Under Armour Stock Was Up 27 Percent Today. Here's Why. The sportswear company's third-quarter earnings blew expectations out of the water.
By Andrew Osterland •
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Under Armour Inc. to the rescue! The sportswear maker, in the midst of a convincing turnaround this year, blew away Wall Street estimates in third quarter earnings reported last night and injected a dose of optimism into the stock market. Under Armour shares were up an overwhelming 27.82 percent -- the biggest gain on the Entrepreneur Index™ today.
The broader index seesawed for much of the day but a late afternoon rally lifted it to a gain of 1.55 percent.
While few companies this quarter have been rewarded for good financial results, Under Armour scored the trifecta: It beat estimates on earnings and revenues, and it raised forward guidance on profits by nearly 20 percent.
Akamai Technologies also soared today on strong earnings. The online content delivery company beat earnings estimates by more than 10 percent and revenues by more than 1 percent on the strength of demand from video-gamers and cyber-security customers. The stock was up 16.92 percent -- the second biggest gain on the index today.
Tech services provider Cognizant Technology, on the other hand, saw its stock fall 3.9 percent -- the biggest decline on the index -- after it lowered fourth quarter guidance because of weak demand from bank customers.
The broader technology sector rallied strongly in the afternoon, with Twitter (4.54 percent), Facebook (2.91 percent) and Alphabet Inc. (1.58 percent) posting gains while Amazon.com (-0.55 percent) and Adobe Systems Inc. (-0.56 percent) had small losses. Chipmaker NVIDIA Corp. continued to play the tech sector pinball. Down 6.39 percent yesterday, it was up 9.36 percent today.
Telecom giant Comcast continued to draft off its strong earnings report last week and what appears to be a shift in the market to more defensive stocks with dependable outlooks. The stock gained 4.78 percent today and is up more than 10 percent since it reported earnings last Thursday.
Tesla CEO Elon Musk has taken to the twitter-sphere again, and investors aren't happy about it. In reference to his recent removal as Tesla's chairman as part of a settlement with the SEC, Musk quipped that he had deleted his titles at Tesla last week. "I'm now the Nothing of Tesla. Seems fine so far," he tweeted yesterday. The stock, which has skyrocketed while the rest of the market has fallen recently, was down 1.48 percent on the day.
Deleted my Tesla titles last week to see what would happen. I'm now the Nothing of Tesla. Seems fine so far.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) October 29, 2018
Asset managers BlackRock and Franklin Resources had strong gains today, rising 3.37 percent and 4.59 percent respectively. Both companies' stocks have suffered from the market volatility this month. While Franklin Resources has now regained most of its 10 percent drop, BlackRock is still down about 15 percent this month.
Other notable gains on the index today included Bed Bath and Beyond (5.19 percent), Chipotle Mexican Grill (4.74 percent), Estee Lauder Companies (3.76 percent) and L Brands (3.54 percent). The recently battered stocks of home-builder D.R. Horton Inc. (3.77 percent) and business services company Cintas Corp. (3.48 percent) were also up smartly on the day.
The Entrepreneur Index™ collects the top 60 publicly traded companies founded and run by entrepreneurs. The entrepreneurial spirit is a valuable asset for any business, and this index recognizes its importance, no matter how much a company has grown. These inspirational businesses can be tracked in real time on Entrepreneur.com.
