Shares of Peloton Interactive (PTON -15.57%) fell on Thursday after the exercise equipment maker said it was struggling to stem its subscriber losses.
Image source: The Motley Fool.
Shedding subscribers, but gaining profitability
Peloton's paid connected fitness subscriptions declined 8.8% year over year to 2.553 million in its fiscal 2026 fourth quarter, which ended on June 30.
Yet Peloton's revenue inched up less than 1% to $608 million, driven by price hikes intended to bolster its profit margins. The company's gross margin, in turn, increased by 2.6 percentage points to 56.7%.
NASDAQ: PTON
Key Data Points
These price increases, combined with the company's cost-reduction initiatives, also helped Peloton generate positive full-year operating and net income for the first time in its history.
Additionally, Peloton produced $378 million in free cash flow, reducing its net debt by 80% to $93 million.
Subscriber losses are set to continue into fiscal 2027
Investors, however, weren't pleased to hear that Peloton expects its paid connected fitness subscriptions to decline further to 2.455 million to 2.475 million in the first quarter of fiscal 2027. That would represent a year-over-year drop of roughly 9.8%.
Still, management remains focused on profitability. Peloton projects full-year free cash flow of at least $350 million, driven by continued margin expansion.
"While multi-year transformations take time, our financial discipline has fundamentally reshaped our business and grants us greater flexibility to invest in our core strengths of premium hardware, intelligent software, and human connection," CEO Peter Stern said.
