WEIGHT WATCHERS INTERNATIONAL $13.70 (New York symbol WTW; TSINetwork Rating: Extra Risk) (212-589-2700; www.weightwatchers.com; Shares outstanding: 63.6 million; Market cap: $852.9 million; No dividends paid) offers weight-loss services in 23 countries. The company promotes a program of lifestyle changes through 36,000 weekly meetings and its website.
Oprah Winfrey bought 10% of the company in October 2015. She also joined its board of directors. Her goal has been to promote the company and help it reverse a steady decline over the last few years.
In the three months ended January 2, 2016, Weight Watchers’ revenue fell 20.8% to $259.2 million from $327.8 million a year earlier. The company lost $0.03 a share in the latest quarter, compared to a profit of $0.09 a year ago.
The number of active subscribers fell 4.8%, to 2.38 million from 2.51 million. However, that drop was less than the 12.7% decline in the previous three months, ended October 3, 2015.
Weight Watchers holds cash of $241.5 million, or $3.80 a share. Its $2.0 billion of long-term debt is 2.3 times its market cap of $852.9 million. Most of that debt is due after 2019.
Weight Watchers’ in-person meetings are still a major draw, but the company faces competition from low-cost calorie-counting apps and fitness trackers. To combat that, Weight Watchers has launched its own apps. It also recently introduced its Beyond the Scale Program, which sets personal fitness goals for clients.
The company is forecast to earn $0.85 a share for all of 2016. The shares trade at 16.1 times that estimate. Any concrete results from Winfrey’s involvement could drive earnings and the share price a lot higher.
Weight Watchers is a buy for highly aggressive investors.
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