It really makes we wonder how we could be on the verge of a recession when companies like this become successful? Maybe I'm just too cheap to ever buy something like this but it feels like a mass marketed luxury good that requires a decent level of consumer confidence to have succeeded.
Peloton S-1
111–120 of 212 posts
Re: Peloton S-1
#112$915000000 revenue / 1800 full-time employees = ~$500k revenue per employee, though.
Re: Peloton S-1
#113It really makes we wonder how we could be on the verge of a recession when companies like this become successful? Maybe I'm just too cheap to ever buy something like this but it feels like a mass marketed luxury good that requires a decent level of consumer confidence to have succeeded.
In this particular cycle, more companies seem to be using this profitable business model: charge huge margins for your product and sell it on credit. Bikes, SUVs, higher education (phones, too, but that's not new). When the economy hits a blip -- say, due to a trade war -- people start losing their jobs, default on the loans, and things spiral down.
(To be clear, I'm not saying it will happen soon. It might, and probably will take years and be a mild pop.)
Re: Peloton S-1
#114Earlier quoted context omitted.
What's amazing is that they get people to pay _more_ than they would - or would even think of paying - for a streaming service like Netflix or Hulu, but their content creation costs are obviously a fraction of what it take to produce even one show on those platforms.
This is an odd comparison. content that results in entertainment != content that results in health benefits People regularly pay $50~$100/month for a gym membership so they're anchored against that.
Peloton is a cheap gym and an expensive Netflix, by reasonable comparisons. Damn is that a great business model.
Re: Peloton S-1
#115Earlier quoted context omitted.
Perhaps a better investment would be to buy a road bike for $2,000. Spend $245 on a trainer and gear. Finally, get the subscription to the classes, and now you have both Peleton classes and a road bike.
Perhaps. How do road bikes on trainers handle out of saddle riding? Many spinning classes involve out of saddle riding.
Re: Peloton S-1
#116There are some funny things in the Risk Factors section: “We have identified material weaknesses in our internal control over financial reporting and if our remediation of such material weaknesses is not effective, or if we fail to develop and maintain an effective system of disclosure controls and internal control over financial reporting, our ability to produce timely and accurate financial statements or comply wit…
> In addition, customers of certain of our providers have been subject to litigation by third parties claiming that the service and basic HTTP functions infringe their patents. If we become subject to such claims, although we expect our provider to indemnify us with respect to at least a portion of such claims, the litigation may be time consuming, divert management’s attention, and, if our provider failed to indemnify us, adversely impact our operating results.
Re: Peloton S-1
#117Can't help but start to think that everyone is cashing out before the impending recession.
https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/NEWORDER (capital purchases by manufacturing) It isn’t even clear that there is a risk of a recession according to some economic indicators.
Re: Peloton S-1
#118Earlier quoted context omitted.
"how can we be headed for a recession when my janitor just bought a second house?"
Absolutely this. A bubble doesn't look like one until it pops, so you can't just say "everyone's buying $2000 spin bikes, everything must be fine." For starters, Peloton does a majority of its sales through Affirm and other consumer financing instruments, and books them as revenue. It's more accurate to say "everyone is buying $2000 spin bikes using 30% APR installment loans." In the risks section, Peloton says that…
Re: Peloton S-1
#119Earlier quoted context omitted.
I had no idea! I had to go find it for myself: https://www.onepeloton.com/membership $19.49/mo gets you all the content. It's double that ($39) to make use of the bike's live metrics/dashboard/leaderboard, plus the bike itself is $2245. This is really interesting to me, as I've heard quite a few people say that the content is what they really like.
Perhaps a better investment would be to buy a road bike for $2,000. Spend $245 on a trainer and gear. Finally, get the subscription to the classes, and now you have both Peleton classes and a road bike.
Kind of like when my dad bought an elliptical machine and my mom called it the world’s only $2,500 clothes rack.
Re: Peloton S-1
#120It really makes we wonder how we could be on the verge of a recession when companies like this become successful? Maybe I'm just too cheap to ever buy something like this but it feels like a mass marketed luxury good that requires a decent level of consumer confidence to have succeeded.
I bought one. I like it because it's pretty high quality, I didn't have to pay cash ( using Affirm it's 62/mo /39 months), and I was able to test ride 2 of them for free ( apartment complex has a gym with one, but very hard to get a time to ride ). My girlfriend likes it because it saves tons of time compared to driving to e.g. SoulCycle or a spin class and they have nice social features like a competition ladder. Bu…