Why Planet Fitness Stock Is Plummeting Lower Today
Key Points
Planet Fitness grew sales and adjusted earnings per share by 22% and 25%, beating Wall Street's expectations.
However, the company slashed its 2026 guidance after net new member adds declined 36% from last year.
Planet Fitness is trying to do a quick about-face after it alienated its core "beginner fitness" customer base with new premium fitness marketing.
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Shares of budget-conscious fitness center Planet Fitness (NYSE: PLNT) are down 32% as of 11 a.m. ET after the company reported underwhelming first-quarter earnings. During Q1, Planet Fitness grew sales and adjusted earnings per share (EPS) by 22% and 25%, respectively, sailing past Wall Street's consensus. However, the company saw net new member adds decline 36% from last year's level, prompting management to slash its 2026 guidance. Originally projecting revenue and EPS to rise by 9% in 2026, the company now expects growth closer to 7% and 4%, respectively.
Worse yet, the company decided to withdraw the three-year growth algorithm it released during its 2025 Investor Day, in which it stated that sales and adjusted EPS would grow by 10% to 15% and 15% to 20%, respectively, each year. Without this rosy guidance as a benchmark, the market assigned Planet Fitness shares a lower valuation. Furthermore, due to the slowdown in new member adds, management paused its planned Black Card price increase, as they believe raising its Classic Card's price from $10 to $15 last year may have spurred this year's slowdown. This pause leaves investors wondering exactly how much pricing power Plant Fitness may command.
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With the bad news out of the way -- things may not be as bad as they seem. The company's base of members sits at an all-time high of 21.5 million. Same-club sales remained positive at 3.5% in Q1, with management guiding for 1% growth in 2026. This slowdown isn't a full-on tailspin yet. Planet Fitness also plans to open between 180 and 190 new locations in 2026, building upon the 2,909 it has now. Lastly, much of Q1's weakness came from self-inflicted issues that should be fixable. Chief Executive Officer Colleen Keating noted that new marketing efforts focused on premium fitness with a "cancel anytime" emphasis alienated the company's core "beginner fitness" customer base, leading to increased churn.
Now trading at 13 times forward earnings, Planet Fitness remains an interesting consumer staples stock, but it will need to prove that 2026's slowdown will be temporary.
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Josh Kohn-Lindquist has 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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