Weight Watchers (WTW) Stock Surges in After-Hours Trading on Q1 Results, Outlook
NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- Shares of Weight Watchers Int'l (WTW) - Get Report are spiking by 17.25% to $14.68 in after-hours trading on Wednesday, after the New York-based company reported a narrower-than-expected loss for the 2016 first quarter and boosted its outlook.
After today's market close, the provider of weight management services posted an adjusted net loss of 17 cents per share, while analysts were expecting a loss of 18 cents per share.
Revenue for the quarter was $306.9 million, lower than analysts' expectations of $308.9 million.
"Our first quarter loss was smaller than we expected, and for the first time since 2012 we grew our total subscribers year-over-year, clearly demonstrating that our business is turning around," CEO Jim Chambers said in a statement.
Additionally, Weight Watchers raised its 2016 earnings per share guidance to be between 80 cents and $1.05. Analysts are looking for earnings of 87 cents per share for the full year.
End of period subscribers were up 4.8% during the first quarter compared to last year, driven by strong recruitment growth in North America.
Total paid weeks increased by 1.7% from the year prior and total attendance at meeting climbed 5.8%, Weight Watchers said.
About 2.07 million of the company's shares were traded today vs. its average 30-day volume of 1.56 million shares per day.
Separately, TheStreet Ratings Team has a "Sell" rating with a score of D+ on the stock.
This is driven by a few notable weaknesses, which should have a greater impact than any strengths, and could make it more difficult for investors to achieve positive results compared to most of the stocks covered.
Among the areas the team believes are negative, one of the most important has been weak operating cash flow.
Recently, TheStreet Ratings objectively rated this stock according to its "risk-adjusted" total return prospect over a 12-month investment horizon. Not based on the news in any given day, the rating may differ from Jim Cramer's view or that of this articles's author.
You can view the full analysis from the report here: WTW
