Under Armour & bebe up ahead of corporate news

Both Under Armour and bebe saw good growth on Wednesday

following corporate news. For the sportswear firm is all about football these days, whereas Bebe Stores are benefitting from a better than expected figures to be released on 3rd of May.

The Under Armour brand is poised for continued growth with a soon-to-be-released football cleat that's expected to drive footwear sales, as well as plans to keep expanding into international markets, executives told stockholders Tuesday. "Under Armour is not the cheapest product in the store, but we are the best," Kevin Plank, the company's chairman, president and CEO, told to the shareholders gathered for the Annual Stakeholders Meeting earlier this week. "We identify the issues and needs of athletes and fix those issues."

The company said last month it expected revenue this year of $1.78 billion to $1.8 billion, a 21 % to 22 % increase over last year. Under Armour reported a first-quarter profit of $14.6 million, or 28 cents per share, compared with $12 million, or 23 cents per share, in the same period a year ago. The stock closed up on Wednesday, adding over 2.15% to the previous day price.

Elsewhere, bebe is expected to report earnings on May 3, with The Zacks Consensus Estimate calling for revenue of $119 million and EPS of $0.01, as reported by Nasdaq on Wednesday. The year ago period saw revenue of $109 million and a loss of $0.03. “Following the release last year, the stock moved higher by 4.7%. In February bebe reported revenue of $152 million, roughly $4 million ahead of the Zacks Consensus Estimate and up from $136 million reported in year ago quarter. In addition, earnings per share came in at $0.08, $0.01 higher than the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $0.07. The beat of 14% was the smallest since the March 2011 quarter when bebe met the Zacks Consensus Estimate,” analysts from Zacks Investment Research highlighted in a note. From the end of January 2012, through the middle of February, short interest in bebe shares decreased from 1.6 million shares to 1.5 million shares. Since mid-February, short interest has increased, as stressed by market observers. The most recent data gathered by ASDAQ shows short interest as being more than 1.625 million shares.

Bebe Stores reported a 7.2% rise in same-store sales in the quarter ended March 31. Retail sales totaled $108 million, up 7.1% from the same three-month period in 2011. Revenue fell shy of analysts’ forecast for $119 million, reported ‘Forbes’. The stock was up more than 5% on Wednesday and it has beaten earnings for three straight quarters which has helped make it a Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy), they added from Zacks’ analysis team.

Finally, Ascena Retail Group Inc. is buying Lane Bryant owner Charming Shoppes Inc. for about $890 million, giving it access to the large-size women's clothing market. Charming also runs Fashion Bug, Catherines Plus Sizes and the direct marketing business Figi's. It had been looking for a buyer for its Fashion Bug operations since December. Ascena will pay $7.35 for each Charming share. That is a 25 % premium to Charming's closing price of $5.90 on Tuesday.