The wheel turns for Peloton
Home exercise bike’s popularity soars during stay-at-home period
Lauren Allbright, a teacher, children’s book author and triathlete, was antsy from weeks of sheltering in place. So last month, she “panic bought” a $2,245 Peloton bike.
It was a “pricey decision,” she admitted. But her gym was closed, and it had been raining nonstop in Richardson, Texas, where she lives. Soon the heat would make it even harder for her to train outside.
So when Texas extended its stay-inplace rules by a month, Allbright, 39, clicked “buy.” She reasoned that her husband and three children would also use the internet-connected bike, which comes with streaming classes for an extra $39 a month.
“Working out daily is huge for our mental health,” she said.
Peloton, which last year endured a rocky initial public offering and widely mocked holiday ad, is emerging as a potential winner of the quarantine economy. While gyms, boutique studios and personal trainers have been sidelined, home workout systems are thriving.
Since mid-March, Peloton’s stock has soared 86%, valuing the New York company at $10 billion, or twice as much as the gym chain Planet Fitness. Last month, Peloton reported a record: More than 23,000 people had joined one of its live classes.
“Consumer habits are fundamentally changed coming out of this crisis,” said Ron Josey, an analyst at JMP Securities. “A device and service like Peloton comes to the forefront in that.”
Peloton’s fortunes indicate a flip side to the economic devastation that is sweeping through the United States. While more than 30 million Americans are newly out of work because of the pandemic shutdowns, many others still have the disposable income to shell out more than $2,000 for a home exercise bike.
Other home fitness companies have reported similar surges in demand.
“It’s absolutely bigger than any other boom time we’ve had,” said Mark Watterson, president of iFit, a division of Icon Health.
New converts include Ben Carlson, a wealth manager in Grand Rapids, Michigan. He wasn’t interested in a home workout setup before because he exercised on lunch breaks at a gym near his office.
But now that he’s working at home with three children under age 6, it’s harder to get away for a run. Last month, he bought a Peloton, which he rides after his children are in bed.
The bike is “part of my new life for the time being,” Carlson, 38, said. Even when things reopen, he said, “I don’t know that I’ll be the first one to rush back into the gym.”
Gyms and studios, which have frozen memberships while they are closed, are hurting.
Some yoga and dance studios have resorted to asking for donations in exchange for free online classes. Several national gym chains have faced lawsuits and state investigations for charging fees during the shutdown.
Peloton stopped filming live classes in early April after an employee at its New York studio tested positive for the coronavirus. But by the end of the month it was streaming live classes again.
The first one happened April 22 from the apartment of Robin Arzón, Peloton’s head instructor. More than 23,000 customers logged in and rode along with her, issuing virtual high-fives and climbing a digital leaderboard.