Under Armour To Pay $9 Mln To Settle SEC Investigation

(RTTNews) - Sports apparel company Under Armour Inc. (UA, UAA) Monday said it has agreed to pay $9 million to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission to settle charges that it mislead investors by recording revenues earlier than it should.

According to the SEC's order, by the second half of 2015, Under Armour's internal revenue and revenue growth forecasts for the third and fourth quarters of 2015 began to indicate shortfalls from analysts' revenue estimates. The order further finds that in response, for six consecutive quarters beginning in the third quarter of 2015, Under Armour accelerated, or "pulled forward," a total of $408 million in existing orders that customers had requested be shipped in future quarters.

Kurt Gottschall, Director of the SEC's Denver Regional Office, said, "By using pull forwards for several consecutive quarters to meet analysts' revenue targets while attributing its revenue growth to other factors, Under Armour created a misleading picture of the drivers of its financial results and concealed known uncertainties concerning its business."

The SEC Staff has confirmed that it does not intend to recommend that any enforcement action be taken against the Company's Executive Chairman, Chief Financial Officer or any other member of management in connection with this investigation.