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Peloton sales surge 66%, as more people buy bikes during coronavirus pandemic; shares jump

Peloton's revenue surged 66% during the fiscal third quarter, as more people purchased its fitness equipment and tuned into its live classes, to try to break a sweat while stuck at home during the coronavirus pandemic. Read more...

Cari Gundee rides her Peloton exercise bike at her home on April 06, 2020 in San Anselmo, California.

Ezra Shaw | Getty Images

Peloton‘s revenue surged 66% during the fiscal third quarter, as more people purchased its fitness equipment and tuned into its live classes, to try to break a sweat while stuck at home during the coronavirus pandemic

The momentum and results also led Peloton to boost its sales outlook for the full year. The company said heightened demand for its bikes has continued into the fourth quarter. It said it is seeing new customers — ones who were not considering buying one of its bikes before the Covid-19 crisis. 

Founder and  Chief Executive Officer John Foley told analysts during a post-earnings call that the pandemic is going to change consumers’ exercise routines for the long term. 

Peloton shares shot up about 5% in after-hours trading following the report. 

Here’s what the company reported for its third quarter ended March 31: 

  • Earnings per share: A loss of 20 cents 
  • Revenue: $524.6 million 

Peloton’s net loss widened during the quarter to $55.6 million, or 20 cents per share, compared with a loss of $38.6 million, or $1.76 a share, a year ago. The company said the loss was primarily due to nonrecurring litigation and settlement expenses. 

Total revenue grew 66% to $524.6 million from $316.7 million a year ago. 

Analysts were expecting the company to report a third-quarter loss of 17 cents, adjusted, on revenue of $487.7 million, according to a poll by Refinitiv. 

Sales from its connected fitness products such as its bikes totaled $420.2 million, up 61% from a year ago and representing 80% of total revenue, the company said. Subscription revenue totaled $98.2 million, up 92% year over year and making up 19% of total revenue. 

Looking to the full 2020 fiscal year, Peloton is now calling for total revenue to reach between $1.72 billion and $1.74 billion, which would represent a year-over-year increase of 89% at the midpoint of that range. Previously, it was forecasting a range of $1.53 billion to $1.55 billion. 

Peloton has also raised its 2020 outlook for connected fitness subscribers, which are defined as a Peloton user with a paid subscription, to 1.04 million to 1.05 million, from a prior range of 920,000 to 930,000. 

The company said it ended the quarter with a connected fitness subscriber base of more than 886,100 people, up 94% year over year. 

Average net monthly churn, which Peloton uses to measure retention of connected fitness subscribers, hit 0.46%, its lowest level in four years. The company said it saw increased subscription reactivations, especially in January and at the end of March. 

Peloton last month said it held its largest class ever, with more than 23,000 people streaming it from home. The company, which sells a spinning bike for $2,245 and a treadmill for $4,295, is predicted to be one beneficiary during the Covid-19 pandemic, as gyms remain shut to the public and people are looking to burn calories elsewhere. Peloton went public in September 2019. 

Peloton members, in addition to buying their own equipment, pay $39 per month to have access to the company’s live streaming classes, which boast cult-like followings across social media platforms. 

Due to the pandemic, Peloton in March closed its 97 retail stores to the public. It has since been producing content live from its instructors’ homes. 

The company said Wednesday that it expects the majority of its showrooms to remain closed for several more weeks. 

Meantime, the company is still warning customers that deliveries likely will remain delayed because of the heightened demand, and supply chain constraints. The company said it does not anticipate materially improving order-to-delivery windows before the end of fiscal 2020. 

Peloton shares hit an all-time intraday high Wednesday of $39.26. As of Wednesday’s market close, the company’s stock is up more than 31% this year. Peloton has a market cap of about $10.7 billion. 

Disclosure: CNBC parent Comcast-NBCUniversal is an investor in Peloton. 

Read Peloton’s full earnings press release here

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