PLANET FITNESS SEES 36% REVENUE SLIDE IN Q3

Stratham-based Planet Fitness reported a 36.8% revenue decline, to $105.4 million, in the third quarter that ended Sept. 30, causing it to suffer a net loss of $3.1 million, or 4 cents a diluted share. A year ago, the company reported a third-quarter profit of $25.8 million.

The pandemic pummeled Planet Fitness in the second quarter as well. Year to date, revenue is down 45% and losses are close to $24 million, or about 30 cents a share.

Planet Fitness closed all of its gyms and stopped charging membership fees when the pandemic broke out in March. It has gradually reopened 95% of them.

The company even opened 29 new gyms during the quarter, bringing the total to 2,086. Some of those stores are the remains of smaller chains and locally owned gyms that couldn’t survive Covid, or at vacant retail locations snapped up during bankruptcy or distressed sales.

There was also a 71.3% drop in equipment revenue due to fewer new stores in need of stock, and fewer members in the old stores to create both the need and the ability to replace worn-out machines.

COVID CONTINUES TO HIT ALBANY INTERNATIONAL’S BOTTOM LINE

The pandemic and continued grounding of the Boeing 737 Max aircraft cut Albany International Corp.’s revenue by some 22%, to $221 million, in its third quarter, according to the Rochester company’s latest earnings report.

But the company still reported a $29.6 million profit (91 cents per share), down from the $40 million earned in the same quarter last year. Thanks to layoffs and other cost-cutting measures, the result was not as bad as anticipated, leading to an uptick in guidance for the year.

Still, Albany’s sales fell by nearly 39%, to $46.6 million, for the quarter, and operating income was $6.8 million, off 60%.

RUGER SEES 50% SURGE IN THIRD-QUARTER GUN SALES

Sturm Ruger & Co.’s gun sales picked up by more than 50% in the third quarter. The company’s firearm sales increased to $145.7 million, a 53% increase from the third quarter of 2019, and net earnings rose to $24.8 million ($1.42 a share), about five times what they were a year ago. That brings year-to-date revenue just short of $400 million, and puts profits at $58.7 million.

In a conference call with analysts, CEO Christopher Kilroy credited the sales surge to “protest, demonstration and civil unrest in many cities” leading to “concerns about personal protection,” though some of that could be coming from the social and economic upheavals due to the pandemic. He did not mention the particularly volatile presidential election, which in recent history has sparked an increase in gun sales.

There is going to be even more of a strain on demand when Ruger begins producing Marlins, a product line it is acquiring from the bankrupt Remington Arms.

Killoy said “it’s likely” that production of the Marlin will be split between plants in Newport, NH, and Mayodan, N.C.

CALIF. COMPANY ACQUIRES NEW HAMPSHIRE TECH FIRM

El Segundo, Calif.-based Pacific Defense Strategies Inc. has acquired Spear Research, a Nashua-based military tech company.

No financial terms were disclosed, which was announced Nov. 5.

According to an announcement from Pacific Defense, the company’s latest acquisition provides a team of experienced engineers to support the development of radio frequency systems aided by machine learning and artificial intelligence components.

The company also noted that the addition of New Hampshire-based Spear will give Pacific Defense new digital signal processing capabilities for development of communications platforms that meet U.S. military standards.