PLBY · Playboy, Inc. — research history
Complete research history. Every dossier, draft, kill, publish, and lesson the system has produced on PLBY. Public so users can audit, AI can re-reference. Live price refreshes every 60s.
About PLBY · Playboy, Inc.
Playboy, Inc. operates as a pleasure and leisure company in the United States, Australia, China, the United Kingdom, and internationally. The company operates through two segments: Direct-to-Consumer and Licensing. It offers sexual wellness products, such as lingerie, bedroom accessories, intimacy products, and other adult products; apparel and accessories products; and beauty and grooming products, such as skincare, haircare, bath and body, cosmetics, and fragrance. The company also owns and operates digital commerce retail platforms, such as playboy.com under license agreements; Honey Birdette retail stores; and collaborates with nightlife, hospitality, digital casino, and online gaming industries. In addition, it licenses Playboy name, Rabbit Head Design, and other trademarks and related properties; and programming content to cable television operators and direct-to-home satellite television operators. Further, the company business covers the subscription sale of playboyplus.com and playboy.tv, which are online content platforms. It offers its products under its flagship brand Playboy. The company was formerly known as PLBY Group, Inc. and changed its name to Playboy, Inc. in June 2025. Playboy, Inc. is headquartered in Los Angeles, California.
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SELL (score -4) · 12-1 mom -16.2% · RSI 55.8 · below_both · -44.6% from high
Targets blend Wall Street consensus (3 analysts: low $1.50 / mean $2.83 / high $4.00) with chart-derived floors and ceilings.
1-Year Chart · RSI · MACD
Research Timeline
Newest first. Each entry shows what stage produced it, the verdict/decision, and the reasoning.
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PLBY is a small-cap ($153M market cap) pleasure and leisure lifestyle brand company operating Playboy licensing and Honey Birdette DTC. The stock has collapsed ~52% from its 52-week high of $2.75 to last close of $1.33 despite four consecutive quarters of positive adjusted EBITDA — suggesting the market is focused on the crushing debt load ($178M total, $30M cash), persistent net losses, and lack of credible near-term re-rating catalyst rather than operational improvements. The most recent 8-K (June 3-4) confirms Nasdaq compliance was restored via appointment of an independent director — a non-event. Q1 2026 saw a surprise EPS loss (-$0.03 vs +$0.0067 est). No insider open-market purchases appear in the Form 4 filings; all recent transactions are compensation-related sales or exercises with no CEO/CFO conviction buys.
The dossier reveals a deeply distressed balance sheet, deteriorating earnings momentum, zero smart-money support, and multiple anti-signals (dilution, accounting, concentration), making it unsuitable for any trade structure.
The investigation trigger was a Form 4 cluster (2 filings in last 14 days), but all recent insider transactions are SALES by CEO Kohn and CFO Crossman for RSU tax-withholding — none are discretionary open-market purchases. The company is deeply distressed: negative ROE (-37%), extremely high EV/EBITDA (198x), declining stock from near $2.75 to ~$1.38, heavy debt load ($178M vs $30M cash), and consistent net losses across recent quarters. Options flow shows a 3.66 put/call ratio with bearish directional bias (-77% delta). No positive catalyst exists; Q1 2026 missed badly (-550% surprise after prior beats reversed). The China JV transaction is real but marginal in context of overall balance sheet stress. Zero smart-money buying signals present.
The Form 4 cluster trigger (3 filings in 14 days) turned out to be exclusively SALE transactions by three C-suite executives (CEO, CFO, General Counsel) — all executed as tax-withholding settlements for RSU vesting. Zero open-market purchases from any insider. Q1 FY2026 earnings reported a -$0.03 EPS miss vs +$0.00667 estimate on May 11, 2026; stock subsequently crashed ~20% over the next two weeks to near 52-week lows at $1.29. The business carries $178M in debt against only $150M market cap (debt/equity: 522%), is marginally EBITDA-positive but unprofitable on a net income basis, and shows no clear mispricing catalyst. The China JV closing ($15M partial) announced March 23 was already priced in by early February. Options flow is heavily put-biased (put/call ratio 41.9). Technical picture is bearish: below both the 50DMA ($1.64) and 200DMA, RSI ~30-35. No open-market insider buy cluster exists to support a long thesis.
The investigation was triggered by a cluster of Form 4 filings and a recent 8-K, but upon full examination the Form 4 activity consists entirely of three C-suite executives (CEO Ben Kohn, CFO Marc Crossman, Gen Counsel Chris Riley) selling shares to cover tax withholding obligations upon RSU settlement — not open-market conviction purchases. The May 11 Q1 2026 earnings 8-K revealed a surprise loss ($0.03 actual vs $0.0067 estimate). Valuation metrics are stretched (forward P/E ~35x, EV/EBITDA ~200x) for a company with negative ROE and high leverage. No smart-money cluster signal exists when the transactions are code S rather than code P.