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

Shares in WeightWatchers were hovering near an all-time low Friday after a brutal six months saw wight loss drug Ozempic drive its valuation into the ground.

It comes weeks after longtime investor Oprah Winfrey, who has admitted to using the new medication, announced she would leave its board -  causing shares to fall into an initial tailspin.

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

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

On Friday afternoon, its value was just $175 million - a fraction of its peak of $6.7 billion peak.

In February, Oprah Winfrey said she would leave WW International's board of directors

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

But in an internal memo to employees this week, CEO Sima Sistani sought to extinguish 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 like 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 soon became popular among Americans and others around the world wanting to lose weight.

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

In December, Oprah told People Magazine that she uses weight loss drugs but did suggest that she was continuing to use WeightWatchers strategies.

'I eat my last meal at 4 o'clock, drink a gallon of water a day, and use the WeightWatchers principles of counting points,' she said.

'I had an awareness of [weight-loss] medications, but felt I had to prove I had the willpower to do it. I now no longer feel that way.'

Last year, WW International purchased telehealth platform Sequence for $132 million in a move to embrace pharmaceuticals and begin prescribing the blockbuster weight loss drugs.

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

Winfrey joined the board of WW International in 2015 after an investment of $43 million

This week, shares in WW International, WeightWatchers' parent company, fell to an all-time low on news the company was in talks with lawyers over debt strategies 

'Turning around and totally transforming a business is not for the faint of heart,' wrote Sistani. 

'I know clickbait stories and their predictable, albeit temporary, market impact don't feel great. But take pride, because we will prove the naysayers wrong.'

In announcing her departure in February, Oprah also indicated she would donate her stake in WW International, which is the Weight Watchers parent brand, to a museum's endowment.

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

Within three years of her involvement, WW International shares 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 cap of $6.7 billion in June 2018. 

It has been valued above $2 billion for all but about five of the past 20 years - until declining sharply, and never recovering, after Ozempic was approved for weight loss in 2021.