Planet Fitness may do something it hasn't done in 30 years: Raise prices

By Tomi Kilgore

Fitness-center's stock is having its best day in 3 years after earnings and revenue beats, raised outlook

Shares of Planet Fitness Inc. were having their best day in three years Tuesday, after the fitness center operator reported third-quarter results that beat expectations, and said it was considering raising prices for a classic membership.

The company also raised its full-year growth guidance for earnings and revenue, and said it continued to search for a permanent chief executive officer.

The stock (PLNT) ran up 13.8% toward a three-month high in morning trading. That puts it on track to have the best one-day performance since it hiked up 16.2% on Nov. 9, 2020.

"We're proud that we haven't raised the $10 classic card price in 30 years. However, consumer expectations on price have changed in a highly inflationary world," said interim-CEO Craig Benson on a conference call with analysts, according to an AlphaSense transcript. "We are exploring whether we have an opportunity to take price on our classic card without sacrificing member growth."

Benson said the company has been testing different price structures in several markets nationwide for more than a couple months. The company will continue to run tests to understand what impact higher prices will have on membership growth.

The company had 18.5 million total members as of Sept. 30, up from 18.4 million as of June 30 and from 18.1 million at the end of March.

Net income for the quarter to Sept. 30 rose to $39.1 million, or 46 cents a share, from $26.9 million, or 32 cents a share, in the same period a year ago. Excluding nonrecurring items, adjusted earnings per share of 59 cents beat the FactSet consensus of 55 cents.

Total revenue grew 13.6% to $277.6 million, above the FactSet consensus of $268.2 million, as franchise segment revenue rose 21.6% to $98.2 million, corporate-owned stores revenue increased 11.8% to $113.2 million and equipment revenue was up 6.1% to $3.8 million.

Same-store sales, or sales from centers open more than a year, increased 8.4% to match the FactSet consensus.

For 2023, the company increased its growth guidance for revenue to 14% from 12% and adjusted EPS to 35% from 34%, while keeping its same-store sales growth outlook at the high single-digit percentage range.

Chief Financial Officer Tom Fitzgerald said on the post-earnings call that the company continues to experience "unpredictable delays" in opening new stores, mostly due to longer times to receiver permits in many cities.

As a result, the company revised its outlook for new store openings in 2023 to between 150 and 160 from previous guidance of 160, and for new equipment placements to between 130 and 140 in franchisee-owned locations from 140.

The stock, which is on track to close at the highest price since Aug. 2, has gained 1.6% over the past three months, while the S&P 500 index has slipped 3.4%.

-Tomi Kilgore

This content was created by MarketWatch, which is operated by Dow Jones & Co. MarketWatch is published independently from Dow Jones Newswires and The Wall Street Journal.

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

11-07-23 1022ET

Copyright (c) 2023 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.