Peloton has taken many drastic measures recently to regain its footing, including outsourcing manufacturing, agreeing to sell its products on third-party platforms, and multiple rounds of layoffs. 

On Thursday, Peloton announced another round of layoffs—and in a separate interview, the CEO spoke in existential terms about the company’s future. 

In an interview with the Wall Street Journal, Peloton Chief Executive Barry McCarthy implied that he is giving the company six more months. 

Per the Journal, McCarthy said, “he is giving the unprofitable company about another six months to significantly turn itself around and, if that fails, Peloton likely isn’t viable as a stand-alone company.”

“There comes a point in time when we’ve either been successful or we have not,” McCarthy told the newspaper. “If we don’t grow… We need to grow to get the business to a sustainable level.”

In a statement issued by the company later, McCarthy appeared to back off that assertion. 

“I joined Peloton for the comeback story, not to sell the business. And today the business is fundamentally more sound than ever and on the right path, so to be clear, there is no timeclock nipping at our heels. If my comments to the WSJ suggested otherwise, then I misspoke, as that is simply not true,” he clarified.

“Restructuring a business requires difficult decisions that affect people's lives,” he continued. “I'm grateful for the many contributions of those who have been impacted. The changes we have made, combined with the performance of the business, are moving us closer to our fiscal year-end goal of break-even cash flow, with a renewed focus on growth. We are in the business of driving performance, and the business is indeed performing. By any measure, we have made remarkable progress in record time."

The company stated, “approximately 500 global team member positions have been eliminated, as part of the final phase of the company's transformation journey.” The company described its restructuring as “complete.” 

Peloton announced back in August that it would begin selling some of its products, including “Peloton Bike, Guide, and select accessories and apparel.” on Amazon and last week announced a partnership with Dick’s Sporting Goods to sell Bikes and Treads there. That represented Peloton’s first brick-and-mortar sales deal that didn’t involve its own stores. 

"Expanding our distribution channels through Amazon is a natural extension of our business and an organic way to increase access to our brand," Peloton Chief Commercial Officer, Kevin Cornils, said in the August announcement. "We want to meet consumers where they are, and they are shopping on Amazon. Providing additional opportunities to expose people to Peloton is a clear next step, as we continue to generate excitement for our unparalleled connected fitness experience.”

Stephen Silver, a technology writer for The National Interest, is a journalist, essayist and film critic, who is also a contributor to The Philadelphia Inquirer, Philly Voice, Philadelphia Weekly, the Jewish Telegraphic Agency, Living Life Fearless, Backstage magazine, Broad Street Review and Splice Today. The co-founder of the Philadelphia Film Critics Circle, Stephen lives in suburban Philadelphia with his wife and two sons. Follow him on Twitter at @StephenSilver.

Image: Reuters.