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Peloton co-founder steps down after rough ride – CP24 Toronto's Breaking News
Michelle Chapman And Anne D’innocenzio, The Associated Press
Published Tuesday, February 8, 2022 8:07AM EST
Last Updated Tuesday, February 8, 2022 3:16PM EST
NEW YORK – The co-founder of Peloton is stepping down as chief executive after an extended streak of tumult at the interactive exercise bike and treadmill company.
John Foley first pitched the idea for Peloton in 2011, hoping to disrupt the industry. He will give up the CEO position and become executive chair at Peloton Interactive Inc. The company is also cutting almost 3,000 jobs.
Barry McCarthy, who served as CFO at Spotify as well as at Netflix, will take over as CEO, the company said Tuesday.
Shares surged more than 30% in mid-day trading on Tuesday on the moves, despite Peloton reducing its annual outlook for sales and subscriptions and reporting a big loss for its fiscal second quarter.
Peloton has been on a wild ride for the past two years during the pandemic. Company shares surged more than 400% in 2020 amid COVID-19 lockdowns that included gyms. Nearly all of those gains were wiped out last year as the distribution of vaccines sent many people out of there homes and back into gyms.
Peloton’s initial success also created competition, with companies peeling away customers by selling cheaper bicycles and exercise equipment. High-end gyms also jumped into the game, offering virtual classes that once were Peloton’s biggest draws. All the while, Peloton misjudged the slowing demand and kept churning out its products.
“The problem for Peloton isn’t that it has a bad product. Nor is it that there is no demand for what it sells,” said Neil Saunders, managing director of GlobalData Retail in a note published Tuesday. “The central problem is one of hubris and bad judgment. Peloton incorrectly assumed that the demand created by the pandemic would continue to curve upward.”
In a conference call with analysts on Tuesday, Foley acknowledged that the company expanded its operations too quickly and overinvested in certain areas of the business.
“We own it. I own it, and we are holding ourselves accountable,” said Foley, noting he will be working closely with the new CEO. “That starts today.”
Peloton has had to address previous missteps. In May, it halted production of its Tread+ treadmills, after recalling about 125,000 of them less than a month after denying they were dangerous. One was linked to the death of a child, while others were linked to 29 injuries. Last August, the company cut the price of its main stationary bike – the product that was the cornerstone of its original popularity – by $400 because of slower revenue growth.
Peloton also found itself entangled in a marketing debacle last month. Its stationary bike was used in the first episode of “Sex and the City” spinoff “And Just Like That,” but not in a flattering way. One of the characters, Mr. Big, dropped dead after a ride on a Peloton. The company reportedly knew about the product placement but not the plot line, leaving it scrambling to respond to the negative attention.
And last week, there were reports that Amazon or Nike might buy the company. Those that pushed for the sale of Peloton continued to do so this week, with activist investor Blackwells Capital asking again for the company to be sold despite the change in leadership, pointing to “the mismanagement of the company by John Foley, the poor governance and board composition and the rationale for immediately commencing a sale process.”
But a sale is not assured.
“I think the moves, as a whole, do not signify that Peloton is throwing in the towel. I believe this means they are going to slim down, refocus, and stay independent,” said Raj Shah, North America lead for tech, media, and telecom at digital consulting firm Publicis Sapient.
Others maintain the change-up means a sale is more likely to occur: “We believe Foley leaving makes it more likely that Peloton ultimately sells the company and the board clearly has major decisions to make in the days/weeks/months ahead,” wrote Wedbush analysts Daniel Ives and John Katsingris.
Also on Tuesday, Peloton announced that it was cutting 2,800 jobs, including approximately 20% of corporate jobs at the New York City company. The instructors who lead interactive classes for Peloton will not be included in cuts, nor will the content that the company relies on to lure users.
Peloton said its winding down the development of its Peloton Output Park in Ohio. It will also reduce its owned and operated warehousing and delivery locations and will instead ramp up its third-party relationships.
Peloton is looking to reduce its planned capital expenditures for this year by about $150 million. The restructuring program is expected to result in approximately $130 million in cash charges related to severance and other exit and restructuring activities and $80 million in non-cash charges. The majority of the charges will be recorded in fiscal 2022.
The company also slashed its full-year sales outlook and now expects a range of $3.7 billion to $3.8 billion. That’s down from a prior range of $4.4 billion to $4.8 billion, which it announced last November. It originally had expected $5.4 billion.
Peloton anticipates it will finish the year with roughly 3 million connected fitness subscribers, compared with previous estimates of 3.35 million to 3.45 million.
Peloton reported a net loss of $439.4 million, or $1.39 per share for its fiscal second quarter, which ended Dec. 31,2021, compared with net income of $63.6 million, or 18 cents a share, a year earlier. Total revenue increased more than 6% to $1.13 billion. Analysts had expected $1.24 per share on sales of $1.14 billion, according to FactSet.
The company anticipates at least $800 million in annual cost savings once its actions are fully implemented.
Associated Press Staff Writer John Seewer in Toledo, Ohio, contributed to this report.
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Business
Oil Firms Doubtful Trans Mountain Pipeline Will Start Full Service by May 1st
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Oil companies planning to ship crude on the expanded Trans Mountain pipeline in Canada are concerned that the project may not begin full service on May 1 but they would be nevertheless obligated to pay tolls from that date.
In a letter to the Canada Energy Regulator (CER), Suncor Energy and other shippers including BP and Marathon Petroleum have expressed doubts that Trans Mountain will start full service on May 1, as previously communicated, Reuters reports.
