Peloton reports wider-than-expected loss, ‘bad news’ on paid subscriptions

Peloton on Thursday reported a wider-than-expected quarterly loss, a tepid holiday forecast and “bad news” for paid subscriptions.

The connected fitness company has been working hard to boost revenue with a number of high-profile partnerships and the expected relaunch of its Tread+, but the success of its efforts remains uncertain as it continues to lose members and fails to make money off the ones it has.

Here’s how Peloton did in its first fiscal quarter compared with what Wall Street was anticipating, based on a survey of analysts by LSEG, formerly known as Refinitiv:

• Loss per share: 44 cents vs. 34 cents expected
• Revenue: $595.5 million vs. $591 million expected

The company’s reported net loss for the three-month period that ended Sept. 30 was $159.3 million, or 44 cents per share, compared with a loss of $408.5 million, or $1.20 per share, a year earlier.

Sales dropped to $595.5 million, down from $616.5 million a year earlier.

Once again, revenue from Peloton’s subscriptions — at $415 million — far outpaced sales of its hardware — $180.6 million — which has been an ongoing trend at the company.

For its holiday quarter, Peloton cited concerns that inflation-weary consumers will pull back on spending during the season, which is typically its strongest for hardware sales.

It’s expecting revenue of between $715 million and $750 million, an 8% drop at the midpoint compared with the year-ago period. That falls short of the $763.2 million analysts had projected for the company’s fiscal second quarter, according to LSEG.

It expects paid connected fitness subscriptions to be between 2.97 million and 2.98 million, which falls short of the 3.03 million that analysts had expected, according to StreetAccount. It’s forecasting a 21% year-over-year drop in paid app subscriptions…