Weight Watchers International Inc. shares rose as much as 22 per cent after investor and spokeswoman Oprah said she’s lost more weight using the program.
“I lost 26 pounds, and that i have eaten bread each day,” the entertainment mogul said inside a video posted to Twitter.
This may be the joy for me. I don’t deny myself bread. I have bread every day
The shares climbed as high as US$13.54 after the video was released, continuing a trend of Weight Watchers’ stock rising when Winfrey’s weight falls. Additionally, it climbed in October after she said around the Ellen DeGeneres reveal that she’d lost 15 pounds (6.8 kilograms).
Eat bread. Slim down. Whaaatttt? #ComeJoinMe https://t.co/jUgpk9ToXY https://t.co/xtnB53EwSf
— Oprah (@Oprah) January 26, 2016
Investors are betting that Winfrey can help turn around the organization, which has struggled to contend with fitness apps along with other programs recently. Winfrey, 61, announced her partnership with Dieters in October, saying she’d buy 10 per cent from the stock and join the board. In late October, she reported the stake was almost 15 percent, including options.
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Short investors, who bet that stocks will go down, also provide targeted Weight Watchers. The company’s short interest from shares outstanding is 16 percent. That puts it in the top 10 percent on most shorted Russell 2000 companies, based on data published by Markit Ltd. and Bloomberg. The short interest reached up to 20 percent on Jan. 19, probably the most since March 2015, the data show.
Weight Watchers can also be probably the most expensive stocks to short. The cost to borrow shares is rated a 9 by Markit, with 10 to be the highest. The average for the Russell 2000 is 1.6.
Oprah began appearing in ads endorsing Dieters in December. The latest clip, which she posted with the tweet “Eat bread. Lose weight. Whaaatttt?” focused on her passion for bread.
“This is the joy for me,” Winfrey said. “I don’t deny myself bread. I’ve bread every single day.”
