The company’s shares rose about 11 percent in afternoon trading after the company said in a note that it would cut about 800 jobs and scale back its North American retail presence. Under CEO Barry McCarthy, Peloton has implemented a series of measures, including cost-cutting, to stabilize its business as demand for its treadmills and exercise bikes quickly weakens due to the pandemic. Sign up now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com Register On Friday, the company unveiled a plan to aggressively reduce its retail presence in the United States and eliminate some jobs in warehouses and customer support teams. Shifting last-mile delivery to third-party logistics providers will reduce per-product delivery costs by up to 50%, McCarthy said in the note seen by Reuters. The company is also raising the prices of its Bike+ and Tread machines in five markets, including the United States and Canada. (https://bit.ly/3peZhNv) The company, which cut prices on its products earlier this year, said it will now raise prices by $500 to $2,495 on the Bike+ and by $800 to $3,495 on the Tread in the United States. McCarthy, a former Netflix Inc ( NFLX.O ) executive, said he aims to bolster Peloton’s software engineering team, calling them “right investments” for growth. ($1 = 1.2782 Canadian dollars) Sign up now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com Register Reporting by Nathan Gomes and Kannaki Deka in Bengaluru. Additional reporting by Deborah Sophia. Editing by Krishna Chandra Eluri and Anil D’Silva Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
