Peloton Rebounds After COVID-19 Vaccine News Sparks Stock Shuffle

Peloton has recovered some of its 25% stock dip Nov. 10 — it was one of the publicly traded fitness companies that saw a swing on the market in the hours after pharmaceutical company Pfizer announced promising results regarding its COVID-19 vaccine trial. 

One analyst told Front Office Sports that those invested in the connected fitness equipment company can thank a superstar’s multi-year deal for that. 

“Everything being equal, the stock would have been under pressure again today as well,” MKM Partners analyst Rohit Kulkarni said. “The Beyoncé announcement is a clear positive.”

Pfizer said on Nov. 9 that early trials of the vaccine, made with German partner BioNTech, showed it to be more than 90% effective. The FDA has previously said that it will require a vaccine to have at least 50% efficacy to get greenlit. 

Stay-at-home technology stocks that soared amid the COVID-19 pandemic saw steep drops. 

Peloton was among the day’s biggest losers as it finished down roughly 20% after closing the previous trading day at $100. Peloton was up 5.2% on Nov. 10 at $105.21 as of 4 p.m. ET.

“Companies such as Peloton have benefited significantly from the way consumer behavior has altered during the pandemic,” Kulkarni said. “As we enter the latter half of the pandemic, and with the potential onset of widespread vaccination in the foreseeable future, investors are now focused on how the ‘new normal’ looks like, and how sustainable are the tailwinds for such companies as the direct impact of pandemic on consumer behavior starts to diminish.”

The company’s stock is still up over 200% over the last year, however. Video game companies like Activision Blizzard, Electronic Arts and Take-Two Interactive were also down after the vaccine news.

Fitness

| by Torrey Hart

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Shares of athleisure company Lululemon, which acquired at-home fitness company Mirror for $500 million in July, dropped 4.90% on Nov. 9 and were down another 1.46% as Lululemon closed at $322.19 on Nov. 10.

Conversely, gym chain Planet Fitness soared 16.19% on Nov. 9 with a return to normal operations potentially on the horizon, although it was down 6.47% the following day. Planet Fitness closed at $73.02 on Nov. 10.

Pfizer said it plans to seek an emergency use authorization from the FDA later in November, so long as the trial holds up after its volunteers have been monitored for two months following their second dose of the vaccine. The company said that the vaccine will be “free to all American citizens.” Dr. Anthony Fauci called the development “extraordinary” on a call with reporters, though he had yet to review the data himself.