The ?? ??? ??? ???gold rush days of the pandemic seem to be over for Peloton.
There are few companies more associated with COVID than the fitness upstart. Peloton became the it fitness item to have during the virus's surge as folks began working from home and gyms closed. And it made sense: The company's bikes and treadmills provide a great workout at home alone, while still trying to capture the energy of a live class.
At the height of the pandemic, wait times for Pelotons were bonkers and customers developed adoring parasocial relationships with instructors.
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But Peloton has reportedly stopped making basically all of its major products amid fading demand. CNBC reported this week, citing internal Peloton documents, that the company planned to halt production of its Bike product from February through March. Add it to the list. Peloton has already stopped producing its new, more expensive Bike+ through June. It's halting production of its Tread for six weeks, starting next month, and likely won't make any Tread+ machines through the end of the year, CNBC reported.
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Peloton denied CNBC's reporting that it had stopped production of its fitness machines as the company's stock plummeted nearly 24 percent on Thursday. But the company's CEO also didn't rule out layoffs as the Peloton's woes continued.
Also working against the company is its cheapest bike costs some $1,500, and that's not including the $39 per month membership that gives you access to its classes.
For better or worse, people seemed to have used Peloton as barometer of the pandemic despite it just being a fitness company. As views on COVID have shifted — the vaccines rolled out and people have grown tired of being cooped up — Peloton's shares have plunged more than 80 percent in the last year.
Perhaps like everyone and everything else, Peloton will settle into something resembling normalcy. Sure, it might not be the future of fitness or whatever — nothing is ever the future of anything for very long. But prior to the pandemic it was a beloved, relatively niche product. Sure, the spike in growth might be over for now, but perhaps in the future it could remain a beloved product, with a much wider audience.