Adidas AG – TheNewsHub https://thenewshub.in Fri, 25 Oct 2024 18:41:06 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.7 This is why David Einhorn thinks Peloton could be worth five times what it is now https://thenewshub.in/2024/10/25/this-is-why-david-einhorn-thinks-peloton-could-be-worth-five-times-what-it-is-now/ https://thenewshub.in/2024/10/25/this-is-why-david-einhorn-thinks-peloton-could-be-worth-five-times-what-it-is-now/?noamp=mobile#respond Fri, 25 Oct 2024 18:41:06 +0000 https://thenewshub.in/2024/10/25/this-is-why-david-einhorn-thinks-peloton-could-be-worth-five-times-what-it-is-now/

David Enhorn pitches Peloton at the Robin Hood Investors Conference.

Getty Images (L) | CNBC (R)

Greenlight Capital’s David Einhorn thinks Peloton could trade as high as $31.50 a share if the company slashes costs, which could double its current adjusted EBITDA projections, CNBC has learned. 

That’s about five times the current price of its shares, which were trading around $6.20 midday on Friday.

In a pitch deck Einhorn presented at the Robin Hood Investors Conference on Wednesday, Einhorn pedaled on a Peloton bike as he explained the company’s many missteps over the years and the wide runway it has to turn its business around, according to a copy of the presentation obtained by CNBC.

If it can generate $450 million in EBITDA, about double its current projections, Peloton could trade between $7.50 and $31.50 a share, based on a benchmark study of comparable companies, said Einhorn. 

Notably, Greenlight’s analysis doesn’t assume “any growth in subscription revenues from new customers or price increases or other new initiatives, such as activation fees from the growing used bike market and international expansion,” Einhorn said. 

“Facing bankruptcy can force change,” he said during the pitch. “Peloton has started to right-size and cash burn has stopped. It refinanced its debt to push out maturities. And with a loyal customer base that pays $44 per month, it’s a valuable subscription business.”

Einhorn structured the presentation as if he was an instructor giving a workout class, occasionally shouting out investors in the room. The first page of the deck was titled “15 minute ‘Stock Pitch Ride'” and shows an image of Einhorn on a Peloton bike.

“Let’s start with some shoutouts,” Einhorn said at the beginning of the pitch, calling out a number of investors and sponsors, similar to the way a Peloton instructor would call out class attendees.

Each page of the deck shows a leaderboard of other apparent riders — including investor Bill Ackman and Robin Hood CEO Richard Buery — along with Einhorn’s speed, cadence and resistance, mimicking what users see while taking a Peloton bike class.

Greenlight and Peloton declined comment to CNBC.

Greenlight, which had a $6.8 million stake in the company as of June 30, conducted a benchmark study analyzing Peloton’s cost structure. The firm compared Peloton to three sets of peer companies: fitness businesses like Planet Fitness, consumer subscription companies like Chewy, and consumer online subscription businesses like Spotify and Netflix

The study found that even though Peloton has already cut costs to curb its cash burn, it’s seeing “basically zero adjusted EBITDA versus the peer median of $406 million,” Einhorn stated in the pitch. 

“For peers, over a third of gross profit flows through to EBITDA. Part of the problem is that Peloton spends too much on research and development,” said Einhorn. “Just as one example, Peloton spends about twice the R&D that Adidas spends … in dollar terms. And Adidas has 8 times more sales than Peloton and an order of magnitude more product lines.” 

Peloton’s stock-based compensation expense of $305 million in fiscal 2024 is also double the peer median and comparable to far larger companies like Spotify and Netflix – which are 30 times and 140 times larger, respectively, Einhorn said. 

At the heart of the thesis is Peloton’s high-margin subscription business, which generated $1.71 billion in revenue in fiscal 2024 with a gross margin of about 68%. If Peloton can make deep cost cuts, the company could generate far more free cash flow and EBITDA without needing to sell more bikes and treadmills, and without needing to grow its subscriber base. 

Earlier this year, Peloton announced plans to lay off 15% of its staff, close retail showrooms, and adjust its international sales plans, among other cost savings initiatives. It expects those cuts could reduce annual run rate expenses by more than $200 million by the end of fiscal 2025.

In August, Peloton said it expects it can post adjusted EBITDA of between $200 million and $250 million in fiscal 2025. But Einhorn said if the company gets its cost structure more in line with the benchmark, “there should be $400 – $500 million of EBITDA from the current subscription revenue base.” 

