Peloton (PTON) said Thursday that it will boost the price of its connected fitness programs for the first time in eight years, while slashing the cost of its signature bikes and treadmills, as the group continues to struggle to add new users under the leadership of incoming CEO Barry McCarthy.
Peloton said the cost for U.S. customers for its all-access membership will rise from $39 to $44 per person, a 12.8% increase, starting June 1. For customers in Canada, the price will increase to C$55 per person from C$49 per person. Prices for international customers, Peloton said, will remain 'currently' unchanged.
The cost of the Peloton bike will fall $300 to $1,195, the company said, while the price of the upscaled Bike+ will fall $500 to $1,995. A Peloton treadmill will cost $300 less at $2,345 each.
“We want more people to be able to afford our hardware,” Peloton said in a statement. “This is a strategic decision to play for scale and increase market share.”
Peloton shares, which were briefly suspended from trading on the Nasdaq, were last seen trading 4.6% lower on the session at $23.88 each, a move that would extend the stock's year-to-date decline to around 32.2%
The price changes come just days after activists at Blackwells Capital, which holds a 5% stake in the group, pressed for "meaningful changes" to the group's business model following the departure of CEO John Foley earlier this year,
“Two months have passed since John Foley was promoted into the role of Executive Chairman and Barry McCarthy came out of retirement to assume the post of CEO," Blackwells said. "Remarkably, shareholders are worse off now than before. Having provided Mr. McCarthy a $275 million sign-on compensation package, they remain at the whim of former CEO John Foley, who appears financially distressed – and a forced seller of the Company’s stock – even while he still controls the Company."
McCarthy is struggling to hold onto customers as gyms and fitness centers re-open and customers balk at the long wait times, and elevated prices, if its fitness equipment.
Peloton said it sees revenues in the region of $950 million to $1 billion for the current quarter, well shy of Street forecasts, and negative adjusted earnings of between -$125 million and -$140 million.
For the three months ending in December, Peloton lost $266.5 million, firmly inside prior guidance of a loss of $350 million, on sales of $1.13 billion.
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