Stay up to date with notifications from The Independent

Notifications can be managed in browser preferences.

Oprah Winfrey drops 26 pounds and Weight Watchers’ share price leaps 18%

The weight loss company reaped the gains from its new advert promoting Oprah Winfrey eating bread and still losing weight

 

Rachael Revesz
New York
Tuesday 26 January 2016 22:19 GMT
Comments
Oprah Winfrey has boosted the flagging company's share price several times
Oprah Winfrey has boosted the flagging company's share price several times

Your support helps us to tell the story

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.

At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.

The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.

Your support makes all the difference.

Weight Watchers’ has reaped the gains from talk show host and icon Oprah Winfrey claiming she lost 26 pounds thanks to its healthy eating program - even though she was still eating bread every day.

The share price of the weight loss company jumped 18% on Tuesday after the new advert aired.

The talk show queen tweeted the advert, saying “Eat bread. lose weight. Whaaatttt? #ComeJoinMe

This is not the first time that the company has received a boost from the billionaire. She became a board member in October last year and bought 10% of the stock.

Weight Watchers has struggled with $2 billion in debt and the share price saw almost three quarters of its value wiped in 2015.

Yahoo Finance
Yahoo Finance (Yahoo finance)

The company was also the target of a Channel 4 documentary in the UK in 2013 which exposed that employees were flogging its own-branded products with high levels of commission.

However, the after Ms Winfrey announced the partnership last October, share prices jumped up more than 100%.

Stock prices spiked again later that month when Ms Winfrey said on the Ellen DeGeneres show that she had lost 15 pounds via the point-calculating program.

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in