Reports Reveal 2 Huge Brands Are Thinking About Buying Peloton

Peloton’s stock was up more than 30% in premarket trading on Monday after reports that Amazon and Nike were looking into buying the exercise bike maker.

On Friday, the Wall Street Journal broke the news of Amazon’s interest, reporting that the ecommerce giant had been speaking to advisors about a potential deal. However, there’s no guarantee a deal will happen.

The Financial Times also reported on Friday that Nike was considering a bid for Peloton. According to the source, Nike considered bidding for Peloton before the company went public in 2019 before ultimately not going through with an offer. This time around, the company is still in the early stage of considerations, as Nike has not held talks with Peloton.

Peloton’s current market capitalization is about $8 billion, a huge dive from its early 2021 peak of more than $50 billion.

One of Peloton’s investors, Blackwells Capital, has been calling on the company to consider a sale as well as fire Peloton CEO John Foley. In a January letter to Peloton’s board of directors, Blackwells Capital CEO Jason Aintabi wrote that a stand-alone Peloton “will still not be able to fully exploit the opportunities its assets and brand enable.”

“Undoubtedly, Peloton and its customer base would be extremely attractive to any number of technology, streaming, metaverse and sportswear companies (e.g. Apple, Disney, Sony, Nike), who could extend their presence in the home, in health and wellness and on the screen through Peloton,” Aintabi wrote.

The company is scheduled to release its second-quarter earnings on February 8, during which Foley said more details about the company’s future would be announced.

Peloton shares are up 26.18% over a 24-hour period as of Monday morning.

https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/417275