On the heels of recent volatility in athletic footwear retail names, this week’s athletic footwear sales came in better on the margin though underlying trailing 3-week figures decelerated reflecting the third consecutive week of industry sales declines.
Importantly, performance categories where FL and FINL are over-indexed were up +7.4% on the week compared to the broader industry down -3.7% reflecting a sharp rebound from last week and a return to a HSD growth trajectory.
The key brands of note continue to be Nike, Brand Jordan, and Under Armour who all gained share this week. We remain positive on NKE and FL and cautious on UA near-term.
