One thing we know for certain is that the pandemic will eventually be behind us. And it might not be that much longer. According to the experts, we can probably look forward to a few years of vaccinations and booster shots. But the sense of fear of exposure to a deadly pathogen when we are around other people will subside and we will re-emerge back into the world at full-scale.
Markets tend to discount coming foreseeable changes, so we can probably start to anticipate this change as we hunt for new growth in the equities world.
One area that may stand to benefit disproportionately is in the fitness space, which includes gyms, exercise equipment, fitness expertise, and live sports for recreation and viewing.
Not only should we expect to see more people back at the gym. But people will also be more concerned with health and fitness, as well as looking and feeling their best, as we engage in a more social existence.
With that in mind, we take a look at a few of the emerging active leaders in the space, including: Planet Fitness Inc (NYSE:PLNT), Tivity Health Inc (NASDAQ:TVTY), B2Digital Inc (OTCMKTS:BTDG), and Peloton Interactive Inc (NASDAQ:PTON).
Planet Fitness Inc (NYSE:PLNT) franchises and operates fitness centers under the Planet Fitness name. It operates through three segments: Franchise, Corporate-Owned Stores, and Equipment. The Franchise segment is involved in franchising business in the United States, Puerto Rico, Canada, the Dominican Republic, Panama, Mexico, and Australia.
The Corporate-Owned Stores segment operates corporate-owned stores in the United States and Canada. The Equipment segment engages in the sale of fitness equipment to franchisee-owned stores in the United States.
Planet Fitness Inc (NYSE:PLNT) recently announced that members and guests will be required to wear a mask at all times while inside all open stores, beginning August 1. Currently, all Planet Fitness employees are required to wear masks. To date, the Company has approximately 1,450 locations open across 46 states, the District of Columbia, Canada, and Australia.
“As we continue to face the COVID-19 pandemic, amid an ongoing global health crisis, wellness has never been as essential to our collective community as it is today,” said Chris Rondeau, Chief Executive Officer at Planet Fitness. “Gyms are part of the solution and a key element of the healthcare delivery system, providing much needed access for people to exercise and stay healthy. Given our leadership position within the industry, we believe it’s our responsibility to further protect our members, employees, and communities so that we can all safely focus on our health, which is more important now than ever before.”
The stock has suffered a bit of late, with shares of PLNT taking a hit in recent action, down about -5% over the past week. Over the past month, shares of the stock have suffered from clear selling pressure, dropping by roughly -14%.
Planet Fitness Inc (NYSE:PLNT) pulled in sales of $127.2M in its last reported quarterly financials, representing top line growth of -14.5%. In addition, the company has a strong balance sheet, with cash levels far exceeding current liabilities ($610.7M against $180.2M).
Tivity Health Inc (NASDAQ:TVTY) provides fitness, nutrition, and social connection solutions in the United States. It operates through two segments, Healthcare and Nutrition.
The Healthcare segment offers SilverSneakers senior fitness program to the members of Medicare advantage and Medicare supplement programs; Prime fitness, a fitness facility access program through commercial health plans, employers, and other sponsoring organizations; health plans through WholeHealth Living program; and health services, such as chiropractic care, acupuncture, physical therapy, occupational therapy, speech therapy, and others. The Nutrition segment provides weight management products and services under the Nutrisystem, South Beach Diet, and Wisely Well names.
Tivity Health Inc (NASDAQ:TVTY) recently announced financial results for the second quarter ended June 30, 2020, including an adjusted EBITDA increase by 16% compared to the prior year in its healthcare division and a 6% y/y jump in Nutrisystem brand direct to consumer (DTC) revenues with new customer growth of 28% powering those gains.
“Both our Healthcare and Nutrition businesses delivered strong earnings in the second quarter. Our results highlight continued momentum and solid performance in the Nutrisystem brand DTC channel and the resilient model of the Healthcare business. We have significantly expanded digital engagement to our SilverSneakers members and are seeing encouraging signs of members beginning to return to fitness centers. Our Nutrisystem brand drove historic customer growth through smart execution and ongoing transformation of our marketing strategy,” said Richard Ashworth , President & Chief Executive Officer.
