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Under Armour Inc (UA) and Garmin Ltd. (GRMN) unveiled new offerings at CES this week
It's now 2015, and if you're like many Americans, you may have resolved to get in shape this year. Getting fit has never been easier than it is in 2014 -- er, 2015 -- with the proliferation of gyms, infomercial products, and devices that help athletes track and share their workout data.
At this week's Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas, it's become clear that this latter trend is here to stay. Here are a pair of companies that caught our attention with their fitness-based offerings, along with a contrarian take on their respective stocks.
Under Armour Inc (NYSE:UA) jumped into the game at CES with its Gisele Bundchen-endorsed app, UA Record. The app isn't groundbreaking -- like those made by Nike Inc (NYSE:NKE), Fitbit, and others, it tracks steps, calories burned, hours slept, and more. However, it offers some interesting features that center on users' social networks. In short, UA Record members can challenge their friends to reach certain goals, and the app will provide real-time progress updates.
On the charts, UA has been a technical outperformer. Year-over-year, the shares have advanced 51% to trade at $65.65. The stock is also currently hovering around it 32-week moving average, from which it bounced in May and October -- suggesting additional upside may be forthcoming.
Unwinding skepticism could assist UA in its quest for higher highs. Currently, the majority of the 25 analysts covering the shares have doled out "hold" or worse suggestions. In other words, a round of upgrades could add fuel to the equity's fire.
Another CES debut came from Garmin Ltd. (NASDAQ:GRMN), which revealed its Vivofit 2 smartwatch, which tracks daily health stats, provides audible exercise alerts, and can even be fitted with a heart rate monitor. What's more, the Vivofit 2's battery is designed to last a year on a single charge. However, unlike UA Record, this hardware isn't free -- it starts at $130.
Technically speaking, GRMN has had a solid year, adding roughly 14% to trade at $51.80. What's more, a recent downturn was contained by the half-century $50 level yesterday, and the shares are up 2.5% this morning on an upgrade to "equal weight" from "underweight," and price-target hike to $47 from $45, at Morgan Stanley. If the equity can bounce even higher, it could put pressure on short sellers. Nearly 16% of GRMN's float is sold short, which represents more than three weeks' worth of pent-up buying power, at typical daily trading volumes. In other words, additional gains could pave the way for a short-covering rally.