Forensic Analysis · Hospitality & Leisure · as of Sep 25, 2026
Planet Fitness, Inc. (PLNT)
A forensic read on Planet Fitness, Inc. built from its complete SEC filings — financial-health screens, earnings quality, red flags and a price-aware rating. Reproducible math, not opinion.
B · Sound & dependable
Forensic grade
Grey Zone
Financial health
1.3
Distress distance
Clean
Earnings quality
3
Forensic signals
15.7
P / E (ttm)
$3.1B
Market cap
12.1%
Revenue growth
This free snapshot doesn't read filing or proxy text, so the auditor-quality and governance checks that can lower a grade were not evaluated (red flags, auditor quality, say on pay, board independence, going concern, valuation). Those checks only ever lower a grade, so the full analysis can land below the grade above but never above it — treat it as the most favourable reading, not the settled one.
Planet Fitness, Inc. earns a B (Sound & dependable) forensic quality grade, and its balance-sheet distress test reads 1.3, placing it in the Grey zone. 3 forensic signals were flagged in its latest SEC filings, led by shareholder returns.
What the filings flag
197% of FCF
FY2025
Shareholder returns.Returned $502M to shareholders (buybacks + dividends) in FY2025 — 197% of free cash flow. That is $247M (97%) more than free cash flow covered, and more than operating cash flow as well. New debt covered it: total debt rose $312M over FY2025, while cash, short-term investments and long-term marketable securities rose $68M. A payout past free cash flow draws the balance sheet down in every year it continues, which isn't sustainable indefinitely. Counting the $12M of stock-based comp paid out in shares on top of that, the combined claim on free cash flow is 202%.
11.5%
FY2025
Return on invested capital.Return on invested capital is 11.5% in the latest fiscal year and rising across FY2023–FY2025 from 8.0%. After-tax operating profit was $196M in FY2023 and $285M in FY2025, with operating income at 25.5% of revenue in FY2023, 27.4% in FY2024 and 29.8% in FY2025. The capital base behind it barely moved across FY2023–FY2025 ($2.5B to $2.5B, 0%), so there has been little new capital for that return to be earned on.
-69%
FY2024→FY2025
Dividend — cut.The payout was CUT ~69% in FY2025 (from FY2024). It still returns some cash, but it is NOT the dependable, rising dividend an unbroken streak implies.
Key fundamentals
Latest Revenue$1.32B
Revenue Growth YoY+12.1%
Revenue CAGR (2yr)+11.2%
Net Margin16.5%
Free Cash Flow$254.8M
The forensic grade and screens above are free — no account needed. Want the AI investment read on top — the 0–100 rating, thesis, bull-vs-bear, red flags and the 12-month scenario, written from Planet Fitness, Inc.'s actual 10-K/10-Q/8-K filings?