Better Buy: Under Armour Inc. vs. Skechers USA Inc.

Five years ago, if anyone had suggested that Skechers (NYSE: SKX) was a better stock to buy than Under Armour (NYSE: UAA) (NYSE: UA), they would have been laughed out of the room. Skechers was settling an embarrassing lawsuit over its Shape-up shoes, while Under Armour was in the middle of an impressive run of quarters with comps growth of over 20%.

But that was then, and this is now. Under attack from all sides, and dealing with some poor inventory decisions, Under Armour is operating in a very different climate. And that has led the two companies to very different results.

On a split-adjusted basis, Under Armour stock sits around 66% higher today than it did five years ago, though its shares have declined nearly 60% from their 2015 highs. Skechers, on the other hand -- despite its own sharp rise and sharper tumble in 2015 -- has returned almost 300% over the past five years.

Source: Fool.com