It’s Saturday morning, January 31, 2026, and if you’ve been tracking Peloton’s attempt at a high-tech comeback, the gears just hit a major snag. Yesterday, CEO Peter Stern pulled the plug on 11% of the company’s workforce, specifically targeting the engineering teams that were supposed to be building its future.
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The thing is, this isn’t just a “trimming of the fat”—it’s a sign that the big bet on AI-powered fitness might be stalling out. Or nothing.
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The Peloton “Emergency Brake”: Field Notes
It’s an ongoing situation where the company is trying to find its footing under new leadership while the market for $3,000 bikes is cooling faster than a post-workout sweat. Here’s the ground reality:
The Engineering Gutting: Most of the cuts hit the teams working on the “Cross Training Series” and the Peloton IQ AI platform. These were the features launched back in October that were supposed to give you real-time form correction using skeletal-tracking cameras. Those too.
The “Stern” Reality: CEO Peter Stern (the former Ford/Apple exec) broke the news on Friday. He’s trying to squeeze out 100 million in savings by the end of the fiscal year. Let’s be real—you don’t fire your engineers unless your new tech isn’t selling.
The Sales Slump: Reports suggest that the new AI-equipped machines had a “tepid” holiday season. It turns out, raising equipment prices by 11% and subscription fees to 49.99 in a shaky economy wasn’t exactly a crowd-pleaser.
The Stock Ticker: PTON closed yesterday at 5.73, down nearly 10% this month alone. Investors are twitchy because the quarterly earnings report drops this coming Thursday, February 5. And here’s the kicker—the “Whisper Number” on the street isn’t looking good. Or nothing.
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Peloton’s 2026 “Repair Manual”
| Metric | Status (Jan 30, 2026) | The Impact |
| Headcount Cut | 11% (approx. 400-500 people) | Engineering and Enterprise units hit hardest. |
| Stock Price | $5.73 | Trading near 52-week lows. |
| Membership Cost | $49.99 / month | Increased churn expected in Q2 results. |
| New Hardware | Cross Training Series | Sluggish sales reported for AI-plus models. |
And Here’s the Kicker…
Peloton isn’t alone in this “January Purge.” They’ve joined Amazon (16,000 cuts) and Meta (1,000+ cuts) in a month that’s looking like a bloodbath for tech corporate roles. The thing is, Peloton doesn’t have the cash reserves those giants do. They’re currently sitting in what analysts call the “distress zone.”
One side comment—if you’re a user, don’t worry about the classes disappearing yet. The company is doubling down on “content partnerships” (like the one with Halle Berry’s Respin) to keep subscribers from jumping ship. But the “magic” AI features you were promised? Those might take a lot longer to arrive now. It’s an ongoing situation. Those too.
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End….
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