Planet Fitness CEO on Plans to Take the Brand International
Planet Fitness (PLNT) pumped up Wall Street with its third quarter results. The discount gym chain, which went public on the New York Stock Exchange in early August, reported net sales of $68.8 million versus consensus expectations for $66.3 million. Adjusted earnings came in at $0.10 cents a share, surpassing forecasts for $0.09 cents a share. Same-store sales rose 6.9% year over year. Shares of Planet Fitness surged 12% in early trading on Friday. But, the number of members at Planet Fitness’ over 1,000 gyms in 47 U.S. states clocked in at 7.1 million for the quarter, relatively unchanged from 7.2 million in the second quarter. Explained Planet Fitness CEO Chris Rondeau, ‘It’s normal seasonality in the gym industry, you sell most of the memberships in April through May, and then they tail off during the summer months -- now the number will start to rise as we head into January due to New Year’s resolutions.’ For the year, Planet Fitness now sees earnings in a range of $0.51 cents a share to $0.52 cents a share, up from $0.47 cents a share to $0.48 cents a share offered three months ago. TheStreet’s Brian Sozzi reports from New York.