Peloton CEO Peter Stern has published his first-ever annual letter to shareholders, offering an inside look at how he views the evolving fitness and wellness landscape, and where Peloton is heading next.
Released during the first week of January, a time Stern calls especially meaningful for Peloton and its Members, the letter marks the end of his first year as CEO and establishes what he hopes will become a new tradition: an annual New Year’s message that goes beyond quarterly earnings to focus on long-term strategy.
The letter states:
There is arguably no time of year more relevant to Peloton than the first week of January. This is when many people choose to join our community for the first time and many of our Members – past and present – renew their commitment as they resolve to make and sustain better daily choices throughout the year.
A central theme of Stern’s letter is the broader industry shift from focusing solely on lifespan to prioritizing healthspan – living longer, healthier, and stronger lives. Stern has focused on this concept in the past, and in his latest letter he positions this shift as “the defining opportunity of Peloton’s next era.” From there, he outlines three major areas where Peloton plans to lead.
One of the most significant focus areas is Peloton’s increasing emphasis on strength training alongside cardio. Stern points to the rapid rise of GLP-1 medications as a catalyst, noting that these drugs require users to pair them with both cardio and strength workouts to maintain muscle mass and overall health.
Stern says that Peloton is already well positioned here, with roughly 2 million Members engaging in strength content on the platform. Stern explains that this focus drove several major decisions in 2025, including the launch of the Cross Training Series, updates across Peloton’s hardware lineup, and the hiring of new instructors to make strength training more accessible through modalities like Pilates and yoga sculpt.
Looking ahead, Peloton plans to continue investing in this area. According to the letter:
In 2026 and beyond, our embrace of cardio plus strength means prioritizing new residential fitness hardware and intuitive software that will increase our addressable market. It also means expanding our distribution footprint so more people can learn firsthand about what Peloton can do for them.
Stern also highlighted Peloton’s renewed push into commercial fitness, calling it a multi-billion-dollar opportunity. Through a newly formed Commercial Business Unit – which was solidified in August of 2025 – Peloton will combine Precor and Peloton for Business to offer a broader ecosystem of commercial-grade fitness equipment. This includes newly launched connected products like the Peloton Pro series, as well as leveraging Precor’s presence in 60 countries to help introduce Peloton to new international markets more efficiently.
Beyond fitness alone, Stern emphasized Peloton’s growing role in the broader wellness economy, which he cited as exceeding $7 trillion globally. He pointed to rising consumer interest in healthy aging, mental well-being, and preventative care as reasons Peloton “refounded” its purpose in 2025: empowering people to live “fit, strong, long, and happy” lives.
Recent partnerships – including collaborations with the Hospital for Special Surgery, RESPIN, and Twin Health – were highlighted as early steps in this direction. Stern also shared plans to build on Peloton’s acquisition of Breathwrk, expand into guided breathing and recovery, and explore ways to bridge the gap between exertion and nourishment.
Another major pillar of Peloton’s strategy is personalization through AI. Stern acknowledged growing fatigue around passive health tracking and positioned AI as a way to move Peloton from simply measuring activity to actively coaching Members on what to do next. That vision is already taking shape through Peloton IQ, which launched in October and is now available to all Members. Stern says Peloton’s rich data ecosystem – and the trust Members place in the platform – creates a unique opportunity to deliver more personalized guidance while enhancing – rather than replacing – Peloton’s instructors.
In 2026, Peloton plans to further expand Peloton IQ. The letter states:
In 2026, we’ll continue to evolve and improve Peloton IQ to encompass a more complete array of fitness and wellness domains. We will incorporate even more third-party data sources. And as we get to know our Members better, we will provide ever more personalized and complete fitness and wellness guidance, augmenting the impact of our unmatched human instructors and further improving our already enviable churn rates.
This comes as Peloton is also partnering with third party AI companies as well – such as Peloton being a launch partner for ChatGPT Health.
Stern closed the letter by addressing the question he says investors ask most often: can Peloton return to growth? His answer was a confident yes; however, he maintains a caveat that future growth will look very different from the pandemic-era boom. He stated:
And herein lies the answer to the question that I am asked by investors more than any other: Can Peloton return to growth? In a word, yes. But it’s important to understand that the growth will be different from what the world saw during the pandemic, when we were the beneficiaries of growth in the single modality of at-home cycling.
Rather than relying on a single modality – at-home cycling – Peloton’s next phase of growth will come from diversification, wellness expansion, and deeper personalization, anchored by what Stern calls one of the company’s greatest strengths: the emotional connection between Members and instructors. Ultimately, Stern concludes:
Peloton’s future growth will come from embracing the new emphasis on healthspan, which both improves Member experiences and outcomes, and also results in a more sustainable and diversified business over time. This transition will be fueled by our strong brand loyalty rooted in the deep, personal connections between Members and their favorite instructors, one of our biggest competitive advantages.
Members who are interested in reading the full shareholder letter can do so via the Peloton website.
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