Peloton announces treadmill upgrades targeting everyone from casual walkers to serious athletes. This is called marketing. They could have just said "we made treadmills for people who run" but that doesn't justify the press release budget.
The turnaround continues. Phase one was selling the bikes people bought during lockdown and then used as towel racks. Phase two was admitting nobody needs a subscription to stare at their basement wall. Phase three is apparently "what if we sold the treadmills again but with new features this time."
New features. They won't tell you what those are because naming them would require admitting the old treadmills lacked them. Retail investors will read "new features" and imagine something revolutionary. It's a motor and a belt. The feature set peaked in 1987.
Appealing to casual joggers and serious athletes in the same product line is like building a car for both teenagers and NASCAR drivers. You end up with something nobody wants but everyone got emailed about. Peloton spent three years learning their customer base consists entirely of people who bought exercise equipment to feel productive during Zoom calls.
The stock jumped four percent on this news. Four percent. Traders saw "new treadmills" and clicked buy like Pavlov's dogs hearing a f*cking bell. Peloton could announce they're pivoting to making pencils and the stock would move. Price discovery died when people started trading on their phones between TikToks.
Casual joggers don't spend two grand on treadmills. Serious athletes don't buy fitness equipment from companies famous for recall notices. Peloton built a customer base of no one and then hired consultants to explain why revenue disappointed.
Photo by Gastro Editorial on Unsplash
Leave a Comment