Planet Fitness (PLNT) Membership Increases in 2022 to 17M
Planet Fitness, Inc. PLNT reported its year-end membership numbers. Following the membership figures, the company’s shares declined 0.4% year over year.
As of Dec 31, 2022, the company had 17.0 million members, up 1.8 million members from the end of 2021. The company said that it opened 158 Planet Fitness stores, which includes 14 corporate-owned locations, totaling system-wide total stores to 2,410.
Chris Rondeau, CEO of Planet Fitness, said “We continued to grow the Planet Fitness footprint and brand presence, resulting in the largest fourth quarter membership growth on record, driving strong momentum heading into 2023.”
Expansion Efforts to Drive Growth
In an effort to expand its presence, Planet Fitness has been focusing on partnerships and international expansions. The company collaborated with iFit, a leader in online streaming home workouts.
With the partnership, the company initiated a series of workouts with minimal or no equipment, thereby making it available to everyone exclusively on the Planet Fitness App. It will be available to members and non-members for free.
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Despite the COVID-19 crisis, management indicated that several private equity-backed franchise groups have expressed interest in further investments in the Planet Fitness brand.
PLNT is one of the largest and fastest-growing franchisors, as well as operators, of fitness centers in the United States.
To boost its presence in Mexico, the company announced a joint venture made up of a prominent local retail services company and one of its largest U.S. developers. The agreement is set for the development of a minimum of 80 stores over the next five years. In the first quarter of 2022, the company opened a store in Mexico under a development agreement.
Meanwhile, the company emphasizes expanding its reach outside of the United States. To this end, the company announced an agreement to open a Planet Fitness branch in New Zealand. Through the initiative, it expects to open 25 locations over the next several years.
Shares of the Zacks Rank #3 (Hold) company have gained 14.8% in the past six months compared with the industry’s growth of 10.8%.
Key Picks
Some better-ranked stocks in the Zacks Consumer Discretionary sector are World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc. WWE, Manchester United plc MANU and Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. RCL.
World Wrestling Entertainment currently sports a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy). WWE has a trailing four-quarter earnings surprise of 25.2%, on average. The stock has gained 44.8% in the past year. You can see the complete list of today's Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.
The Zacks Consensus Estimate for WWE’s current financial year's sales and earnings per share (EPS) indicates increases of 4.9% and 10.7%, respectively, from the year-ago period’s reported levels.
Manchester United currently sports a Zacks Rank #1. Shares of MANU have jumped 119.9% in the past six months.
In the past 30 days, MANU’s loss estimates for fiscal 2023 have narrowed to 36 cents per share from 44 cents.
Royal Caribbean currently carries a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). RCL has a trailing four-quarter earnings surprise of negative 1.8%, on average. Shares of RCL have declined 32.5% in the past year.
The Zacks Consensus Estimate for RCL’s 2023 sales and EPS indicates increases of 43.6% and 138.3%, respectively, from the year-ago period’s reported levels.
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