Athletic apparel and footwear maker Under Armour Inc. on Tuesday said first-quarter profit rose 38 percent, surpassing expectations, boosted by strong sales of its new running shoe.
Profit rose to nearly $4 million, or 8 cents per share, in the three months ended March 31 from $2.9 million, or 6 cents per share, a year ago.
Revenue rose 27 percent to $200 million from $157.3 million a year ago.
Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters, on average, expected a profit of 3 cents per share on revenue of $182.2 million. The estimates typically exclude one-time items.
Apparel revenue rose 2 percent to $132.2 million, but footwear revenue was the big sales driver, which more than doubled to $40.3 million, from $16.6 million a year ago.
Results were helped by the introduction of Under Armour's running shoe during the quarter, as well as shipments of its Performance Training cross training shoes.
"The athletic footwear market represents an enormous growth opportunity for the Under Armour Brand," Kevin Plank, chairman and chief executive, said in a statement.
