Peloton shares up after CEO says it must ‘right-size’ production levels, consider layoffs
[ad_1]
Peloton Bike
Shannon Stapleton | Reuters
PelotonShares rose by more than 5 percent in Friday trading after the company announced that they are resetting their production and may consider layoffs, in an effort to increase flexibility in its business.
John Foley, Chief Executive Officer sent a memo to workers The late Thursday post was made available publicly after the fact. CNBC reported earlier in the day that Peloton was temporarily halting production of its cycles and treadmills.CNBC reports separately that Tuesday’s report was made by CNBC. Peloton has been working with McKinsey & Co. to look for areas to cut costs.
Foley stated in the memo, “We have found ourselves in the middle a once in a hundred year event with COVID-19 panademic. And what we had envisioned would take three years occurred in 2020 and 2021.”
His comments included that “We feel confident about right-sizing production” and that, as seasonal demand curves evolve, we are setting production levels for sustained growth.
He stated that rumors that the company was stopping “all production” were false.
CNBC was able to obtain internal documents from Peloton that showed a plan to stop production of Bike for two months. This would be between February and March. These documents indicate that it had already stopped the production of its Bike+, which is more expensive, in December. They will continue to do so until June. According to the document, Peloton would not manufacture the Tread treadmill machine until June, according to the plans. The documents also stated that it wouldn’t produce Tread+ machines for fiscal 2022. Peloton previously stopped Tread+ production following a safety recall in 2017.
Peloton did not comment on these details. Foley stated in his memo that the media did not have enough context to understand Peloton’s plans.
Foley stated that Peloton was currently reviewing its organizational structure and its size to address the issue of job cuts. Foley wrote, “We are still considering all options in our efforts to make the business more flexible.”
Wednesday evening Peloton preannounced its financial results for the three-month period ended Dec. 31It stated that revenue is expected to be in the same range as previously predicted. The company did however add fewer subscribers than expected in its latest period.
The shares ended on Thursday with a loss of 23.9% at $24.22, falling below Peloton’s initial IPO price of $29.
Loop Capital Markets Analyst Daniel Adam stated in a Thursday night note that, even though Peloton doesn’t plan to have any future equipment for sale, the “subscription business” is still worth significantly more than its current market value.
Peloton reported that 2.49million connected users were registered at the end the quarter. These people are those who purchase a Peloton product like its Tread or Bike+, but also pay a monthly fee in order to have access to the digital workout content.
Adam holds a buy rating for shares, and has a $90 price goal.
Simeon Sigel from BMO Capital Markets lowered his target price for Peloton shares down to $24 instead of $45. Siegel is notable for maintaining the lowest target among all the analysts that cover the company.
Siegel wrote in a research paper on Thursday that Peloton was at the edge a dangerous precipice. “A material strategic reset may be necessary to stem significant cash-burn or faltering demand.” Siegel added. “But, increased profitability means sacrificing revenue. Although connected fitness is still in its infancy and we think that the Peloton estimates are too high, it’s not yet too late.
He said, “We fear that some of the worst news may not be fully understood and that recovery will take a long time.”
By Friday morning, at least eight analysts had reduced their Peloton target prices.
Read the full memo that Peloton CEO John Foley sent to employees here.
[ad_2]