Under Armour jumps after a blockbuster quarter shows its restructuring plan is working

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• Under Armour beat on both the top and bottom lines.
• The company also said its inventory decreased 12% year-over-year.
• The sporting-apparel maker reiterated its guidance provided at its December 12, 2018 investor day.
• Watch Under Armour trade live.

Under Armour jumped 7% to $22.25 a share on Tuesday after the company posted better-than-expected earnings for the fourth quarter, showing its ambitious restructuring plan is working.

The sporting-apparel maker posted $0.09 adjusted earnings per share, which is $0.05 higher than what analysts were expecting, according to Bloomberg data. It generated $1.39 billion in revenue, topping the $1.38 billion that was expected.

Meanwhile, the company said its inventory decreased 12% year-over-year to $1 billion, a big improvement over the 1% drop in the prior quarter.

"Our 2018 results demonstrate significant progress against our multi-year transformation toward becoming an even stronger brand and more operationally excellent company," said CEO Kevin Plank in a press release.

He continued: "As we look ahead to 2019, our accelerated innovation agenda, disciplined go-to-market process and powerful consumer-centric approach gives us increasingly greater confidence in our ability to deliver for Under Armour athletes, customers and shareholders."

Looking ahead, the athletic brand reiterated its guidance provided at its December 12, 2018 investor day. It expects its annual sales growth in North America to be in the range of 3% to 4%, and expects its international revenue to grow at low-double digits.

Under Armour looks to be recovering after shares tumbled as much as 79% from their September 2015 peak through the middle of 2017. The losses came as the retailer struggled to get its inventory under control. Since then, the company announced an ambitious restructuring plan that aimed to clear excess inventory and eliminate under-performing products. The plan had also cut more than 500 jobs.

"Under Armour has made laudable progress over the past year, though several brand issues remain as execution risk in fulfilling the company's long-term targets is high against a relatively rich valuation," said Berstein analyst Christopher Svezia in a note distributed on Tuesday.

Svezia has a "neutral" rating and $20 price target for Under Armour, which is near where shares are trading on Tuesday.

Under Armour is up 18% so far this year.

Now read:

• Under Armour's 'show me' story needs to prove itself next year, Morgan Stanley says (UAA)

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