It's official: Under Armour is as uncool as it gets

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It's official: Under Armour is as uncool as it gets

Under Armour shoe

Facebook/Under Armour

Under Armour's shoe business is in dire straits.

A few years ago, Under Armour's shoe division got a shot in the arm from hot basketball star Steph Curry. The Curry-branded shoes from Under Armour sold well initially.

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However, shoe sales have been steadily falling since the Curry 3 signature model launched last October to weaker reaction than was had for the first two models.

Now we finally know why: the shoes are just not cool.

Under Armour shoes ranked near the bottom of a survey of young male consumers by Wells Fargo. In a note to investors, the bank's analysts say that only 27% of survey participants ranked Under Armour favorably, and the Curry brand was even lower, at 19%.

For comparison, they ranked Adidas at 70%, and Nike was at the top with 81%. It's worth noting that participants could check as many boxes as they wanted.

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That's not the end of the bad news for Under Armour, however. In another question on the survey, the bank asked which brands the participants were more interested in purchasing than before, and which they were less interested in purchasing than before.

Close to 33% of the respondents said they were less likely to buy Under Armour shoes than before, and only 17% said they were more likely. That also put Under Armour dead last with a net rating of -17%.

It appears that Under Armour has a poor favorability rating not just because it's a younger shoe brand than its rivals - its cool factor and desirability are also low among young consumers.

Under Armour's shoe sales have basically flatlined this year. Basketball star Kevin Durant, who is signed with rival Nike, said in an interview that "everybody knows" that "nobody wants to play in Under Armours."

Shoes are a core business for athletic brands. Shoes account for 65% of Nike's sales but are just 20% of Under Armour's business.

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