Peloton Interactive Inc (NASDAQ:PTON) shares jumped by almost a third on Thursday as the fitness company signalled improving cash flow and named Peter Stern as its new chief executive.
Stern, who co-founded Apple Fitness Plus and is currently an executive at Ford, will join Peloton in January, the company said in an update on Thursday.
This coincided with news that trading over its first quarter had been better than expected, prompting an increase to full-year guidance.
Net losses reduced to $900,000 from $159.3 million year on year over the three months to September, while revenue fell by 2% to $586 million.
Analysts had been expecting revenue of $574.8 million, while per-share earnings of effectively $0.00 beat estimates for a $0.16 loss.
Adjusted pre-tax earnings guidance was hiked by $40 million to between $240 million and $290 million for the year on the back of the first quarter figures, while free cash flow of $125 million was targeted, up $50 million on Peloton’s previous forecast.
Interim chief executive Karen Boone noted Stern had been “responsible for successfully scaling over a dozen other subscription services” in an earnings call.
This ranged from Ford BlueCruise to Apple iCloud to Time Warner Cable Home Security, she said, adding he had “also been a passionate member of the Peloton community since 2016”.
Shares soared 31.1% to $8.72 on Thursday.