For years—through the heights of its pandemic appeal and the debacle that followed—Peloton has demanded its revenue on a bright and bushy 8:30 p.m. Instead, the company broke different news in the morning: it issued another recall for 833,000 of its original Motorcycle Plus units before posting its Q1 2026 results.
Peloton CEO Peter Stern said immediately during the company’s earnings call. He addressed the memo, stating the facts – that there have only been three reports of breakage and two injuries, and that the company is offering a free replacement seat. Later, when asked in a Q&A with analysts, Stern said the impact of the recalls “is expected to be insignificant and will be reflected in our full-year guidance.”
To be fair, its scale is The company’s first seat post in 2023 was smaller than the post, which affected more than 2 million original Peloton bikes with 35 reports and 13 injuries. But even so, it still overshadowed what was otherwise a positive earnings call for the company. Peloton surprised investors by beating expectations with a second consecutive profitable quarter and a brisk holiday season forecast. Shares closed up 14 percent today.
But that’s a Peloton thing. It does something promising – well, even. And then Mr. Big died. Maybe it launches an insensitive holiday commercial. Prices face a hike and its ardent fans feel nickel and dimed. This heralds another recall. Or another round of leave was made after promising. Either way, Peloton’s story has become a constant push between progress and the company, and the company is shooting itself in the foot.
All of this makes it hard to say what Peloton’s future looks like. On the one hand, executives are confident that the recent ambitious hardware refresh and the addition of AI-powered fitness features are going to help the company return to Pedal’s glory days. (If they weren’t, the Trade Plus would be priced closer to $7,000 and even more daring.) Peloton fans, on the other hand, are divided.
The new product, announced on October 1st, caused quite a stir on subreddits and the official Peloton Facebook group. Many long-time customers are upset that there are no trade-in programs or upgrade kits for the new motorcycle display. It feels doubly weird when this new hardware is essentially the same machine with a new tablet. You don’t have to dig too deep for Peloton’s defenders, but it’s hard to classify this announcement as a “solid win” within the community. And if that’s how longtime diehards feel, where is Peloton getting its confidence from?
The longer trend has been a slow and gradual track towards recovery. Since former CEO John Foley stepped down, there have been sharply fewer gaffes, petulant patent fights and overall less drama. One could argue that the nearly two-year tenure of subsequent CEO Barry McCarthy (and an amazing ship metaphor) is bleeding. The current CEO, Stern, has indicated that his strategy is to focus on restoring profitability, improving cash flow and increasing efficiency so that the troubled company can think about growth again.
It is clear Boring. While McCarthy — like his predecessor Foley — could be counted on to say something out of pocket here and there, Stern was about as enthusiastic a CEO as could be. (He ended yesterday’s call with a joke about a “A viable buffet of new content for Thanksgiving.) Maybe that’s what Peloton needs: adults at the helm so the company can be boring for once.
Because that has always been the most surprising part of Peloton’s story. The company has a winning formula for a consistently good product And A loyal subscriber base. It fell as fast and hard as it did despite the end of the pandemic lockdown, as the peloton couldn’t get out of its way. Given yesterday’s miss and the timing of the earnings call, I don’t think Peloton is quite ready to completely abandon its dramatic boom just yet. But for fans and investors alike, a day where Peloton headlines don’t do It would really be a relief to automatically induce anxiety.
