Last week, shares of Weight Watchers International, Inc. (NYSE: WTW) had a surprising 9% jump as their 4th quarter earnings hit the 20 cents per share mark. Wall Street analysts had predicted about 19 cents per share. According to the latest reports, net sales for Weight Watchers increased by 5% to $267.4 million.
Closely watched Wall Street metrics show that subscribers increased by 12.3% in North America compared to last year. The paid visits also increased by 13.2% in North America. The company is enjoying success with their program ‘Beyond the Scale.’ The company is also benefiting from marketing by member, spokeswoman and major stockholder, Oprah Winfrey.
The full year earnings of Weight Watchers has reached $1.30 to $1.40 a share, much higher than the trade analysts predicted. The trade analysts had predicted that the shares would increase about $1.17 per share.
Oprah Winfrey becomes the face of the weight loss company
Oprah Winfrey, who has struggled with her weight, said that she has lost close to 40 pounds since she joined the company. Oprah is the face of Weight Watchers International. According to the Chief Financial Officer, Nick Hotchkin, the company’s bets are paying off this year and it is attracting new members. Hotchkin added that the search for the new CEO is on and is on the right track. He added that Oprah is also reviewing the candidates.
The shares of stock were trading lower than $7 before Oprah Winfrey joined the firm and invested in it in 2015. Within hours of trading, the share price had risen by 9% and reached $15.70 in after-hours trades.
Profile of Weight Watchers International
Weight Watchers International is a weight management service provider that operates globally through a network of companies that are owned, as well as franchised.
The company sells their products and services that include meetings that provide support and information performed by their franchisees, their digital weight management products that are sold via websites, mobile sites and other applications and some products sold via meetings. The company also sells their licensed products via magazines and retail channels and also through other publications.
Artal Group S.A owned about 29,443,300 shares of Weight Watchers stock at the end of the fourth quarter. The recent filing shows the group owns 46.10% of Weight Watchers International worth of $337,126,000.
