Fitch Ratings upgraded Life Time Group Holdings, Inc.’s long‑term issuer default rating to ‘BB’ from ‘BB‑’ and its senior secured rating to ‘BBB‑’ on April 21, 2026, setting a stable outlook for the company’s credit profile.
The upgrade follows Life Time’s continued deleveraging, with its net debt leverage ratio at 1.6× as of December 31, 2025—well below the 2.0× target that the company has publicly committed to. The firm’s EBITDAR leverage sits within Fitch’s 3.5×‑4.0× band, a key metric that the agency cited as a driver of the rating improvement.
Life Time’s asset‑light real‑estate strategy, centered on sale‑leaseback financing, has enabled the company to expand its club footprint without tying up significant capital. The strategy has supported the opening of 12‑14 new clubs in 2026, nearly doubling the square footage added in the previous two years.
In February 2026, Life Time announced a $500 million share‑repurchase program, a move that signals management’s confidence in the company’s cash generation and long‑term growth prospects. The program is designed to return value to shareholders while maintaining the firm’s target leverage ratios.
CEO Bahram Akradi said, “Our strong cash generation and healthy balance sheet give us confidence in our ability to fund our accelerated club opening plan and implement our share repurchase program while remaining at or below our target 2.0x net leverage ratio. We believe we are now in a position to continue investing for long‑term growth while further driving shareholder return.”
Fitch’s stable outlook reflects the agency’s belief that Life Time can sustain its financial strength and continue funding growth and shareholder returns without compromising its credit profile. The upgrade to ‘BB’—the speculative tier of Fitch’s scale—reduces the perceived default risk and may lower borrowing costs, enhancing the company’s ability to finance future expansion.
The rating change is a material event that can influence Life Time’s capital structure, cost of debt, and investor perception, and it is a new development that warrants inclusion in the news feed.
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