Peloton files for IPO despite $196m losses in the last year

Home exercise start-up Peloton has filed for an Initial Public Offering (IPO) with the US Securities and Exchange Commission, listing its offering size at $500 million.

Goldman Sachs Group and JP Morgan Chase & Co are leading the offering, as Peloton plans to list its shares on the Nasdaq Global Select Market under the symbol PTON.

Peloton is, however, unprofitable, and is reported by Bloomberg to have lost $196m on sales of $915 million in the 12 months up to 30th June this year. The company also warned in its IPO filing that it may not turn a profit or maintain profitability in the future.

Last year, Peloton was valued at just over $4 billion after raising $550 million in Series F financing to kickstart its overseas expansion. It was even dubbed the ‘fasting growing company in New York’ a year earlier.

Launched in 2012, the firm has risen to the forefront of the crowded fitness tech industry with over 1.4 million members. However, US-China trade war tariffs mixed with a lawsuit filed by music publishers, as well as suing rival firm Flywheel for patent infringement, may impact performance and cause further losses on the business. It is thought that Peloton is hoping to achieve a valuation of between $8-10 billion despite these factors.

So far in 2019, almost $39 billion has been raised in 125 listings on US exchanges, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.