https://ir.lesliespool.com/stock-data/quote Down from an all-time high of more than $600 per share, Leslie’s, Inc. (NASDAQ: LESL) is now trading like a penny stock — a staggering fall for a retailer that recently dominated the residential pool-supply marketplace.

The company’s roots go back to 1963, when the business that eventually became Leslie’s opened its first store in North Hollywood, California. Over the decades, the chain expanded aggressively, passed through multiple private-equity owners, and ultimately returned to public ownership.

When Leslie’s went public again in late 2020, the timing appeared perfect: a pandemic-driven surge in home-improvement projects and backyard pools sent the company’s sales and stock soaring. At the height of that boom, on January 27, 2021, Leslie’s shares closed at $626.80 — an extraordinary valuation fueled by the spike in pool installations and DIY pool care.

But the boom didn’t last. When consumer spending normalized and discretionary purchases tightened, Leslie’s sales began to soften. Inflation pushed

Stock price collapses as Leslie’s reports a net loss of $(237.0) million in 2025 compared to $(23.4) million in 2024. The company implemented a 1-for-20 reverse stock split of its common stock in September 2025. A reverse stock split combines shares to create fewer outstanding shares at a higher price. Image credit: Lesliespool.com.

By Marcelle Dibrell

https://ir.lesliespool.com/stock-data/quote

operating and product costs higher. Inventory piled up. Margins shrank. And by 2024-‘25, the company was facing declining revenue, falling profitability, and uneven customer traffic — at the same time that competitors, online sellers, and lowcost DIY alternatives were gaining traction.

These pressures intensified in 2025. Sales weakened again. Net losses ballooned. And the company’s share price fell to levels that put it at risk of violating Nasdaq’s minimum listing standards.

To remain compliant and stabilize trading, Leslie’s executed a 1-for-20 reverse stock split, effective after the close of trading on September 26, 2025. A reverse split reduces the number of outstanding shares and increases the per-share price — a cosmetic change similar to swapping 20 one-dollar bills for a single twenty-dollar bill. It doesn’t change the company’s overall value, but it can keep a distressed stock from falling off a major exchange.

At the same time, Leslie’s underlying financial picture deteriorated further. In its Fourth Quarter and Fiscal 2025 results, released December 2, 2025, the company recorded a $183.8 million non-cash impairment charge — including $180.7 million in goodwill write-downs and $3.1 million related to underperforming store assets.

In accounting terms, this is the company formally acknowledging that many of the assets it once believed were valuable — especially goodwill from earlier acquisitions and the projected value of some stores — are no longer worth what was previously on the books. It represents a significant downward reset of expectations.

For fiscal 2025, net sales declined, comparable store sales dropped, and the company posted a sizeable net loss. Liquidity tightened, inventory remained elevated (though slightly reduced), and overhead continued to put pressure on results.

Put together, these issues indicate not just a bad quarter, but a multi-year unraveling of revenue, profit, and balance-sheet strength.

Meanwhile, many pool owners, customers, pool professionals, and former employees describe a deteriorating in-store experience: thin staffing, reduced training, inexperienced workers, high prices, and difficulty getting useful help.

A customer on Reddit wrote: “Every time I go to Leslie’s, I find that the employees are next to worthless, the prices are exceptionally high, and the store looks mostly abandoned.”

A former employee echoed concerns about weakened expertise: “The problem with Leslie’s now,” he wrote, “is that they took all the knowledge away from their employees… they can hire a kid… print out a paper of what the customer needs… without even knowing why they need it or what anything even means.”

Other online employee reviews repeat similar themes: reduced hours, low pay, limited training, and stores being operated with only one or two workers for extended shifts. Pool professionals similarly report rising prices, aggressive upselling, and rushed water testing, causing many to steer customers — or themselves — elsewhere.

Taken together, these accounts point to a deeper, structural decline: cost cutting resulting in understaffing, which leads to poor service, which drives customers away — which, in turn, increases pressure for more cuts.

In December 2025, Leslie’s attempted to shift the narrative. In a company press release on December 2, management announced a store and distribution-center optimization plan, which includes closing 8090 underperforming stores and one distribution center, reducing inventory by roughly 10 percent year-over-year, and allocating part of the savings toward improved pricing. The company has not released a list of the specific stores that will close.

These developments — collapsing stock, heavy losses, large writedowns, and widespread store closures — have fueled speculation online that Leslie’s is heading toward bankruptcy or liquidation. Some observers describe the company as “circling the drain.”

But according to Leslie’s leadership, that is not the case. In the December 2 announcement and related SEC filings, Leslie’s CEO Jason McDonell emphasized that the company delivered Q4 sales and adjusted earnings above the high end of guidance, and described the closures, expense reductions, and inventory cuts as part of a “strategic transformation plan” intended to strengthen the balance sheet, streamline operations, and begin rebuilding customer and investor confidence.

Management says these moves are designed to stabilize, not shut down, the company — a deliberate effort to downsize and reshape operations around a smaller, more efficient footprint.

What We Know

• Leslie’s is closing 80–90 underperforming stores and one distribution center (December 2, 2025 press release / 8-K).

• The company executed a 1-for-20 reverse stock split, effective September 26, 2025.

• Leslie’s recorded a $183.8M impairment charge in Q4 2025, including $180.7M in goodwill write-downs.

• Management says these steps are part of a strategic transformation to stabilize and eventually improve the business — not a liquidation or wind-down.

What We Don’t Know

• The exact list of stores that will close.

• The scale of staffing reductions and how many employees will be affected.

• Whether the slimmer store footprint will return the company to profitability.

• Whether the company can rebuild customer trust after years of service complaints.

Leslie’s has fallen hard — but for now, it is not going out of business. Rather, it is undergoing the most dramatic contraction in its modern history, diving deep to stay afloat. Whether it resurfaces will depend on whether leadership can streamline costs, restore service quality, and rebuild credibility in a pool market that looks very different from the boom years of 2020-‘21.