Companies that generate that range of EBITDA tend to trade at nine to 32 times that amount, implying a potential Peloton share price of between $7.50 on the low end and $31.50 on the high end, if it reaches $450 million in EBITDA, he said. 

To get there, Einhorn said the company needs new management. In August, Peloton’s interim co-CEO Karen Boone said she believes the new top executive will be in place by the time the company next reports earnings, which are now scheduled for Thursday. 

“The nice part of our thesis is that we don’t have to convince Peloton this is the right approach,” said Einhorn. “Peloton’s interim co-CEOs are telling the same story of a recurring, high-margin subscription revenue stream business. They have also implemented an initial cost-cutting plan, which still leaves plenty of room for the new CEO.” 

He said the company continues to garner top reviews among consumers and fitness publications and has a rabidly loyal customer base. He added that even though fitness buffs are returning to the gym, home workouts are here to stay.

“Working out in the comfort of your own home is not a fad,” said Einhorn. “And a trend towards healthier lifestyles should all drive underlying subscriber growth over time.”

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Nike renews uniform partnership with NBA, WNBA as NFL opens bidding process to competitors https://thenewshub.in/2024/10/21/nike-renews-uniform-partnership-with-nba-wnba-as-nfl-opens-bidding-process-to-competitors/ https://thenewshub.in/2024/10/21/nike-renews-uniform-partnership-with-nba-wnba-as-nfl-opens-bidding-process-to-competitors/?noamp=mobile#respond Mon, 21 Oct 2024 20:10:55 +0000 https://thenewshub.in/2024/10/21/nike-renews-uniform-partnership-with-nba-wnba-as-nfl-opens-bidding-process-to-competitors/

Nike will be the exclusive uniform and apparel provider for the National Basketball Association and Women’s National Basketball Association for another 12 years after they renewed their partnership with the sneaker giant, the leagues announced Monday.

Under the terms of the deal, Nike will be the leagues’ global outfitting, merchandising, marketing and content partner until 2037. The company will also be in charge of designing and manufacturing uniforms, on-court apparel and fan merchandise.

Nike’s last deal with the basketball leagues, which kicked off during the 2017-18 NBA season, was reported to be worth $1 billion and marked the first time an apparel partner had its logo on an NBA or WNBA jersey. It is unclear how much Nike’s contract renewal with the leagues is worth, but a source familiar with the deal characterized it as “much bigger” than the previous contract.

As the largest athletic apparel company in the world, Nike has long been a favorite among professional sports leagues and their athletes. Even so, its contract renewal with the NBA comes at a time when the sneaker giant has had to work harder to maintain its critical partnerships, and new CEO Elliott Hill tries to regain market share lost in recent years.

Nike is also the official uniform supplier of the National Football League and Major League Baseball, but those relationships have taken a hit as the company faces declining sales and criticism that it has fallen behind on innovation.

The NFL’s deal with Nike expires after the 2027 season, but the league has opened up the process to other bidders and is already in talks with several companies interested in competing for the agreement, a source told CNBC.

Nike’s contract with the MLB does not expire until 2029. However, it will have to repair its relationship with the league after it debuted new uniforms earlier this year that led to widespread complaints from players and fans that they were see-through, did not fit right and looked “amateurish,” ESPN reported at the time.

Despite Nike’s recent stumbles, the NBA told CNBC it has no concerns about continuing its partnership with the apparel company.

“From our perspective, we have 100% confidence in Nike on a long term global basis,” said Sal LaRocca, the NBA’s president of global partnerships. “They’re endemic to basketball. They’ve been a partner of ours in one form or another for well over 30 years.”

LaRocca added the partnership has been so strong that the league did not even open the process up to other bidders.

When asked about the MLB fiasco, LaRocca defended Nike and said those kinds of issues come with the territory.

“I think any company that is on the edge of innovation and is always looking to push the envelope for improvement may run into some unintended consequences,” said LaRocca.

Nike has not faced significant criticism for its basketball uniforms. LaRocca said, “you’ll certainly see fresh new products on a regular basis from them.”

Nike has had a marketing partnership with the NBA since 1992 — and with the WNBA since its 1997 founding — and the brand endorses most of the leagues’ biggest players, including LeBron James, Kevin Durant, Caitlin Clark and Sabrina Ionescu.

As of Friday’s close, Nike’s stock has fallen about 24% this year and has underperformed both competitors and the S&P 500, which has gained about 23% this year. On Running and Deckers, two companies that have been taking market share from Nike, are up 79% and 43%, respectively.

Historically, Nike has outperformed the S&P 500 by an average of about 8%.

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