Weight Watchers plunges after Oprah deal fails to halt slide

The company roped in Winfrey as its public face in October, in a bid to use her popularity to lift subscription numbers and reverse a almost three-year decline in sales. Basically, it’s FitBit’s fault that in 2014 the company reported a market value of $1.1 billion-the lowest in Weight Watcher’s history.

When the company announced its fourth quarter earnings on Thursday, it revealed that it was still losing members.

The quarter included a US$13.6 million one-time transaction expense related to the Winfrey partnership, the company said.

Shares of Weight Watchers International, Inc. rose by 23.31% in the last five trading days and 17.01% for the last 4 weeks.

“I don’t think so”, said John La Rosa, an analyst at Marketdata Enterprises, an independent market research firm that has been tracking the weight loss industry for 27 years.

Active subscribers fell 4.8 percent in the quarter. Analysts had expected a small profit. Inc. now owns 1,167,188 shares of the company’s stock valued at $26,612,000 after buying an additional 1,152,127 shares in the last quarter. The company had revenue of $259.20 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $257.21 million.

Out of 4 analysts covering Weight Watchers International (NYSE:WTW), 1 rate it “Buy”, 1 “Sell”, while 4 “Hold”.

Oprah Winfrey: Despite shedding some weight for Weight Watchers, Oprah Winfrey‘s endorsement and investment of the diet company is not helping profits.

The gain-loss stock cycle carried over into this month when the company trumpeted a medial study showing it was effective in helping prediabetics shed pounds. He also has high hopes for offerings such Weight Watchers’ SmartPoints, which emphasizes eating leaner proteins along with fruits and vegetables, its Fitbreak App and its Connect social media tool. Clinical Efficacy, offers clinically-studied commercial weight management programs. “One of the clips – which she posted with the tweet “Eat bread”. The Company’s products include Weight Watchers Online and Weight Watchers eTools.

In her first Weight Watchers commercial, Winfrey indicated that she’s done with those fads-that “every time I tried and failed, every time I tried again, and every time I tried again, has brought me to this powerful moment to say, ‘If not now, when?'”