Planet Fitness ended September with about 21.5 million members. At the end of June, it also had about 21.5 million members.
Nothing else in its third-quarter results, out November 5, looked like trouble. Revenue grew 9% to $360 million. Same-club sales rose 1.5%. The company raised its full-year outlook. And churn held steady at 3.6%, according to Earnings Whispers' review of the quarter.
So steady is fine, for now. Members are staying. The harder question is how long steady lasts when, in net terms, nobody new is joining.
Has budget-gym member growth stalled?
At Planet Fitness, for now, yes. Membership has sat at about 21.5 million since June, per its second-quarter and third-quarter releases. The company is still opening clubs and still signing people up. Those joins are only replacing the people who leave. Planet Fitness is the biggest HVLP (high-volume, low-price) gym brand in the US. When it stops adding members, that is a fair read on how much room is left at the cheap end of the market. Its free summer pass for teens, meant to feed future members, stalled this year too.
Where the earnings growth came from
If members are flat, how did earnings per share go up? Mostly by buying back stock.
Planet Fitness spent about $302 million buying back its own shares in the first nine months of the year. Fewer shares means the same profit is split fewer ways. Its adjusted share count fell from 84.0 million a year ago to 75.0 million this quarter.
The full-year outlook shows it plainly. Adjusted net income is expected to fall about 3%. Adjusted earnings per share are expected to rise about 6%. The gap between those two numbers is the buyback. The board has now approved a new $500 million program.
| June 30, 2026 | Sept 30, 2026 | |
|---|---|---|
| Members | About 21.5 million | About 21.5 million |
| Clubs | 2,930 | 2,962 |
| Same-club sales growth (quarter) | 1.7% | 1.5% |
| Stock bought back (quarter) | $200 million | $50 million |
Price is doing the work
Same-club sales are still growing, and price is the reason. Earnings Whispers puts Black Card, the pricier tier, at about 68% of members, up 1.6 points. It calls the sales growth "entirely rate-driven." In plain terms, members are paying more. The number of members did not move.
Planet Fitness also tried the other lever. A $10 Classic promotion brought in more joins but did not grow the base across the system, per the same review. Regional Black Card price rises are planned for the second quarter of 2027.
Price rises work while churn holds. If churn starts to climb, they stop working. That is the clock on steady.
Selling the clubs it runs
Planet Fitness also said it has started a strategic review of refranchising its US corporate-owned clubs. Earnings Whispers puts that at roughly 280 clubs. Refranchising means selling clubs the company runs itself to franchisees, then collecting royalties on them.
It is the opposite of the move Crunch made this summer, buying franchisees out before rolling out a new format. Planet Fitness would get cash, which could fund more buybacks, and a lighter business. A franchisee would get the clubs, the staff and the operating risk.
Growth is also moving abroad. Planet Fitness just bought Be-Fit, a Portuguese chain with 25 clubs and about 80,000 members, for about €102.5 million. That deal lands in the fourth quarter.
What this means for you
If you run a gym or studio near a Planet Fitness, the biggest brand in your market has stopped adding people. Now it is working harder to keep the ones it has and to charge them more. That is the same game you are playing.
Three things to watch. First, its franchisees already spend about 9% of revenue on marketing. With flat membership, most of that money is replacing people who left. If your own cost to win a member has crept up, you are not imagining it.
Second, the cheapest offer did not grow the base. A lower price brings people in. It does not keep them.
Third, if a corporate club near you changes hands, expect a new owner with a loan to pay. They will look hard at price, hours and staffing.
Steady holds while people stay. Planet Fitness is now betting they will stay and pay more.