Friday, December 28, 2012

We Must Protect This House: Under Armour vs. Nike



Through out the history of capital markets there has always been natural competition.  There are monopolies, but for the most part Pepsi competes with Coke, Phillip Morris competes with British Tobacco, AT&T competes with Verizon.  One company in particular has been a monopoly for quite some time.  Recently, Under Armour has emerged and taken on Nike

Does UA have what it takes to take on the retail King of the World?  A couple months ago UA’s stock split 2 for 1.  It was trading upwards of 1$12.  It saw heavy resistance at those levels and management probably felt that the stock price was getting too high and started to price investors out at over $110.  It split to around $55, got a little above $60 (120 split adjusted) and has since fallen to $47. 

Nike, just like Under Armour, was trading upwards of $114.  This week Nike split 2 for 1 and raised their dividend (UA does not pay a dividend).  Nike also probably felt that the stock price was getting too high and wanted investors to be able to buy at a lower price.  Now the major question is would you buy Nike at $50 or UA at $47?  Did Nike purposely split so that their stock price would be around the same as UA?

Companies come and go, but we all know Nike is here to stay.  Does UA have what it takes to take on this world-renowned behemoth?  The Nike Swoosh is one of the top recognizable symbols in the world along with the McDonald’s arches and the colorful Google logo.  Will UA continue to thrive or hit a wall and crash like so many companies have in the past?  Only time will tell.    

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