They were the pandemic darlings who saw enormous stock rises and booming trade across the world.
But the three giants have seen a catastrophic fall from grace as their shares are now trading even less than before COVID struck.
Peloton, Wayfair and Chewy had insane spikes as customers locked themselves away at home and had an influx of dollars and stimulus checks to spend.
But they have since seen their huge gains wiped out as buyers returned to normal life and splashed less cash on decorating their houses and treating their pets.
It has caused nightmare stock readings for the three companies as their impact on Wall Street quickly descends into oblivion.
Peloton was tailor-made for affluent gym rats who wanted to stay in shape while also complying with social distancing guidelines.
The bikes had companion workout classes with glamorous instructors that were beamed to its users on a screen between the handlebars.
At the end of February 2020, a share of Peloton traded for $26.69.
Chris Noth appears as Mr. Big on the Sex and the City sequel series ‘And Just Like That.’ In this scene, the character is depicted riding a Peloton bike before having a heart attack and dying
After notching hundreds of millions of dollars in sales and beating analysts’ expectations, Peloton surged to its all-time-high of $162.72 by the Christmas.
But it was all downhill from there, largely because in some areas of the country, gyms were beginning to reopen as soon as August of that year.
Once COVID restrictions vanished and people got more comfortable out in public, it sparked the end of the boom for Peloton.
It also has to deal with competition from other fitness firms expanding their online offerings and former Peloton users selling their old bikes.
Peloton has dropped 96 percent from its peak and now trades at just $7.29. Experts believe its blockbuster gains were a mirage all along, with it never making a profit.
Shares of Peloton have dropped 96 percent from their peak in December 2020, when the at-home exercise bike craze was in full swing
Wayfair is another firm that experienced record gains during the pandemic that it could not maintain over the long term.
The furniture retailer had a surge in business in the early days of COVID when Americans were hunkered down looking for ways to spend their stimulus cash.
This unique set of circumstances set Wayfair up for an 1,161 percent gain from its low of $27.24 in March 2020 to its peak of $343.68 just a year later.
Joe Biden authorized the last COVID-era stimulus payment of $1,400 in March 2021, and by the end of that year, Wayfair was already faltering.
The company’s total net revenue in the fourth quarter of 2021 was down 11.4 percent year over year. Overall, it lost $131 million that year.
It now trades for $38.45 a share, representing a nearly 89 percent loss in four years.
Wayfair is another firm that experienced record gains during the pandemic that it couldn’t maintain over the long term
The online furniture retailer has lost 89 percent of its value since its all-time-high in March 2021. That was around the time government stimulus checks were drying up
Online pet-goods retailer Chewy has a similar story, though its rise and fall is slightly less pronounced than Wayfair’s.
Chewy tripled in value during the first year of the pandemic, a time when a record number of Americans were adopting new pets.
As that trend slowed down and spending on pets decreased, Chewy’s growth reversed with it, erasing 72 percent of its gains from its record $118.69 in February 2021.
As the country gradually reopened throughout 2021 and 2022, there has been nearly five years of unparalleled growth.
The S&P 500, which tracks the performance of the largest publicly-traded American companies, has returned more than 20 percent to investors in three of the last four years.
The last time the broad US stock market index performed this well was in 1997 and 1998, the euphoric time on Wall Street before the dot-com bubble burst.
Online pet-goods retailer Chewy tripled in value during the first year of the pandemic, a time when a record number of Americans were adopting new pets. About 72 percent of those gains have been erased
It comes as the probability of the US entering a recession within the next 12 months has climbed to 43 percent, according to a new survey from Deutsche Bank.
The figure comes from the average view of 400 people who were surveyed earlier this month and reflects a growing sense of unease among investors, economists and business leaders.
While key economic indicators such as low unemployment and stable consumer spending suggest that the US economy remains resilient, consumer sentiment data now suggests expectations are rising of a potential downturn.
The survey comes amid increasing market volatility and uncertainty over policy direction from the Trump administration.
Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell this month tried to calm the nation with talk of resilience and stability, saying the economy remains ‘strong overall’.
The Federal Reserve has revised its 2025 economic growth estimate downward to an annualized 1.7 percent – the slowest pace outside of the COVID-19 recession since 2011.
The probability of the US entering a recession within the next 12 months has climbed to 43% according to a survey from Deutsche Bank
While politicians argue and economists debate, American households are already feeling the squeeze with grocery prices remaining stubbornly high
Such a bleak projection could be a red flag indicator that a recession looms.
The Fed also raised its core inflation forecast to 2.8 percent, well above its 2 percent target following last week’s two-day policy meeting.
Officials still project returning to that target by 2027, but the near-term combination of higher inflation and slower growth is drawing increased scrutiny from economists warning about the risk of stagflation – a dreaded mix of sluggish growth and persistent inflation not seen in the US since the early 1980s.
At that time, gas lines snaked around blocks and interest rates soared to punishing heights.
Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell attempted to calm the nation with talk of resilience and stability, saying the economy remains ‘strong overall’ citing ‘significant progress toward our goals over the past two years’
It’s a scenario Powell has tried to dismiss: ‘I wouldn’t say we’re in a situation that’s remotely comparable to that,’ he told reporters.
Some economists disagree. Barclays analysts said market-based indicators are consistent with only modest slowing, but their projection for US growth this year stands at 0.7 percent, close to recession levels.
While politicians argue and economists debate, American households are already feeling the squeeze.
Grocery prices remain stubbornly high. Rent increases continue to outpace wages in major cities.
And small businesses, once the backbone of local communities, are finding it harder to access capital or plan for the future in an atmosphere thick with uncertainty.
