Weight Watchers International

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Weight Watchers CEO Mindy Grossman Buys Stock After Earnings Shock

By
Ed Lin
Nov. 8, 2018 8:28 a.m. ET Order Reprints

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WW (ticker: WTW) President and CEO Mindy Grossman did something on Tuesday for the first time since her tenure began in July 2017. She bought shares of the company, formerly known as Weight Watchers, on the open market.

Women are entering the U.S. workforce in the highest numbers in decades, but gender parity isn’t improving, says Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg. The Leanin.org founder spoke at a WSJ event on women in the workplace.

Grossman paid $350,707 for 7,000 shares of WW, which was renamed on Sept. 24, at an average price of $50.10 each. She now owns 48,533 shares in her personal account. Grossman disclosed the transaction in a filing she made late on Tuesday to the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Read More: Obesity Weighs on Americans and Investors

WW shares are up for the year, with a 15% gain year to date through Tuesday’s close. That’s impressive, considering that the S&P 500 is only eking out a 3% gain so far in 2018, but even more so because WW is still recovering from a shellacking. The stock collapsed 30% last Friday after the company reported mixed third-quarter earnings.

WW didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.

Since Grossman started on July 5, WW shares have surged 57%. She had stepped down as CEO of multichannel retailer HSN to make the move, and the day after she started at WW, QVC reached a deal to buy HSN. The combined company is now known as Qurate Retail (QRTEA).

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Jan 8, 2019, 12:48 pm EST

Small-Cap Stocks With Big Growth Potential In 2019

Small caps led the stock market selloff into 2018 year-end, but they're leading 2019's rebound

By Luke Lango, InvestorPlace Contributor
Click to copy link http://bit.ly/2AC4fuS


Source: Shutterstock

Weight Watchers (WTW)

Market Cap: $3 billion

Big Idea: Healthy eating and fitness lifestyle trends are more prevalent today than ever before, and this is dramatically expanding the overall health and fitness market, in which Weight Watchers (NYSE:WTW) is a big player.

The bull thesis on WTW stock finds its roots in the rise of photo and video sharing apps like Instagram and Snapchat. Because everyone is sharing photos everywhere on these apps, everyone wants to look good in their shared photos, and one way of looking good is through health and fitness. As such, the rise of Instagram and Snapchat has been accompanied by a boom in the health and fitness industry.

Weight Watchers is at the heart of this boom. Not only is their greater desire among consumers to eat healthily and lead an active lifestyle, but celebrity endorsement of weight loss programs from widely followed icons such as Oprah has empowered a new generation of consumers inspired to lose weight.

These two trends won’t reverse course any time soon. Consumers are only becoming more open about weight loss, and more eager to become fit and healthy. As these two trends spread globally over the next several years, Weight Watchers’ business should grow by leaps and bounds. Right now, this is just a $3 billion company. The weight management market in the U.S. alone is expected to be in excess of $250 billion by 2024. Thus, there’s lots of room for Weight Watchers to become a much bigger and much more valuable company over the next several years.

[vogelspotter]

Nieuws
 Ondernemen
 Voeding & Drank

Weight Watchers weegt op Tiense Suiker-families

27 februari 2019 12:53

De slechte resultaten en de vooruitzichten van WW (ex-Weight Watchers) doen de koers van de dieetgroep een derde lager duiken.

WW - de nieuwe naam van Weight Watchers - maakte dinsdagavond een winst per aandeel van 46 dollarcent bekend, terwijl de analisten waren uitgegaan van 60 dollarcent per aandeel. De kwartaalomzet kwam uit op 330 miljoen dollar, terwijl experts 347 miljoen hadden verwacht. Ook de vooruitzichten van WW liggen onder de verwachtingen van Wall Street. De groep gaat uit van een lager ledenaantal, een omzet van 1,4 miljard dollar en een winst per aandeel van 1,25 à 1,5 dollar. Analisten schoven respectievelijk 1,7 miljard en 3,36 dollar naar voren.

Om het tij te keren wil WW de klemtoon verleggen van afslankproducten en -behandelingen naar welzijn en wellness. De naamsverandering van vorig jaar is daar een onderdeel van. De tv-ster Oprah Winfrey zal een belangrijke rol spelen in die herpositionering.

Klap

Die zwakke resultaten hebben hun weerslag op de beurs. De koers van WW dook in de nabeurshandel een derde lager. De waarde van het belang van de Luxemburgse holding Artal smelt daardoor van 437 miljoen maandagavond tot 326 miljoen dollar nu - 111 miljoen dollar minder dus.

Het is niet de eerste keer dat het WW-aandeel een klap van jewelste krijgt. In november dook de koers van de dieetgroep na het zwakke derde kwartaal op één handelsdag 30 procent lager.

Suiker

De Belgische zakenfamilies Ullens de Schooten en Wittouck, voormalige aandeelhouders van Tiense Suiker, kochten Weight Watchers twintig jaar geleden voor 700 miljoen dollar. In 2001 werd de dieetgroep op de New Yorkse beurs geïntroduceerd, maar Artal, de investeringsmaatschappij van de twee Belgische zakenfamilies, behield een belangrijke participatie.


