiscal 2020 and as of the end of January 2021:
•North America: Beginning in mid-March we closed all of our stores in the North America operating segment, which remained closed through the end of April. We began a progressive re-opening of our stores in May and more than 85% of our stores were open by the end of June. As of the end of September 2020, all of our stores were open and approximately 95% of our stores were open as of the end of January 2021.
•EMEA: Beginning in mid-March we closed all of our stores in the EMEA operating segment, of which, over 65% remained closed through the end of April. We continued the re-opening of our stores in May and more than 95% of the stores were open at the end of June. As of the end of September 2020, all of our stores were open, however, in the fourth quarter we had to close almost 60% of our stores based on regional conditions. As of the end of January 2021, only 25% of our stores were open.
•Asia-Pacific: Stores in China were closed from late-January through early-March, when a slowly progressive re-opening process started. Stores in the remainder of the Asia-Pacific operating segment were also closed from time to time based on local conditions. More than 80% of our stores were open by the end of April, and by the end of June 2020 more than 95% of the stores were open and continued to be open until the end of September 2020. As of the end of January 2021, approximately 90% of our stores were open.
•Latin America: Beginning in mid-March, we closed all of our stores in the Latin America operating segment, which remained closed in April and through the end of May. We began a progressive re-opening of stores in June, and more than 25% of our stores were open by the end of June, and by the end of September 2020 approximately 85% of our stores remained open. However, in the fourth quarter, we had to close certain stores based on regional conditions, and approximately 55% of our stores were open as of the end of January 2021.
The discussion above reflects the status of our owned and operated stores through the end of January 2021, however, depending on the progression of COVID-19, stores in certain regions may close from time to time.
Additionally, throughout this time, many of our wholesale customers also closed their stores or operated them at limited capacity. As this pandemic progressed, we estimated that, in mid-May, approximately 80% of
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locations where our products are sold were closed. By the end of May and throughout June, our owned and partner doors and those of our wholesale customers began reopening, though they continued to operate at limited capacity and experienced significantly decreased traffic. By the end of June, we estimated that over 90% of our owned and partner doors had reopened, and most of our wholesale customers had also reopened their stores. However, in the fourth quarter our owned and partners doors began to close from time to time based on regional conditions. While store closures significantly impacted sales throughout Fiscal 2020, since the beginning of the second quarter, we experienced significant growth in our global e-commerce business. Although e-commerce sales represented a higher portion of our overall business in Fiscal 2020, sales in this channel have historically represented a small percentage of our total revenue. For example, in Fiscal 2020 sales through our direct-to-consumer channel represented 41% of net revenues, with our e-commerce business representing approximately 47% of the total direct-to-consumer business.
Our business operations and financial performance in Fiscal 2020 were materially impacted by the developments discussed above, including decreases in net revenue and decreases in overall profitability as compared to the prior year. These developments further required us to recognize certain long-lived asset and goodwill impairment charges, discussed in further detail below, and record valuation allowances on the majority of our deferred tax assets and recognize impairment on certain equity method investments.
In addition to the impacts on our sales outlined above, this pandemic has also impacted the operations of our distribution centers, our third-party logistics providers and our manufacturing and supplier partners, including through the closure or reduced capacity of facilities and operational changes to accommodate social distancing. Depending on the progression of COVID-19, we may experience further disruptions or increased operational and logistics costs throughout our supply chain which could negatively impact our ability to obtain inventory or service our customers.
As we navigated these unprecedented circumstances, we continued to focus on preserving our liquidity and managing our cash flows through certain preemptive actions designed to enhance our ability to meet our short-term liquidity needs, including amending our credit agreement to provide temporary relief from or revisions to certain of our financial covenants in the near-term, providing us with improved access to liquidity during this time period and completing a sale of $500 million of Convertible Senior Notes. Additional actions include, among others, reductions to our discretionary spending and changes to our investment strategies, negotiating payment terms with our vendors, including revised lease terms with landlords in the form of rent deferrals or rent waivers, reductions in compensation costs, including through temporary reductions in pay, layoffs and decreases in incentive compensation, and limiting certain marketing and capital expenditures. Further, in connection with global legislation, including the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security ("CARES") Act, we recognized certain incentives totaling $9.0 million for Fiscal 2020. These incentives were recorded as a reduction of the associated costs which we incurred within selling, general and administrative expenses in the Consolidated Statements of Operations.
We do expect the pandemic to continue to have a material impact on our financial condition, results of operations and cash flows from operations into 2021 as compared to the end of 2020. Specifically, we experienced timing impacts from COVID-19, related to customer order flow and changes in supply chain timing, which resulted in more planned spring product deliveries shifting from the fourth quarter of 2020 to early 2021. Further, we could experience material impacts, in addition to those noted above, including, but not limited to, increased sales-related reserves, increased charges from allowance for doubtful accounts, charges from adjustments of the carrying amount of inventory, increased cost of product, costs to alter production plans, changes in the designation of our hedging instruments, volatility in our effective tax rate and impacts to cash flows from operations due to delays in cash receipts from customers. The extent of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on our operational and financial performance depends on future developments outside of our control, including the duration and spread of the pandemic and related actions taken by federal, state and local government officials, and international governments to prevent disease spread and the pace of vaccination efforts. Given that the current circumstances are dynamic and highly uncertain, we cannot reasonably estimate the impact of future store closures and shopping behaviors, including the related impact on store traffic patterns, conversion or overall consumer demand. For a more complete discussion of the COVID-19 related risks facing our business, refer to the “Risk Factors” section included in Item 1A.
Segment Presentation and Marketing
Corporate Other consists largely of general and administrative expenses not allocated to an operating segment, including expenses associated with centrally managed departments such as global marketing, global IT, global supply chain, innovation and other corporate support functions; costs related to our global assets and global marketing, costs related to our headquarters; restructuring and impairment related charges; and certain foreign currency hedge gains and losses.
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2020 Restructuring
On March 31, 2020, our Board of Directors approved a restructuring plan ("2020 restructuring plan") designed to rebalance our cost base to further improve profitability and cash flow generation. We identified further opportunities and on September 2, 2020, our Board of Directors approved a $75 million increase to the restructuring plan, resulting in an updated 2020 restructuring plan of approximately $550 million to $600 million of total estimated pre-tax restructuring and related charges.
The restructuring and related charges primarily consist of up to approximately:
•$219 million of cash restructuring charges, comprised of up to: $61 million in facility and lease termination costs, $30 million in employee severance and benefit costs, and $128 million in contract termination and other restructuring costs; and
•$381 million of non-cash charges comprised of an impairment of $291 million related to our New York City flagship store and $90 million of intangibles and other asset related impairments.
We recorded $472.7 million and $183.1 million of restructuring and related impairment charges for Fiscal 2020 and Fiscal 2018, respectively. There were no restructuring charges incurred during Fiscal 2019. The summary of the costs recorded during Fiscal 2020 as well as our current estimates of the amount expected to be incurred in connection with the 2020 restructuring plan is as follows: