Yahoo Finance Gatorade Rival Heats Up, Nike Loses a Star & a Publicly Traded Soccer Update
Welcome to the latest episode of the Full-Court Finance podcast from Zacks Investment Research where Associate Stock Strategist Ben Rains dives into the potential future of Gatorade rival BodyArmor, before he discusses why fast-fashion giant Uniqlo decided to spend $300 million to lure Roger Federer away from Nike NKE. The episode then ends with a fun and quick dive into the world of publicly traded soccer teams amid all the Cristiano Ronaldo transfer speculation.
Sports drink upstart BodyArmor was launched in 2011 by Mike Repole, who sold Vitaminwater to Coca-Cola KO for $4.1 billion back in 2007. Today the company has gathered a slew of young stars, including James Harden, to pitch BodyArmor’s “healthier” sports drink in an attempt to try to shake up a market dominated by Pepsico’s PEP Gatorade and Coca-Cola’s Powerade.
There is speculation that BodyArmor, which expects to see its sales hit $400 million next year, could get purchased. Dr. Pepper Snapple Group DPS currently holds a roughly 15% equity stake in the company and has carried BodyArmor as an allied brand since 2013. However, with Keurig's $18.7 billion deal to buy DPS set to close on Monday, July 9—the merged company is expected to trade under the ticker KDP starting on Tuesday, July 10—BodyArmor’s future is more uncertain.
One Wells Fargo WFC analyst suggested that there is a good chance that Keurig Dr. Pepper will move on from its current minority stakes. The thought is that the relatively stagnant Coca-Cola might jump in and scoop up BodyArmor amid the quickly changing beverage market.
The episode then shifts to why Japanese fast-fashion brand Uniqlo—which is owned by Tokyo conglomerate Fast Retailing FRCOY—signed Swiss tennis star Roger Federer to a 10-year, $300 million deal. Uniqlo wants to try to capitalize on the current sportswear and athleisure push, popularized by Nike, Adidas ADDYY, Lululemon LULU, and others. And although he might not be very famous in the U.S., ESPN DIS recently named Federer the 5th most famous athlete on the planet.
Full-Court Finance closes with a look at the world of publicly traded soccer teams, after shares of Juventus JVTSF—a massively popular team based in Turin, Italy—skyrocketed in recent days on the back of speculation that Real Madrid star Cristiano Ronaldo might be headed to the club almost a decade after he left another publicly traded soccer powerhouse, Manchester United plc MANU.
As a reminder, if you feel that we missed something, or if you have any topic suggestions, shoot us an email at podcast@zacks.com. Make sure to check out all of our other audio content at zacks.com/podcasts, and remember to subscribe and leave us a rating on Apple Podcasts.
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Wells Fargo & Company (WFC) : Free Stock Analysis Report
The Walt Disney Company (DIS) : Free Stock Analysis Report
Coca-Cola Company (The) (KO) : Free Stock Analysis Report
Dr Pepper Snapple Group, Inc (DPS) : Free Stock Analysis Report
Pepsico, Inc. (PEP) : Free Stock Analysis Report
Manchester United Ltd. (MANU) : Free Stock Analysis Report
lululemon athletica inc. (LULU) : Free Stock Analysis Report
NIKE, Inc. (NKE) : Free Stock Analysis Report
Adidas AG (ADDYY) : Free Stock Analysis Report
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