What Happened?
Shares of inclusive gym franchise company (NYSE:PLNT) jumped 4.9% in the morning session after TD Cowen reiterated its "Buy" rating on the stock with a price target of $135.
The investment firm noted the fitness chain was experiencing "very strong gross adds & improved fundamentals," which had been overshadowed by higher-than-expected membership cancellations. Despite this challenge, TD Cowen maintained Planet Fitness as its "#1 idea," pointing to a "robust catalyst path."
The firm expressed confidence in the new management team's turnaround plan, which it said was "taking hold." The positive analyst commentary appeared to outweigh broader market uncertainty, where varied comments from Federal Reserve officials created hesitation among some investors.
After the initial pop the shares cooled down to $103.88, up 4.6% from previous close.
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What Is The Market Telling Us
Planet Fitness’s shares are not very volatile and have only had 3 moves greater than 5% over the last year. In that context, today’s move indicates the market considers this news meaningful, although it might not be something that would fundamentally change its perception of the business.
The previous big move we wrote about was 13 days ago when the stock gained 2.5% as the latest Consumer Price Index (CPI) report came in largely as expected, reinforcing investor hopes for an upcoming Federal Reserve interest rate cut. Data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics showed headline inflation for August at a 2.9% annual rate, with core inflation, which excludes volatile food and energy prices, holding steady at 3.1%.
While inflation remains above the Federal Reserve's target, Wall Street interpreted the figures as not being high enough to prevent a widely anticipated rate reduction at the central bank's meeting next week.
Analysts note that the Fed's focus has shifted toward the risks of a cooling labor market. With this report being the last key data point before the meeting, the market's conviction for a rate cut strengthened, fueling a broad rally that pushed major U.S. stock indexes to record highs.
Planet Fitness is up 4.5% since the beginning of the year, and at $103.88 per share, it is trading close to its 52-week high of $113.55 from July 2025. Investors who bought $1,000 worth of Planet Fitness’s shares 5 years ago would now be looking at an investment worth $1,752.
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