WW - WW International falls as forecasts lowered

2023-08-04 15:31:57 ET

WW International ( NASDAQ: WW ) fell 23% as the company that feeds on women’s insecurities lowered its forecast for 2023 revenue.

Revenue for the full year is expected to be in the range of $890M to $910M, compared to previously provided $910M to $930M.

For the second quarter, GAAP EPS of $0.65 beat the average analyst estimate by $0.61, while revenue of $226.83M missed by $2.68M.

“Our second quarter results give me further confidence that we are on the right trajectory,” Chief Executive Officer Sima Sistani said in a statement. “Sign-ups for our WeightWatchers business, excluding Clinical, were up year-over-year in the second quarter, delivering a return to sign up growth one quarter earlier than previously forecast.”

In regards to sign-ups, Sistani said on an earnings call that the company is seeing “continued improvement in our trends through the course of the year. I wouldn't want to pinpoint a specific moment in time, but recall we had our solid step up in subscribers out of Q4 2022 and into Q1, and again now here in Q2 we're ending with a step up out of Q1 for the first time in history.”

Gross profit and revenue for WW have been shrinking since 2018 on an annual basis.

In July, Seeking Alpha analyst The Pineapple Investor noted that despite the revenue decline and continued financial challenges, WW has a strong reputation in the weight loss industry.

“Their program has been consistently ranked as the number one best diet for weight loss by US News and World Report for 13 consecutive years. This credibility provides a solid foundation for the business to build upon,” The Pineapple Investor wrote.

WW shares are up 109% so far in 2023, and down 26% over the past five days.

More on WW:

• WW International: A Hold For Now, But With Potential For Growth
• WW International, Inc. ( WW ) Q2 2023 Earnings Call Transcript
• WeightWatchers appoints former Humana CMO Shrank to its board

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