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The fitness brands franchisor released a statement denouncing the “misleading” report, arguing that it contains inaccurate information.
The company cautioned investors not to rely on it, with “the Board and Management stand firmly behind the strength of the business and health of its franchisees.”
“Xponential’s scalable business model, strong free cash flow generation and history of margin expansion position the Company for continued success,” the company said.
XPOF also said its “studios remain open, thriving and tremendously popular,” with the franchisee model successful and average unit volume of $542,000 providing “for healthy unit economics,” where they expect 25-30% operating margin and 40% cash on cash return.
Following the short report on Tuesday, Raymond James analysts defended the stock in a note, maintaining a Strong Buy rating.
The analysts said that the stock’s sell-off is significantly overdone and creates a buying opportunity.
“Specifically, the allegations seem to fall into three primary buckets: 1) Mr. Geisler is untrustworthy and has a history of acting unscrupulously; 2) XPOF is overstating its financial results, particularly AUVs and same-store sales; and 3) XPOF is overstating its franchisee economics, as the majority of its studios are unprofitable,” they explained.
“Importantly, late Tuesday, we spoke with Mr. Geisler and CFO John Meloun, both of whom addressed many of the allegations to our satisfaction. It’s also worth noting that the report is filled with anonymous quotes, and that the firm authoring the report has a stated short position in XPOF,” the analysts added.
