Under Armour: Plank Hopes for Return to Glorious Past After Years of Failure; Shares Undervalued

In a move that always seemed like a strong possibility, no-moat Under Armour has shown Stephanie Linnartz the door and restored cofounder Kevin Plank to the CEO position. Plank will be replaced as chairman by Mohamed El-Erian, the well-known former CEO of bond giant Pimco. Plank had left the top spot at the beginning of 2020 after some embarrassing press and declining results but had always remained heavily involved as Under Armour’s executive chairman, brand chief, and controlling shareholder. Plank’s original successor as CEO was Patrik Frisk, but he was let go after about two and a half years. At the time, Plank cited a need to return to the firm’s glory days of strong sales growth. Frisk was succeeded on an interim basis by Colin Browne, the company’s chief operating officer until he was passed over for the permanent position in favor of Linnartz, a former executive at wide-moat Marriott. While Linnartz had strong experience in helping to build digital tools and a loyalty program at Marriott, she was an unorthodox choice for Under Armour as she had no experience in apparel and footwear. As it turned out, she lasted just over a year in the job. In her brief tenure, she brought in many executives and launched a loyalty program, but, like her successors, she struggled to find much sales growth.