Peloton is pedaling into the ground. After approaching $50 billion in value just one year ago, the company is now closer to an $11-billion market cap, making it ripe for a takeover. Apple is among those rumored to be a possible suitor as it stretches into the health and wellness space with the launch of Apple Fitness+.
While Peloton’s new CEO recently said the company is not for sale, our experts aren’t buying it. So should Apple buy Peloton? That’s this episode of ‘Bull or Bear.’
Our bull is Dan Ives, managing director at Wedbush Securities, and our bear is Hartley Charlton, editor at MacRumors.
Ives argues that Peloton has a unique subscriber base, is a premium product, and sees the company’s current state as a golden opportunity for Apple to burst into the fitness space. Plus, given Apple became the first U.S. company to hit $3 trillion market cap early this year, it can afford an acquisition of Peloton’s size.
Charlton, meanwhile, argues that an acquisition of this size ($11 billion) would be unheard of for Apple, which has only stretched as far as $3 billion for Beats Electronics in 2014. He also brings up that without proprietary products, Peloton doesn’t own anything that Apple couldn’t recreate for itself.
Are you bullish or bearish on the idea of Apple acquiring Peloton? Let us know in the comments.
