What happened
Shares of connected exercise-machine maker Peloton Interactive (PTON -0.97%) popped nearly 6% in early trading on the Nasdaq, retaining a 4.6% gain as of 11:50 a.m. EDT.
If you own shares of Peloton, you can thank the friendly analysts at Argus Research for that.
Image source: Getty Images.
So what
This morning, Argus analysts nearly doubled their price target on the already buy-rated Peloton stock, from $55 previously to $100 today.
Citing Peloton's strong earnings numbers last week -- customer count up more than 100%, and revenue up nearly 200% year over year -- Argus observes that Peloton is profiting mightily from a surge in demand from stay-at-home and quarantined customers during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Now what
The company also gave "strong" revenue guidance for the coming fiscal year 2021, and Argus believes the company will deliver. Even if the pandemic peters out (as we certainly hope it will), and official social distancing restrictions are relaxed, Argus sees consumers as likely reluctant to quickly return to brick-and-mortar gyms, according to a write-up today on TheFly.com.
For that matter, one imagines that even if other consumers do return to their gyms, those who've already invested thousands of dollars in a new Peloton machine won't be eager to allow that investment to gather dust by returning to a gym. There's going to be a certain "sunk costs" dynamic at play here, and it could keep Peloton stock spinning for years to come.
