Under Armour Inc. was downgraded Wednesday to a rare bearish rating at Susquehanna Financial, which cited the “reputational risk” created by the chief executive’s praise of President Donald Trump.

Analyst Sam Poser cut his rating on the athletic apparel and accessories company UAA, -2.12% to negative, after being at neutral since Jan. 31, and at positive since Aug. 11. Only four of the 310, or 1.3%, of the companies covered by Susquehanna were rated negative through Tuesday.

Poser slashed his stock price target to $14, which is 35% below current levels, from $24. The stock hasn’t traded as low as $14 since April 2013.

He said the main reasons behind the downgrade are the “reputational risk” created by the recent “sloppy” political commentary made by Chief Executive Kevin Plank, “too basic” apparel lines and the difficulties of building a lifestyle brand.

On Feb. 9, Plank called President Trump as “asset” to the country, prompting a backlash from some high-profile celebrities the company sponsors.

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“Commentary by the CEO in a CNBC interview in a polarized political climate, and pointed response from Stephen Curry, The Rock and Misty Copeland make it nearly impossible to effectively build a cool urban lifestyle brand in the foreseeable future,” Poser wrote in a note to clients.

Curry said he agreed with Plank’s description of Trump, “if you remove the ‘et’ from ‘asset.’” Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson said Plank’s words were “divisive and lacking in perspective,” and ballerina Copeland said “I strongly disagree with Kevin Plank’s recent comments in support of Trump as recently reported.”

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Under Armour and Plank have followed with statements advocating diversity and an inclusive immigration policy. On Wednesday, Plank wrote an “open letter to Baltimore,” which was published in the Baltimore Sun, saying that the “choice of words” he used last week to answer a question “did not accurately reflect my intent,” adding that he believes immigration is a source of strength and that the company publicly opposes the travel ban.

“Regardless of CEO Plank’s political views or whether his comment was meant to be a Trump endorsement or a general opinion, we believe the decision to express a view in today’s highly charged political climate was a mistake,” Poser wrote. “In this case, perception is reality.”

Poser said he’s also concerned that many of Under Armour’s key apparel items, like the $55 hoodies, are “too basic,” leaving customers with no urgency to buy them. His research suggests that Under Armour will lose market share in 2017.

Another challenge the company faces, Poser said, is that it is a relatively young apparel company that is trying to build a footwear business, and has yet to have any “iconic” apparel or footwear items. In comparison, rivals Nike, Adidas ADS, and Puma PUM, -0.29% are established footwear companies, with iconic items, that have built apparel businesses.

“The developers in the athletic space tend to develop feet first,” Poser said.

Under Armour’s stock inched up 0.5% Wednesday, paring earlier intraday losses of as much as 1.7%. It has now gained 6.4% since closing at a more-than three-year low of $20.47 on Feb. 7, but has tumbled 31% since the election and 45% over the past 12 months.

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In comparison, shares of rival Nike Inc. NKE, -1.88% have tacked on 0.1% over the past year, while the S&P 500 index SPX, -0.84% has climbed 25%.

On Tuesday, Morgan Stanley analysts upgraded Under Armour to equal weight from underweight, saying the stock’s plunge over the past year created a more balanced risk-versus-reward scenario for investors.