If you’re long this stock, then you’re liking how the stock has responded to the announcement. TVTY shares have been moving higher over the past week overall, pushing about 6% to the upside on above average trading volume. Shares of the stock have powered higher over the past month, rallying roughly 34% in that time on strong overall action.
Tivity Health Inc (NASDAQ:TVTY) managed to rope in revenues totaling $262.6M in overall sales during the company’s most recently reported quarterly financial data — a figure that represents a rate of top line growth of -22.9%, as compared to year-ago data in comparable terms. In addition, the company is battling some balance sheet hurdles, with cash levels struggling to keep up with current liabilities ($60.3M against $147.6M, respectively).
B2Digital Inc (OTCMKTS:BTDG) styles itself as the premier development league for the mixed martial arts (MMA) fighting sport, but also is engaged in a broad roll-up strategy in the training facility and gym space, which is enabled by very positive operating performance dynamics given the Company’s more “hardcore” target market.
Overall, B2Digital operates live events, pay-per-view media, gyms, and other resources to maximize the development of future stars in the MMA sport. The company controls fighting events brands, including Pinnacle, HRMMA, Strikehard, and others, and has developed and deployed the systems and technologies for the operation of the B2 Fighting Series. This includes social media marketing, event management, digital ticketing sales, digital video distribution, digital marketing, PPV, FTV, merchandise sales, brand management, and financial control systems.
B2Digital Inc (OTCMKTS:BTDG) most recently announced a major pay-per-view deal with PrestoSports to cover its upcoming Fall Fighting Series event schedule, which features 13 major events set across 5 states over the next three and a half months.
According to the release, PrestoSports, a premium Software-as-a-Service solutions provider catering to the sports industry, operates StretchLive, a leading pay-per-view streaming platform that boasts HD stream quality up to 1080p, multiple screen layouts (including full screen), and market penetration that included hosting more than 100,000 events in 2019. PrestoSports caters to several NCAA Division I programs and is already the official website and streaming provider of the NAIA, NJCAA and more than 100 athletic conferences.
If you’re long B2Digital Inc (OTCMKTS:BTDG), then you’re liking how the stock has responded in recent action. BTDG shares have been moving higher over the past week overall, pushing about 49% to the upside on above average trading volume. Shares have powered higher over the past month, rallying roughly 319% in that time on strong overall action.
Peloton Interactive Inc (NASDAQ:PTON) bills itself as an interactive fitness products company in North America. It offers connected fitness products, such as the Peloton Bike and the Peloton Tread, which include touchscreen that streams live and on-demand classes.
The company also provides connected fitness subscriptions for multiple household users, and access to all live and on-demand classes, as well as Peloton Digital app for connected fitness subscribers to provide access to its classes. It has approximately 1.4 million members.
Peloton Interactive Inc (NASDAQ:PTON) recently announced that Dara Treseder has been named as Senior Vice President, Head of Global Marketing and Communications and will oversee brand marketing, consumer insights, communications, and creative. Treseder will join Peloton on August 18 and will report to Peloton President William Lynch.
According to the release, Peloton’s centralized Marketing efforts will now be organized around two key Functions: Global Marketing, run by Treseder, who will set the strategy and goals for Peloton’s marketing efforts to build the Peloton brand and drive the company’s growth and international expansion; and Global Product Marketing, which will be overseen by Karina Kogan, who joined Peloton in April 2019 as General Manager, Digital, and has been promoted to an expanded role as SVP, Head of Global Product Marketing. In this newly created position, Kogan will oversee how Peloton markets its expanding product portfolio, including its fast-growing Bike, Tread, Digital/App lines and Strength discipline. Performance marketing and media will also report to Kogan.
The stock has suffered a bit of late, with shares of PTON taking a hit in recent action, down about -6% over the past week.
Peloton Interactive Inc (NASDAQ:PTON) managed to rope in revenues totaling $524.6M in overall sales during the company’s most recently reported quarterly financial data — a figure that represents a rate of top line growth of 65.6%, as compared to year-ago data in comparable terms. In addition, the company has a strong balance sheet, with cash levels far exceeding current liabilities ($1.4B against $539.9M).
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