Weight Watchers Shares Soar After Oprah Winfrey Loses 40 Pounds
- Media mogul helps promote program after taking stake last year
- Winfrey’s previous weight updates have helped goose the stock
Oprah Sheds 40 Pounds, Weight Watchers Rallies
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Weight Watchers International Inc.’s stock got another boost from the falling weight of Oprah Winfrey, the company’s backer and most famous customer.
The shares climbed as much as 19 percent after Winfrey announced that she’d lost 40 pounds using the program. The diet company, whose shares had fallen 54 percent this year before Thursday’s surge, is unveiling new TV ads featuring Winfrey that tout her weight loss. The media magnate and talk-show veteran became a centerpiece of Weight Watcher’s comeback plan last year when she bought a stake in the company and joined the board.