Peloton stock is down 54% in the past 12 months.
Adam Glanzman/Bloomberg
As
Peloton Interactive
looks to rekindle interest in its at-home bikes, an analyst at
Citi
Research believes holiday-season promotions drove encouraging web traffic.
Citi analyst Ronald Josey wrote in a note on Sunday that the firm’s price cuts between November and January appeared to improve traffic to onepeloton.com. That could be a sign more customers are buying bikes, which require a $44-a-month connected fitness subscription to access most classes and features.
“Since mid-November, Peloton has held three major promotions (Cyber Week, Holiday sales, and Post-Holiday sales) that collectively ran from November 14th to January 8th and that we believe have helped rebuild awareness and improve overall demand,” Josey wrote.
Josey notes traffic to the Peloton (ticker: PTON) page rose 42% month-over-month in November and declined 5% from that in December. Traffic jumped 28% in January through Jan. 25.
Visits to Peloton’s site for members also increased 8%, 15%, and 18% month-over-month for November, December, and January, respectively, which he says signals engagement.
The analyst maintained a Buy rating with an $18 target price. Peloton stock is down 54% in the past 12 months, even after a 57% rally so far this month. The stock was down 1.4% to $12.48 in Monday trading.
Last year, the firm replaced founder John Foley as CEO with former Spotify finance chief Barry McCarthy. Under McCarthy, the firm has cut costs and raised subscription prices. It has also experimented with subscription plans for equipment purchases, rather than upfront buying.
“With its organization changes largely complete, the focus now turns to execution and growth,” Josey wrote.
He thinks the company can turn free cash flow positive by the fiscal fourth quarter, which ends in June. He thinks that goal could come sooner if inventory levels fall at a faster pace.
With the company set to report earnings on Wednesday, Josey thinks investors will be focused on subscriber growth, adoption rates of equipment subscriptions, gross margins, inventory levels, and free cash flow.
Write to Connor Smith at connor.smith@barrons.com
Credit: marketwatch.com