Beleaguered Peloton this week announced that it had replaced its CEO John Foley, who also is a cofounder, and said it would lay off 2,800 employees.
Lauren Hirsch for The New York Times:
Barry McCarthy, who stepped down last year as the chief financial officer of Spotify, was named chief executive and Foley was made executive chairman.
The layoffs represent about 20 percent of its corporate workforce. Separately, the company said it lost $439 million in its most recent quarter, and it lowered its full-year forecasts for revenue, subscriptions, and profitability.
Blackwells Capital, an activist investor that had called for the company to fire Foley and weigh a sale… on Tuesday said the company’s actions “do not address any of Peloton investors’ concerns” and again urged Peloton to explore a sale, citing a long list of potential buyers, including Netflix and Amazon. A buyer could pay $75 per share and still make money, according to “myriad valuation metrics.”
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Peloton no great acquisition……..
Buy an exercise bike and a iPad holder for it……
Save THOUSANDS in assorted purchase and access fees…..
Buy a smart exercise bike, an iPad holder and a $6/month subscription to Kinomap.com!
Not enough diversity?
Peloton had value during lockdown and lost value as lockdown eases so it was not a good long term business model. And just how many months and years can a person ride by him/herself isolated in a room anyway? Had i purchased it, I would soon have gotten tired of that device so i discarded the idea.
My Orbea orca on my Wahoo Kickr with the Wahoo Climb connected to a Wahoo Rival watch and Wahoo Elemnt….as a serious cyclist I was never in the market for a Peloton and that is big part of their problem. They are a marketing fad made huge during the pandemic. Zwift at least locked in some of their user base as indoor group riding is way more fun than spin class as the instructors are not the experience when indoor training on Wahoo, Saris, Kinetic cyclotrainers.
Zwift, Rouvy, TrainerRoad, Training Peaks….the apps for cycling training on your own bike connected to an indoor trainer. Its way more pricey than Peloton but the indoor trainer is much better as well, as is the experience. Peloton is indoor spin class with instructors, bringing the Cycle Bar experience to the home user. The serious cyclist has a much different user experience and need, and that is the difference in potential market for Spin class trainers such as Peloton vs more serious cyclist indoor training who years ago would have been on rollers or a wheel on trainer. Wahoo and Zwift changed that niche over the past 8 years so the virtual Tour de France could even be a thing during the Pandemic lockdown in 2020. I really don’t see the value for Peloton as it is just indoor spin class with a much too high capitalization for what it is. Is Wahoo or Stages selling a lot of their indoor trainer bikes? I always see them on discount as well as the indoor training experience on your own bike to get locked in for outdoor season is the allure to many riders.