Planet Fitness, Inc. PLNT saw slower than expected growth in new memberships to start the year and pushback on price increases of its premier membership, Black Card. This Zacks Rank #5 (Strong Sell) lowered its full year guidance.
Planet Fitness is one of the largest and fastest-growing operators of fitness centers. As of Mar 31, 2026, Planet Fitness had approximately 21.5 million members with 2,909 clubs in all 50 states, Puerto Rico, and the District of Columbia. It also has clubs internationally in Canada, Panama, Mexico, Australia, and Spain.
In the United States, the clubs start at $15.00 a month for the classic membership.
Planet Fitness Beat on Earnings for the Fourth Consecutive Quarter
On May 7, 2026, Planet Fitness reported its fiscal first quarter 2026 results and beat the Zacks Consensus for the fourth consecutive quarter. It has an outstanding earnings surprise track record. It has only missed three times in the last five years.
Earnings were $0.74 compared to the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $0.63, for a 17.5% beat.
Total revenue rose by 21.9% to $337.2 million from the year ago quarter.
System-wide same club sales gained 3.5%.
"In the first quarter, our top and bottom line results exceeded expectations,” said Colleen Keating, CEO.
“However, 2026 is off to a slower than expected start from a net member growth perspective as we faced internal and external headwinds during our peak sign-up period. As a result, we are sharpening our marketing to prioritize capturing demand and driving net member growth. Additionally, we are pausing the planned national Black Card price increase pending a broader pricing review," she added.
PF Black Card is the new premier membership level which, as of June 22, 2026, one of the clubs in the Chicago area was charging $24.99 a month for.
With the Black Card, you can access any Planet Fitness Club, you can bring a guest anytime, you have access to digital workouts and free in-club fitness training, among other perks.
Planet Fitness Lowers Full Year Guidance
With the slow start to the year with net new members and the pause on the national Black Card price increase, it’s not a surprise that Planet Fitness had to lower expectations.
The analysts also had to get in line with the new reality.
As a result, there were seven earnings estimates cut for fiscal 2026 in the last 60 days. That pushed the Zacks Consensus down to $3.22 from $3.38 in that time.
However, that’s still earnings growth of 4.9% as Planet Fitness made $3.07 last year.
Analysts are bearish on fiscal 2027 as well with seven estimates lowered for next year in the last 60 days. The 2027 Zacks Consensus Estimate has fallen to $3.53 from $3.99.
That is still earnings growth of 9.6% over fiscal 2026.
Why the Zacks Rank #5 (Strong Sell)?
With earnings growth expected for fiscal 2026 and 2027, you might be wondering, why is Planet Fitness a Strong Sell?
The Zacks Rank is determined by changes to earnings estimates. When 7 analysts are cutting, for both 2026 and 2027, and none are raising during that time, it sends a signal that the analysts are bearish.
Here’s the earnings outlook on the five-year price and consensus chart.
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research
Shares of Planet Fitness Plunge Near a 5-Year Low
Even though Planet Fitness has an excellent earnings surprise track record, and beat on earnings again in Q1 2026, it cut guidance.
Shares of Planet Fitness plunged on that news to near 5-year lows.
However, the shares had also been falling before the earnings report and are now down 51.7% year-to-date on concerns about GLP-1s impacting fitness centers and the strength, or lack thereof, of the consumer during uncertain times.
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research
After the sell-off, is it cheap?
Planet Fitness is trading with a forward price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio of 16.4. That’s attractive compared to the S&P 500 which is trading at 21x, but investors often look for stocks priced with a P/E under 15 to find real value.
Planet Fitness is shareholder friendly. It bought back $50 million in shares in the first quarter of 2026. It doesn’t pay a dividend, however.
Investors interested in a fitness stock like Planet Fitness might want to wait on the sidelines for the analysts to get more bullish on the company before diving in. Look for analysts raising their estimates, instead of cutting them.
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This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).
The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.
