WeightWatchers stock crashes to an ALL-TIME low – is Ozempic to blame for decline of iconic dieting brand?

Shares of WeightWatchers hovered around an all-time low on Friday after a brutal six months in which weight-loss drug Ozempic crushed its valuation.

It comes weeks after longtime investor Oprah Winfrey, who has admitted to using the new drug, announced she would be leaving the board, sending the shares into an initial downward spiral.

But this week came even more bad news. Further damage was done after a report revealed the company had hired lawyers for debt talks.

Founded in 1963, WeightWatchers is perhaps one of the best known and most iconic names in weight loss and diet programs around the world.

As of Friday afternoon, it was just $175 million — a fraction of its peak of $6.7 billion.

Founded in 1963, WeightWatchers is perhaps one of the best-known names in weight loss and diet programs around the world. Pictured is an issue of the magazine of the same name

But in an internal memo to employees this week, CEO Sima Sistani sought to douse the flames, insisting the company was undervalued and that new strategies will generate growth.

“Our business is healthy and we are well positioned for the future as we continue our transformation,” she wrote. Sistani also described media coverage suggesting WeightWatchers was doomed as “breathless.”

Pharmaceutical companies such as Novo Nordisk and Eli Lilly took the world by storm last year with a new generation of so-called GLP-1 diet products: Ozempic, Wegovy and Zepbound.

The drugs were widely effective and quickly became popular among Americans and others around the world who wanted to lose weight.

Ozempic has already been blamed for the demise of another old diet brand. Jenny Craig, a household name since its launch in the 1980s, announced in May 2023 that it would close after drowning in debt.

In December, Oprah told People Magazine that she is taking weight-loss medications, but did suggest that she continue using WeightWatchers strategies.

“I eat my last meal at four o’clock, drink a liter of water a day and use the WeightWatchers principles of counting points,” she said.

‘I was aware of (weight loss) medications, but felt I had to prove that I had the willpower to do it. I don’t have that feeling anymore.’

Last year, WW International bought telehealth platform Sequence for $132 million in an effort to embrace pharmaceuticals and prescribe blockbuster weight loss drugs.

Jenny Craig (left) and her husband Sidney Craig founded the weight-loss company Jenny Craig, which went bankrupt in the US in 2023.

Winfrey joined WW International’s board in 2015 following a $43 million investment

This week, shares in WW International, the parent company of WeightWatchers, fell to an all-time low following news that the company was in talks with lawyers about debt strategies

“Turning around and completely transforming a company is not for the faint of heart,” Sistani wrote.

“I know clickbait stories and their predictable, if temporary, market impact doesn’t feel great. But be proud, because we will prove the naysayers wrong.”

When announcing her departure in February, Oprah also indicated that she would donate her stake in WW International, the parent brand of Weight Watchers, to a museum.

Winfrey joined the board in 2015 after investing $43 million in the company. She also agreed to be featured in Weight Watchers commercials and advertisements.

Within three years of her involvement, shares of WW International were trading for more than $100, reaching an all-time high of $103 in June of that year.

WW International, as it is now known, had a peak market capitalization of $6.7 billion in June 2018.

It was valued above $2 billion for about five of the past two decades, until it fell sharply and never recovered after Ozempic was approved for weight loss in 2021.