Trans Mountain Corporation, the government-owned entity that completed the pipeline construction, told Reuters in an email that line fill on the expanded pipeline would be completed in early May.
After a series of delays, cost overruns, and legal challenges, the expanded Trans Mountain oil pipeline will open for business on May 1, the company said early this month.
“The Commencement Date for commercial operation of the expanded system will be May 1, 2024. Trans Mountain anticipates providing service for all contracted volumes in the month of May,” Trans Mountain Corporation said in early April.
The expanded pipeline will triple the capacity of the original pipeline to 890,000 barrels per day (bpd) from 300,000 bpd to carry crude from Alberta’s oil sands to British Columbia on the Pacific Coast.
The Federal Government of Canada bought the Trans Mountain Pipeline Expansion (TMX) from Kinder Morgan back in 2018, together with related pipeline and terminal assets. That cost the federal government $3.3 billion (C$4.5 billion) at the time. Since then, the costs for the expansion of the pipeline have quadrupled to nearly $23 billion (C$30.9 billion).
The expansion project has faced continuous delays over the years. In one of the latest roadblocks in December, the Canadian regulator denied a variance request from the project developer to move a small section of the pipeline due to challenging drilling conditions.
The company asked the regulator to reconsider its decision, and received on January 12 a conditional approval, avoiding what could have been another two-year delay to start-up.
Business
Tesla profits cut in half as demand falls
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Tesla profits slump by more than a half
Tesla has announced its profits fell sharply in the first three months of the year to $1.13bn (£910m), compared with $2.51bn in 2023.
It caps a difficult period for the electric vehicle (EV) maker, which – faced with falling sales – has announced thousands of job cuts.
Boss Elon Musk remains bullish about its prospects, telling investors the launch of new models would be brought forward.
Its share price has risen but analysts say it continues to face significant challenges, including from lower-cost rivals.
The company has suffered from falling demand and competition from cheaper Chinese imports which has led its stock price to collapse by 43% over 2024.
Figures for the first quarter of 2024 revealed revenues of $21.3bn, down on analysts’ predictions of just over $22bn.
But the decision by Tesla to bring forward the launch of new models from the second half of 2025 boosted its shares by nearly 12.5% in after-hours trading.
It did not reveal pricing details for the new vehicles.
However Mr Musk made clear he also grander ambitions, touting Tesla’s AI credentials and plans for self-driving vehicles – even going as far as to say considering it to be just a car company was the “wrong framework.”
“If somebody doesn’t believe Tesla is going to solve autonomy I think they should not be an investor,” he said.
Such sentiments have been questioned by analysts though, with Deutsche Bank saying driverless cars face “technological, regulatory and operational challenges.”
Some investors have called for the company to instead focus on releasing a lower price, mass-market EV.
However, Tesla has already been on a charm offensive, trying to win over new customers by dropping its prices in a series of markets in the face of falling sales.
It also said its situation was not unique.
“Global EV sales continue to be under pressure as many carmakers prioritize hybrids over EVs,” it said.
Despite plans to bring forward new models originally planned for next year the firm is cutting its workforce.
Tesla said it would lose 3,332 jobs in California and 2,688 positions in Texas, starting mid-June.
The cuts in Texas represent 12% of Tesla’s total workforce of almost 23,000 in the area where its gigafactory and headquarters are located.
However, Mr Musk sought to downplay the move.
“Tesla has now created over 30,000 manufacturing jobs in California!” he said in a post on his social media platform X, formerly Twitter, on Tuesday.
Another 285 jobs will be lost in New York.
Tesla’s total workforce stood at more than 140,000 late last year, up from around 100,000 at the end of 2021, according to the company’s filings with US regulators.
Musk’s salary
The car firm is also facing other issues, with a struggle over Mr Musk’s compensation still raging on.
On Wednesday, Tesla asked shareholders to vote for a proposal to accept Mr Musk’s compensation package – once valued at $56bn – which had been rejected by a Delaware judge.
The judge found Tesla’s directors had breached their fiduciary duty to the firm by awarding Mr Musk the pay-out.
Due to the fall in Tesla’s stock value, the compensation package is now estimated to be around $10bn less – but still greater than the GDP of many countries.
In addition, Tesla wants its shareholders to agree to the firm being moved from Delaware to Texas – which Mr Musk called for after the judge rejected his payday.
Business
Stock market today: Nasdaq futures pop, Tesla surges after earnings with more heavyweights on deck
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Tech stocks rose on Wednesday, outstripping the broader market as investors welcomed Tesla’s (TSLA) cheaper car pledge and waited for the next rush of corporate earnings.
The Nasdaq Composite (^IXIC) rose roughly 0.6%, coming off a sharp closing gain. The S&P 500 (^GSPC) was up 0.2%, continuing a rebound from its longest losing streak of 2024, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average (^DJI) fell 0.1%.
Tesla shares jumped nearly 12% after the EV maker’s vow to speed up the launch of more affordable models eclipsed its quarterly earnings and revenue miss. That cheered up investors worried about growth amid a strategy shift to robotaxis and the planned cancellation of a cheaper model.
The results from the first “Magnificent Seven” to report have intensified the already high hopes for Big Tech earnings, that the megacaps can revive the rally in stocks they powered. The spotlight is now on Meta’s (META) report due after the market close, as the Facebook owner’s shares rose after the Senate voted for a potential ban on rival TikTok. Microsoft (MSFT) and Alphabet (GOOG) next up on Thursday.
Meanwhile, Boeing (BA) reported better than expected first quarter results before the opening bell with a loss per share of $1.13, narrower than the $1.72 estimated by Wall Street. Shares rose about 2% in morning trade.
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