Planet Fitness Stock Has Been Absolutely Hammered This Year. Is It Time to Buy?
Key Points
Planet Fitness saw its comparable club sales decelerate in its most recent quarter.
Competition in the high-value, low-price fitness space is increasing, putting pressure on the company's growth trajectory.
Despite a massive sell-off this year, the stock's valuation still leaves little room for error.
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Shares of fitness operator Planet Fitness (NYSE: PLNT) have been hit hard this year. The stock is down more than 32% year to date, driven by concerns that the company's best days of growth may be behind it.
But investors wondering if this steep sell-off has created a lucrative buying opportunity need to look closely at the underlying business. While Planet Fitness remains a formidable brand with a loyal membership base, the company saw a deceleration on some key metrics in Q4.
On the other hand, Planet Fitness continues to expand rapidly, and it has seen success with price increases.
So, is the stock a buy? To find out, we'll have to take a closer look.
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A challenging landscape
Planet Fitness's most recent quarterly results highlighted a business that is still expanding, but at a more sluggish pace than it has historically.
Revenue in the company's fourth quarter of 2025 rose 10.5% year over year to $376.3 million. But the more telling metric for a franchise business like this is comparable club sales, or sales at locations open for at least a year. Planet Fitness reported comparable club sales growth of 5.7% for the period. While positive, this marks a noticeable deceleration from the company's full-year 2025 comparable club sales growth of 6.7%.
And revenue growth for the fourth quarter similarly trailed the 12.1% pace set for the full year.
Additionally, this recent performance is also a far cry from the high-single-digit and double-digit comparable growth rates the company routinely enjoyed in years past.
Still, 2025 was a good year for the company, featuring 181 new Planet Fitness clubs, bringing total clubs to nearly 2,900.
And there's evidence of some pricing power.
"Adding approximately 1.1 million net new members in 2025 -- the first full-year of our 50 percent price increase for new Classic Card members -- highlights the incredible demand for our brand," said Planet Fitness CEO Colleen Keating in the company's fourth-quarter earnings release.
The problem, however, is that success attracts competition. Rival low-cost chains have aggressively expanded their footprints, offering similar price points and compelling amenities.
But this doesn't seem to be weighing on the company in any significant way. In fact, Planet Fitness plans to raise prices for its lucrative Black Card tier this year. With a 66.5% Black Card penetration at the end of Q4, this will likely move the needle substantially for the company. Further, management emphasized in its fourth-quarter update that its 104 club openings during the period were the highest in any fourth quarter in its history.
In addition, the company has a promising opportunity internationally. The company surpassed 200 international clubs recently, and it is "focused on scaling our presence in existing markets like Mexico, Australia, and Spain, while strategically entering one to two new markets annually," Keating explained during the company's earnings call.
Time to buy?
Overall, the company is doing well and is even demonstrating some pricing power in an increasingly crowded market. But shares -- at about 28 times earnings -- may not be cheap enough to make them a buy -- even after falling sharply.
Given the decelerating sales trends in the most recent quarter and the rising competitive threats in the low-priced gym space, the stock's valuation is closer to fairly priced than undervalued in my opinion. If Planet Fitness continues to see its comparable club sales moderate, or if competitive pressures force it to sacrifice margins to keep members, the stock could fall even further.
So, is Planet Fitness stock a buy?
I think investors should pass for now.
The company remains a strong operator with a massive physical footprint. But the stock still looks quite pricey relative to its shifting growth.
That said, the stock is worth a spot on investors' watchlists. But I would prefer to wait for a better entry point -- one that better prices in the risks of a more crowded fitness market.
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Daniel Sparks and his clients have no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Planet Fitness. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.
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