© Reuters. Xponential Fitness (XPOF) plunges 30% after Fuzzy panda short report
Xponential Fitness Inc (NYSE:) shares plunged Tuesday after short-selling firm Fuzzy Panda took aim at the company and its CEO.
In its short report, Fuzzy Panda labeled XPOF an “abusive franchisor that is a house of cards.” XPOF shares are currently down more than 30% at $17.36 per share.
“The Founder & CEO of Xponential Fitness (XPOF), Anthony Geisler, has a long history of misleading investors and business partners,” claimed the short-selling firm. “XPOF is [a] boutique gym franchisor with 10 different boutique fitness brands. We discovered XPOF is hiding the fact that many of their brands and franchisees are struggling.”
They go on to state that Geisler was previously involved in a pump and dump, alongside various other claims about the XPOF CEO.
On the franchise side of the business, Fuzzy Panda said that through its research, which included various interviews, they discovered lots of XPOF’s franchisees are “deep in the red,” with some selling back their stores for just $1 and others “desperately trying to re-sell the businesses at a 75% discount.”
