Planet Fitness, Inc. PLNT has been faring well, especially since the beginning of 2024, given that fitness and wellness is an extremely competitive area. Its stock’s price performance has left the industry behind, especially during the past six months. The company’s share price has surged 64.9% in the said time frame, outperforming the Zacks Leisure and Recreation Services industry, Zacks Consumer Discretionary sector and the S&P 500. The detailed price performance is shown in the chart below.
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research
The growth trend of the company is also highlighted by the fact that it reached a 52-week high of $102.81 on Wednesday and then pulled back to $101.02 at the end of the trading session.
This leading franchisor and operator of fitness centers in the United States seems to be benefiting from the effective implementation of its new low-cost business model, favorable pricing initiatives across its different membership plans and global expansion efforts.
Furthermore, Planet Fitness also stands above, in terms of share price performance, a few of the other market players including Xponential Fitness, Inc. XPOF, Life Time Group Holdings, Inc. LTH and OneSpaWorld Holdings Limited OSW. During the past six months, shares of XPOF, LTH and OSW gained 62.6%, 45.9% and 24.5%, respectively.
Factors Driving Planet Fitness’ Growth
New Growth Model: Planet Fitness inculcated a new low-cost business model in 2024, which it has been working on since 2023. The new model sums up the company’s aim of increasing profitability and expanding margins. The model will help in enhancing returns from new stores, reducing capital requirements for opening and operating the company’s franchises and identifying ways to lower operating expenses.
Since the growth model’s implementation in the second quarter of 2024, newly built clubs and/or clubs that underwent an equipment replacement cycle have realized notable cost benefits. Moving forward, the low-cost growth model is expected to grant franchisees increased flexibility and resources to expand their store portfolios for long-term growth.
Favorable Pricing Strategies: Planet Fitness’ membership is primarily available through two membership cards, the Classic White Card and the premium Black Card. In June 2024, the company increased its Classic White Card membership price to $15 from $10, after undergoing a disciplined data-driven approach of pricing tests since the middle of 2023. The price change after 26 years bodes well and is expected to offer long-term benefits even if there is any near-term softness in net member growth. Planet Fitness expects that the existing clubs will witness a low to mid-single-digit percentage increase in the top line after about a year of the new price implementation.
The Black Card membership, currently available at a rate of $24.99, is also undergoing two pricing tests, one at $27.99 and the other at $29.99, at PLNT’s select markets. The company aims to continue with the pricing tests till the first quarter of 2025 to gauge the response of its customers amid the Classic Card price increase. Notably, through online membership access, PLNT witnesses more Black Card penetration than the Classic Card. To avoid losing this traffic, it is considering favorable opportunities and aspects regarding the pricing.
Global Expansion Efforts: Planet Fitness has been focusing on strategic partnerships and international expansions to increase its global footprint. The company is exploring the possibility of adopting a smaller store footprint, which could facilitate expansion into suburban areas and new geographies that might not meet the standard population requirements. As of Sept. 30, 2024, the company housed 2,637 system-wide total clubs, with the expectation of opening 140-150 new stores during the year, including both franchise and corporate locations.
With the ongoing process of opening its first European club in Barcelona, Spain alongside entering a joint venture in Mexico to develop new stores over the next five years in the market, Planet Fitness is tapping into new markets and expanding in the existing ones. Moreover, it has set its sights on New Zealand, with plans to open new club locations over the next several years.
Estimate Trend Favors PLNT
The Zacks Consensus Estimate for Planet Fitness’ 2024 and 2025 earnings per share (EPS) has increased over the past 30 days. The estimated figures indicate 11.2% and 16.9% growth from the year-ago quarter’s figures, respectively.
EPS Trend Revision
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research
PLNT Trading Above 50 & 200-Day SMA
Technical indicators suggest a continued strong performance for Planet Fitness. From the graphical representation given below, it can be observed that PLNT stock is riding above both the 50-day simple moving average (SMA) and 200-day SMA, signaling a bullish trend. The technical strength underscores positive market sentiment and confidence in PLNT’s financial health and prospects.
50 & 200-Day Moving Average
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research
PLNT Stock Trading at a Premium
Planet Fitness is currently trading at a premium to the industry peers on a forward 12-month price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio basis. The premium valuation indicates that the stock is trading above its industry peers, making it difficult for investors to figure out a suitable entry point. On the other hand, the overvaluation indicates the strong potential of the stock in the market given the favorable trends backing it up, especially since the beginning of 2024.
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research
Should You Say Yes to PLNT Stock?
As discussed above, Planet Fitness is benefiting from the strategic execution of its low-cost business growth model, favorable pricing initiatives of its membership plans and new club openings globally. However, its ongoing measures of reducing operating costs and expenses have been falling behind to some extent given its year-to-date 3.8% increase to $606.8 million. The increase was most likely due to high club operations costs, National Advertising fund expenses, and depreciation and amortization expenses.
Nonetheless, thanks to the increased top line, the operating costs and expenses (as a percentage of total revenues) during the nine months of 2024 have reduced 230 basis points year over year to 72.1%, indicating a step toward further improvement in the upcoming period. Moreover, the stock’s overvaluation compared with its industry peers underscores its strong potential in the upcoming period. Backed by the tailwinds mentioned above, the company is indeed well-positioned to outperform in the upcoming period.
Thus, based on the overall discussion and the favorable trends of technical indicators, investors can consider adding this Zacks Rank #2 (Buy) stock to their portfolio for now.
You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.
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OneSpaWorld Holdings Limited (OSW) : Free Stock Analysis Report
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Life Time Group Holdings, Inc. (LTH) : Free Stock Analysis Report
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