The good news from Under Armour (uaa, -3.56%) on Tuesday was that it is getting a better handle on inventory levels, and by extension, protecting profit margins.

The bad news is that sales in North America—its biggest market by far, generating about 71% of Under Armour’s total business—continued to fall in the fourth quarter, as the sports gear maker reins in discounting and is more selective about what it sells and where, slipping 6% in the quarter ended December 31. That was a deeper fall than Under Armour’s declines in recent quarters, and a dismal performance compared to Nike (nke, +1.21%), where it rose 9% in its most recent quarter, one that ended November 30.

Under Armour Is Struggling to Get Back to Growth in N. America

The sports company is looking to fix its business at home.

上周四，安德玛发布了一则好消息，公司的库存水平有所改善，而公司的利润率也因此得到了保护。

坏消息在于，随着这家体育用品制造商减少折扣力度，并更加关注销售的产品和场所，安德玛的北美销售业绩在第四季度继续下滑，在截至12月31日的季度下跌了6%，超过了安德玛近几个季度的跌幅。这个业绩与耐克相比可谓是十分惨淡，因为耐克在最近截至11月30日的季度斩获了9%的增幅。北美市场是安德玛目前最大的市场，占公司总业务量的71%。

安德玛正努力恢复其北美业务的增长

这家体育产品公司正想法设法解决北美本土业务存在的问题。

But the North American results stem from the tough medicine Under Armour has been taking to right its business. Under a restructuring plan unveiled in 2017, which it has tweaked a few times, Under Armour has sought to restructure operations to rein in costs, keep leaner inventories and speed up its time to product to adjust more quickly to demand, and rein in margin-harming discounts.

And on that front, Under Armour has scored some points: In the fourth quarter, gross margin profit rose 1.6 percentage points to 45% of sales, helping it return to profit. The company posted a net income of $4.2 million for the quarter, compared to an $88 million loss a year earlier. Total sales during the quarter rose 1.5% to $1.39 billion, lifted by big gains in Europe and Asia that offset weakness at home.

But Under Armour faces a top line problem, much more than a bottom line one. And its troubles reside firmly at home. The company expects sales in North America to be unchanged to up as much as 4% this year, still tepid. But that won’t be easy, considering its current trends, and the strong growth at Nike and Adidas, not to mention the ongoing success of Lululemon Athleta in athletic gear. (lulu, +5.10%)

Under Armour CEO Kevin Plank made it clear to analysts that in his mind, the path to success will be to focus on the technical aspects of its gear that enhance an athlete’s performance, the original raison d’être of the brand, rather than becoming a pale version of any rival.

“Weakness for us today is actually going to be our greatest strength,” he told Wall Street analysts. “The world doesn’t need another version of a brand that may be working today.” Under Armour shares rose 5%, showing the renewed faith investors are starting to develop. Then again, at $21, shares are barely one-fifth where they were four years ago, confirming the tough slog ahead for Under Armour.

但北美的业绩源于安德玛为挽回其颓势而喝下的一剂猛药。根据2017年公布的重组计划（随后修订过几次），安德玛一直在通过重组业务来控制成本，降低库存，并加速其产品上市时间以更快地根据需求进行调整，同时收敛了对利润率有负面影响的折扣举措。

从这一方面来讲，安德玛已经取得了一些成果：第四季度，总利润率增长了1.6个百分点，达到了销售额的45%，帮助公司扭亏为盈。公司第四季度净收益达到了420万美元，作为对比，公司去年同期亏损了8800万美元。第四季度总销售额增长了1.5%，达到了13.9亿美元，得益于欧洲和亚洲销售额的大幅增长抵消了北美的业务颓势。

但安德玛依然面临着比利润问题更加严重的营收问题，而且其烦恼根植于自己的故土北美。公司预计今年北美销售额不会发生变化或最多出现4%的增长。尽管这个增幅依然算不上有多出众，但考虑到当前的趋势，耐克和阿迪达斯的强势增长，以及Lululemon Athleta在运动装备领域的持续走红，要实现这一点也绝非易事。

安德玛首席执行官凯文·普兰克对分析师明确表示，他认为成功秘诀在于，公司应专注于为装备配备有助于提升运动员表现的技术，以及品牌的原创理念，而不是跟风模仿任何竞争对手。

他对华尔街的分析师说：“公司今天的弱点实际上将成为我们未来最大的优势。世界并不需要另一个品牌的翻版，哪怕这种模仿在眼下可能依然行得通。”安德玛的股价上涨了5%，显示了投资者开始对公司重拾信心。尽管如此，公司目前21美元的股价还不到4年前的五分之一，而这也预示了安德玛未来道路的艰辛。（财富中文网）

译者：Pessy

审校：夏林