PLNT: Enemy at the Gates; Competitive Threat is Real, but Seems Manageable for Now

Research evidence excerpt

PLNT: Enemy at the Gates; Competitive Threat is Real, but Seems Manageable for Now

Planet Fitness, Inc. Equity Research

PLNT an 800lb Gorilla, but HVLP 2.0 a Credible Threat

PLNT pioneered the HVLP model and remains the industry leader by a wide margin in terms of

member base and outright units (Exhibit 1) with almost 7x the footprint of the #2 player (Crunch) and

is about 2x the size of the rest of the industry combined (Exhibit 2). For most of its history, Crunch was

PLNT's only real competition, but a newer crop of "HVLP 2.0" players has emerged over the last decade

+ including EoS, Chuze, and Vasa.

Our work on traffic data suggests these new formats are generating robust engagement and

resonating strongly with consumers. Visits per unit last year ran meaningfully ahead of both PLNT

and Crunch for all three of these formats (Exhibit 3) with HVLP visit-leader EoS driving more than 2x

the foot traffic of an average PLNT location. We believe a broader set of amenities and more modern

training and recovery equipment at still-attractive value pricing have helped drive share to these

players. While we observe some intra-HVLP shift as overlap grows amongst this cohort, we believe the

primary donors have been less-competitively priced, legacy mid-tier operators including Anytime, LA,

and 24-Hour fitness (Exhibit 4, Exhibit 5).

Pricing in fitness is opaque given a litany of fees beyond the headline monthly rate, varying

commitment levels, and accessibility. Our pricing work in the Arizona market (Exhibit 6) paints a mixed

picture of PLNT's positioning vs. HVLP 2.0 peers. We note two of these players maintain the $10

entry-level monthly rate (we think a valuable marketing tool for getting new members in the door) and