Dat belang werd de voorbije jaren geleidelijk teruggeschroefd. Met 22,3 procent is Artal nog altijd de grootste aandeelhouder. De tweede grootste investeerder is de alom bekende tv-ster Oprah Winfrey (8,09%).

Michaël Sephiha,

Redacteur Ondernemen

Bron:"De Tijd"

[jens_dev]

Fundamenteel zie ik toch echt weinig redenen voor die spectaculaire stijging. Ik zie dat 28% van de vrij verhandelbare aandelen short zit. Misschien speelt dat mee? Het grote probleem van Weight Watchers is die enorme nettoschuldpositie. $1,74 miljard eind september 2017. En ze genereren nu nog weinig of geen cash om die schuld terug te betalen. Ook de obligatiemarkt is er blijkbaar niet gerust in, want je kan bv. deze obligatie van Weight Watchers (jaarlijkse coupon van 8,6% tot 2025 ; een echte wurglening) gewoon aan de nominale waarde kopen.

Post van een jaartje geleden. Koers toen circa $70. Steeg nog verder naar $100 die zomer maar zal straks onder de $20 openen.

[vogelspotter]

Nieuws
 Ondernemen
 Algemeen

'Weight Watcher-eigenaar Eric Wittouck is rijkste Belg'


05 maart 2019 16:13
De oprichter van Amazon, Jeff Bezos, is met een fortuin van 131 miljard dollar de rijkste mens ter wereld. Op de Forbes-miljardairslijst prijken drie Belgen.


Jarenlang was de Waalse staalondernemer Albert Frère een vaste waarde in de jaarlijkse ranking van miljardairs die opgesteld wordt door het Amerikaanse blad Forbes. Maar na zijn overlijden eind vorig jaar verdween de staalbaron die de controle had over de holding GBL uit het overzicht.


Eric Wittouck is nu de rijkste Belg met een vermogen van 7,6 miljard dollar. De basis van het fortuin van Wittouck werd gelegd door Tiense Suiker dat verkocht werd aan Südzucker. Nadien deed hij met zijn holding Invictus enkele lucratieve investeringen, gaande van het dieetbedrijf Weight Watchers tot het diervoedingsbedrijf Blue Buffalo Pet Products. Hij staat wereldwijd op de 191ste plaats.


Een andere vaste waarde in de lijst is de in België residerende Oezbeek Patokh Chodiev. De man die berucht werd door Kazachgate verdiende zijn vermogen van naar schatting 2,1 miljard dollar door investeringen in grondstoffenbedrijven in Kazachstan.


Schermvullende weergave 


Luc Tack is nieuw in het lijstje van Forbes.


De derde Belg in de miljardairslijst is de West-Vlaamse ondernemer Luc Tack. De textielboer kocht zich in bij de beursgenoteerde weefgetouwenproducent Picanol en werd later ook hoofdaandeelhouder van Tessenderlo Chemie. Die investeringen zijn goed voor 1,4 miljard dollar en plaats 1.605 op de lijst van Forbes.


Bezos


Wereldwijd staat de Amerikaan Jeff Bezos, de topman van de e-commercereus Amazon, op nummer één met een vermogen van 131 miljard dollar, een groei van 19 miljard dollar.


Schermvullende weergave 


Jeff Bezos, de topman van Amazon.


Bezos is de enige met een vermogen van meer dan 100 miljard dollar. Microsoft-oprichter Bill Gates zit met 96,5 miljard dollar net onder die grens.


Investeerder Warren Buffett, die Berkshire Hathaway leidt, staat op nummer drie met 82,5 miljard dollar.


Arnault


De rijkste Europeaan is de Fransman Bernard Arnault die dankzij zijn luxeconcern LVMH 66,9 miljard dollar bezit, goed voor de vierde plek.


De Billionaires List van Forbes is een veelgebruikt lijstje van superrijken, maar er is ook kritiek op de methodologie omdat Forbes vooral kijkt naar de waarde van beursgenoteerde bedrijven. Ook zakenfamilies bij wie het moeilijk is het familiefortuin toe te wijzen aan individuele personen ontbreken in de top. Zo zijn mensen als de Brusselse AB InBev-miljardair Alexandre Van Damme niet terug te vinden in de lijst.

David Adriaen,

Redacteur Ondernemen

Bron:"De Tijd"

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2-05-2019

Health and Science
Weight Watchers shares jump 5% as first-quarter earnings aren’t as bad as feared

Published an hour ago | Updated 23 min ago


Key Points

Weight Watchers posted mixed first-quarter earnings results Thursday.
The company increased its full-year forecast.
Weight Watchers said it would lean more on Oprah Winfrey after a disappointing start to the year.



Michael Nagle | Bloomberg


Shares of Weight Watchers rose 5% after the markets closed Wednesday as the company posted first-quarter results that weren’t as bad as feared and boosted its forecast for the year.

