Planet Fitness stock pulls back from record after J.P. Morgan downgrade, on valuation
Shares of Planet Fitness Inc. dropped 4.5% in afternoon trade Monday to pull back sharply from the previous session's record close, after J.P. Morgan analyst John Ivankoe downgraded the fitness center operator, citing concerns over valuation. Ivankoe cut his rating to neutral, after being at overweight since he started covering the company in August 2015, just weeks after it went public. He slashed his stock price target to $38 from $50. Ivankoe said that while "fundamentals remain strong," he doesn't believe current valuation supports expectations of earnings per share growth in the coming years. On Friday, the stock shot up 6.5% to close at a record $51.94 after the company reported second-quarter results. The company has beat the FactSet consensus for both earnings per share and revenue every quarter since it started reported results in September 2015.
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