PTON - Can Cheaper Fitness Equipment Make Peloton Profitable?
Peloton Interactive (NASDAQ: PTON) is moving beyond its high-end connected stationary bicycles and plans to introduce a rowing machine and a cheaper treadmill, but that does nothing to mitigate analyst concerns that the addressable market for pricey spinning bikes is not anywhere large enough to sustain a growth stock.
CEO John Foley told analysts that profit is a secondary concern. "I believe if we pulled back on growth, we could be profitable tomorrow," he told analysts on Peloton's first earnings conference call as a public company, "but that is not what the board and the leadership of Peloton believes we should do."
With a devil-may-care attitude about Wall Street's desire for profits, Peloton may soon find itself sweating investor support.