Do you remember when it meant something to be the underdog? I’m looking at the latest Q3 2026 results from Under Armour, and I’m not just seeing spreadsheets. Here is a brand that is currently in a “controlled demolition” of its own house. I’m seeing a $431M net loss and a 10% slide in North America. And honestly? It feels like watching an old heavyweight champion take a knee in the eighth round. It feels like a brand falling into the nether. And I loved their footwear - so great, performance wise. But then, I am that old heavyweight, overweight even.
Let’s go back for a second.
Before the boardroom shuffles. Before the “lifestyle” pivots. Before the SKU reductions and the litigation reserves. It’s 1996. A basement in DC. A guy named Kevin Plank is tired of changing his cotton T-shirt five times a practice because it’s heavy, sodden, and dragging him down. He didn’t build a “lifestyle brand.” He built a solution.
He built a shirt that felt like armor.
I remember the first time I saw that “Protect This House” commercial. It wasn’t about “athleisure.” It wasn’t about wearing a logo to brunch. It was about the grit of a 5:00 AM workout in a cold gym where the heaters didn’t work. It was about the sound of cleats on concrete. It was about the “underdog” who didn’t want a seat at the table, he wanted to flip the table over.
But then, the world changed.
We got comfortable. We started valuing “athleisure” over “athleticism.” Brands started trying to be everything to everyone. Under Armour tried to be a footwear giant, a tech company, and a fashion house all at once. And in that “disruptive” scramble to grow, the soul of the brand got spread too thin. The Q3 2026 report is the sound of the brakes slamming.
CEO Kevin Plank says the “most disruptive phase” of the turnaround is over. They’ve cut 25% of their products. They’ve exited the “everything for everyone” model. They are essentially burning the village to save the soil.
Is it too late? Or is this the “Rocky” montage we’ve been waiting for?
Analysts are worried. The North American market is retreating. Footwear sales are down 12%.
To many, it looks like a brand without a map. But if you look closer, there’s a glimmer of that old 1996 grit:
The “Core” is growing: HeatGear and ColdGear, the actual performance tech, is up double digits.
Profit over Volume: They are finally stopping the “race to the bottom” discounts. They are choosing to be smaller, so they can be better.
International pull: The world outside the US still believes in the “Shield.”
I fear for Under Armour, not because I want them to fail, but because the industry needs them. We need a brand that cares more about the athlete in the rain than the influencer in the mirror.
We don’t need another “lifestyle” brand. We have plenty of those.
Plank says the disruption is ending. Now comes the hard part: Proving that the “Shield” still stands for something more than a clearance rack.
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