We recently published a list of Top 10 Stocks to Watch as Investors Brace for Recession. In this article, we are going to take a look at where Planet Fitness, Inc. (NYSE:PLNT stands against other top stocks to watch as investors brace for recession.

Despite some optimism in the market after President Donald Trump’s indication of possible talks with China, Wall Street analysts are warning about recession risks due to the impending impact of tariffs and an overall decline in consumer sentiment.

Adam Parker, Trivariate Research CEO, said in a recent interview with CNBC that it’s “hard” to be bullish in this market because the impact of tariffs is yet to be reflected in companies’ earnings.

Parker thinks that in the coming days, earnings reports of many companies will begin to show that we are indeed facing an economic slowdown:

“You know there’s a difference between a growth scare and and then an actual growth slowdown I think in this case it is a growth slowdown I don’t know how much of it is yet and that’s where I think the challenge is but you can’t just say oh it’s an irrational growth scare that everyone has and it’s like an uncertain I think if you have a business with pricing power if you have a business that you know you can be okay. But there’s a lot of economically sensitive businesses we’re going to hear from next week and the week after if you think about how earning season typically unfolds where we may get guidance that isn’t quite as peachy as we’ve seen from you know the original guys in the banks and then some of the higher quality tech companies have reported.”

READ ALSO: 7 Best Stocks to Buy For Long-Term and 8 Cheap Jim Cramer Stocks to Invest In.

For this article, we picked 10 stocks Wall Street is currently buzzing about. With each company, we have mentioned its hedge fund sentiment. Why are we interested in the stocks that hedge funds pile into? The reason is simple: our research has shown that we can outperform the market by imitating the top stock picks of the best hedge funds. Our quarterly newsletter’s strategy selects 14 small-cap and large-cap stocks every quarter and has returned 373.4% since May 2014, beating its benchmark by 218 percentage points (see more details here).

Planet Fitness, Inc. (NYSE:PLNT)

Number of Hedge Fund Investors: 34

Jim Cramer in a latest program on CNBC gave some remarks about Planet Fitness, Inc. (NYSE:PLNT). Here is what he said:

“I want to know if that’s a good buy. You know, I do a memo each morning where I do the 10 things that I’m looking at, and it starts with a list of about 25 things. The only positive numbers I saw, only raising price target that I saw today, was Planet Fitness. So I took a look at it. They are doing better than expected. I think you have a winner.”

Vulcan Value Partners stated the following regarding Planet Fitness, Inc. (NYSE:PLNT) in its Q2 2024 investor letter:

“Planet Fitness, Inc. (NYSE:PLNT) pioneered the “high value, low price” (HVLP) gym model and operates over 2,500 gyms globally with 18.7 million members. Their straightforward, no-frills approach offers excellent value, appealing to a diverse and casual fitness demographic. Members enjoy a clean environment, regularly updated equipment, and accessible pricing starting at $10 per month, with their premium “Black Card” membership providing extensive benefits and access to all locations. Planet Fitness captured roughly 90% of U.S. gym membership growth from 2011-2019. The company’s dominant scale coupled with high advertising spend drives powerful growth, and the company plans to double its number of U.S. locations. Planet Fitness demonstrates robust same-store sales growth, high EBIT margins, strong returns on capital, and excellent free cash flow conversion.”

Overall, PLNT ranks 9th on our list of top stocks to watch as investors brace for recession. While we acknowledge the potential of PLNT as an investment, our conviction lies in the belief that under the radar AI stocks hold greater promise for delivering higher returns, and doing so within a shorter time frame. There is an AI stock that went up since the beginning of 2025, while popular AI stocks lost around 25%. If you are looking for an AI stock that is more promising than PLNT but that trades at less than 5 times its earnings, check out our report about this cheapest AI stock.

READ NEXT: 20 Best AI Stocks To Buy Now and 30 Best Stocks to Buy Now According to Billionaires.

Disclosure: None. This article is originally published at Insider Monkey.