Here’s what the company reported compared with what Wall Street was expecting, based on average analysts’ estimates compiled by Refinitiv:
•Earnings per share: a loss of 16 cents vs. an expected loss of 26 cents
•Revenue: $363.2 million vs. $365.9 million expected


Weight Watchers is trying to transform itself into a wellness brand instead of a diet company. It’s revamped its image and rebranded itself as WW last year. The new look fell flat with consumers as the trendy keto diet went mainstream, hurting the company’s recruiting efforts during the early part of the first quarter, the critical diet season.

The company in February warned it had a “soft” start to recruiting members at the beginning of the year, sending its stock tanking. In response, Weight Watchers said it would lean more on weight loss icon and board member Oprah Winfrey. The company debuted a new television ad featuring Winfrey at the end of April.

“Trends improved sequentially throughout the quarter, resulting in 4.6 million subscribers at quarter end, up 1% year-over-year,” CEO Mindy Grossman said in a statement. “We are confident that our strategy to focus on providing holistic wellness solutions leveraging our best-in-class weight management program is the right path to support long-term sustainable growth.”

Subscribers at the end of the period were up nearly 1% from the year-ago quarter. However, Weight Watchers attributed the increase to starting this quarter with more members than last year, helping offset “recruitment declines” in the quarter.

Weight Watchers swung to a loss of $10.7 million during the first quarter, or a loss of 16 cents per share, from a profit of $39.1 million, or 56 cents per share, a year earlier. Analysts expected the company to lose 26 cents per share, according to average estimates compiled by Refinitiv.

Net sales declined 8.5% to $363.2 million, falling short the $365.9 million analysts had anticipated.

The company increased its full-year earnings forecast to between $1.35 and $1.55 per share from the previously guided range of $1.25 to $1.50. It reiterated its revenue expectation of about $1.4 billion.

Shares of Weight Weight Watchers have slid nearly 48% this year.

[bertje]

Het zal precies feest zijn vrijdag.
23.75 +3.44 (16.94%)

[vogelspotter]

Craig Giammona

BloombergMay 03, 2019


Weight Watchers Surges on Better Results After Diet-Season Rout
More
(Bloomberg) -- Weight Watchers International Inc. rose the most in 15 months after its better-than-expected first-quarter results eased investor concerns after a tough start to the year. “We feel we identified what the issues are and made changes,” Chief Executive Officer Mindy Grossman said in an interview. “We certainly stabilized the business.”

The wellness company forecast earnings per share this year between $1.35 and $1.55 a share, beating the average analyst estimate.

Key Insights

The company that’s rebranded as WW gave Wall Street encouraging signs on Thursday, a welcome reversal after its previous quarter’s results sent shares plummeting on fears that a slow start to the year -- traditionally diet season -- would be hard to recover from. Subscribers grew 0.9 percent year on year in the latest quarter, with management targeting “recruitment and retention” as two key 2019 goals.Weight Watchers decided after the rough fourth quarter to bring shareholder Oprah Winfrey back front and center in its marketing. It launched a new spot this week featuring the celebrity, one of the largest shareholders. Grossman said the new adds are working.More than half the company’s subscribers are now on the digital platform only, instead of attending the community -- or studio -- meetings the company originally built its brand on.

Market Reaction

The stock jumped as much as 18 percent to $23.90 Friday in New York, the most intraday since February 2018. And while that has helped pare losses so far this year, the shares are still down about 39 percent.Get more on the numbers here.

To contact the reporter on this story: Craig Giammona in New York at [email protected]

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Anne Riley Moffat at [email protected], Lisa Wolfson

For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com

©2019 Bloomberg L.P.

[Chukky2]

Is er beterschap op termijn?

Veel schulden lees ik momenteel , komt dat nog goed?

[vogelspotter]

BUZZ-Weight Watchers: Gains after JPM upgrades on stabilizing subscriber trends

18:37 (11/07) - Bron: Reuters



(Updates)
** Weight Watchers International's shares rise 7.4%
to $23.46 - highest in over two months
** J.P. Morgan upgrades WW to "neutral" from "underweight",
citing stabilising subscriber trends
** "We believe investors are beginning to look past the
expected ~50% earnings decline this year and instead focus on
the potential growth opportunity in 2020," adds JPM
** WW is set to launch a new diet program in the year end
that will feature some aspect of personalization
** Analyst Christina Brathwaite says new program should
drive recruitment and earnings growth again next year
** Stock will likely remain volatile and investors should
remain on the sidelines until more clarity is provided around
the planned changes of the diet program, says Brathwaite
** Brokerage raises PT at $22, implying ~0.7% upside to
stock's closing price on Wednesday
** Research sentiment on WTW is neutral: 10 of 13 covering
analysts rate stock "hold", while 2 recommend "sell"
** Up to Wednesday's close, WW down ~43% YTD

(Reporting by Karina Dsouza in Bengaluru)
(([email protected]))