Peloton Stock Plunges As Losses Widen, Subscriber Base Shrinks

3 min readAug 24, 2023

Key takeaways

Fitness company Peloton reported wide losses and a subscriber drop
Peloton has struggled to maintain momentum after the pandemic boom, and has been dogged by a dramatic CEO departure and product recalls
Peloton shares fell 22% at the news to a fresh low for the stock

The wheels have fallen off of Peloton’s share price ride for some time, with another dismal earnings beat sending the stock plummeting this week. It’s a tough road ahead for the fitness company, which is down but not out with a new(ish) CEO in place. Let’s get into the details.

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What’s happened with Peloton?

On Wednesday, fitness company and pandemic darling Peloton posted a wider-than-expected loss, though sales expectations were up. The company reported a net loss of $241.8 million, or 68 cents per share, compared to a $1.26 billion loss, or $3.72 a share, last year. Sales fell to $642.1 million, down from $678.7 million a year earlier.

Peloton’s subscriber count, which has consistently grown in past years, also projected a first-ever decline. For the second quarter, Peloton finished with 3.08 million subscribers, a 4% increase year-over-year but a 29,000 decline from the same period last year. Peloton cited a seasonal drop in hardware sales, and users affected by the Peloton Bike recall pausing their subscriptions.

Peloton CEO Barry McCarthy, who’s been in the role since early 2022, warned shareholders back in May the quarter would be challenging. “The slowdown exceeded our expectations through May and through the first three weeks of June as consumer spending shifted toward travel and experiences,” he said, though noted there’s been a pickup in hardware sales since.

How did the markets take the news?

Peloton shares were sent plunging 22% to a new lowest record for the stock, trading at $5.41. The stock has declined 33% this year alone and has lost 96% of its value since its high of $162 in December 2020.

The shares have fallen 85% since McCarthy took over the position as CEO, with founder John Foley ousted after overspending on hardware and leaving Peloton with a financial black hole to deal with.

There were rumors swirling around a potential Peloton sale to a Big Tech player like Amazon, Apple or Google, but those have remained gossip on the grapevine.

The bottom line

Peloton is definitely struggling, but its loyal fanbase should keep the company afloat as it sorts out its issues. From an investor perspective, the sooner Peloton can move past its recall troubles and diversify its offering away from expensive hardware products, the better.

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