WW International (NASDAQ: WW) traces its roots back nearly six decades, and for much of that time, it was known as Weight Watchers, a name that still resonates with people. Since the weight loss industry has always had fad diets and fly-by-night operators, this staying power is impressive. WW International's strong brand recognition and focus on a person's well-being make it a natural choice for consumers looking for that extra push in the right direction.

WW International (NASDAQ: WW), formerly known as Weight Watchers, has a strategy that resonates well in today's environment, according to Jefferies analyst Stephanie Wissink. Wissink thinks the shift from focusing on just weight loss, to a more holistic wellness concept, has increased the total addressable market for the company from $18 billion to $300 billion, according to a report by TheStreet. The company, best known for its weight loss programs, began a partnership with global media giant Oprah Winfrey in 2015, and recently extended the relationship into 2025.

Today, global media leader Oprah Winfrey announced Oprah's Your Life in Focus: A Vision Forward – Live Virtual Experience, a free, interactive, four-week virtual experience inspired by her sold-out national arena tour with WW International, Inc. (NASDAQ: WW). Oprah will host a live, weekly, ninety-minute digital event on consecutive Saturdays from May 16 to June 6 starting at 11am ET/8am PT inspiring audiences to reclaim their path to self-care in the face of unprecedented change. The series is presented and produced by WW.

WW International shares were initiated buy with a $32 price target at Jefferies as the company evolves from just dieting services to a wellness provider.

One good outcome post the worst of the coronavirus? We will probably take better care of ourself, says WW International CEO Mindy Grossman.

Q1 2020 End of Period Subscribers up 9% year-over-year to 5.0 million, an all-time Q1-end high  Q1 2020 Revenues of $400 million, up 10%, or 11% on a constant currency basis,.

NEW YORK, May 14, 2020 -- WW International, Inc. (Nasdaq: WW), a global wellness company powered by the world's leading commercial weight management program, today announced.

WW International, Inc. (WW) will release its results for the first quarter 2020 after market close on Tuesday, April 28, 2020. WW will host a conference call at 5:00 p.m. ET the same day. During the conference call, Mindy Grossman, President and Chief Executive Officer, and Nicholas Hotchkin, Chief Financial Officer, Operating Officer, North America & President, Emerging Markets, will discuss the first quarter 2020 results and answer questions from the investment community.

Those holding WW International (NASDAQ:WW) shares must be pleased that the share price has rebounded 54% in the last...

WW International (WW) \-- formerly Weight Watchers -- fired thousands of its employees last week over Zoom Video Communications (ZM). According to reports on HuffPost, the manager who fired the employees read from a script and had all participants muted so they couldn’t ask questions. Some employees who were fired had worked at the company for decades.When asked about it, Nick Hotchkin, the chief financial officer for WW, said, "“It wasn’t practical to have all of the conversations be one-on-one." Hotchkin added that employees had been encouraged to reach out to their managers for follow-ups after the Zoom meetings. WW International had over 17,000 full and part-time employees at the end of last year.In late April, WW announced that it planned to shave $100 million in expenses due to a decline in revenue. In its last earnings report, WW noted that beginning in mid-March, the crisis started to negatively impact our recruitments and resulted in Studio closures. The report went on: "While we have seen some recovery, given the uncertainty around 2020 revenue levels, we are withdrawing our full year 2020 financial guidance." However, the firm added, "We continue to be excited about our long-term growth opportunities with our digital platform.”Before the pandemic hit, about a quarter of the company’s members were paying $44.95 a month for access to workshops, while the other three quarters paid $20.95 a month for WW’s app. The company has made its digital platforms even more of a priority as Covid-19 made in-person meetings impossible.In June 2018, the stock of WW peaked at more than $102 a share. The stock closed on Friday at $25 a share. Analyst Christina Brathwaite at J.P. Morgan recently cut her stock price target to $12 from an already-Street-low of $14. Brathwaite said that data from SimilarWeb suggests fiscal first-quarter daily active users contracted 40% from a year ago, which she said would put "significant pressure" on revenue for the year.Most other Wall Street analysts are more optimistic; WW has a Moderate Buy consensus and $29.25 price target, which represents 16% upside from today's level. (See WW International stock analysis on TipRanks).Related News: Beleaguered Hertz Sinks 36% In After-Market On Bankruptcy Protection Filing Facebook Invests An Eye-Watering $5.7B in India’s Jio Platforms Ryanair Cuts Traffic Target By Almost 50% For Coming Year, Seeks To Reduce Boeing Plane Deliveries More recent articles from Smarter Analyst: * AutoZone Surprises with Business as Usual Quarter * 3 "Strong Buy" Penny Stocks That Offer Massive Potential Gains * Logitech Shares Lifted In Pre-Market On Share Buyback Plan, 10% Dividend Boost * Billionaire Ackman Exits Berkshire Hathaway, Blackstone To Fund Opportunities

Mindy Grossman, WW CEO, joins Yahoo Finance to break down WW International's latest earnings report. Grossman also weighs in on what the health and wellness industry will look like following the coronavirus pandemic. She says 'health and wellness will no longer be a luxury going forward, but rather a necessity.'

WW International, Inc. (NASDAQ: WW), a global wellness company powered by the world's leading commercial weight management program, announced today that as part of its brand commitment to healthy living as a human right, the company pledges two million dollars to provide 10 million nutritious meals and three million pounds of fresh produce to those affected by the current issues of food insecurity. WW will donate the funds via its charitable platform, WW Good, directly to the charitable partners on the front lines of these efforts.

The coronavirus pandemic accelerated a wellness renaissance among consumers as shelter in place orders took effect, based on some of the sales trends seen by companies including Ro.

WW International Inc. said late Friday it plans to lay off workers and eliminate jobs worldwide as it tries to cut costs amid the economic devastation caused by the coronavirus pandemic. In a filing, the company formerly known as Weight Watchers said it expects to spend about $12 million in employee-termination payments and other expenses. WW said it expects to be done with the workforce cuts by the end of fiscal 2020. It did not detail how many people would lose their jobs or how many positions would be eliminated. WW shares fell 1.8% in the extended session Friday after ending the regular trading day up 2.2%. WW late last monthposted a narrower first-quarter loss and said it ended the three-month period with 9% more subscribers.

Shares of WW International Inc. rose nearly 10% in the extended session Tuesday after the company formerly known as Weight Watchers reported a narrower first-quarter loss and said it ended the three-month period with 9% more subscribers. WW said it lost $6.1 million, or 9 cents a share, in the quarter, compared with a loss of $11 million, or 16 cents a share, in the year-ago period. Sales rose 10% to $400 million, the company said. Analysts polled by FactSet had expected WW to post a GAAP and adjusted loss of 23 cents a share on sales of $400 million. The company said it ended first quarter with 5 million subscribers, a new first-quarter record and a 9% rise compared with the prior-year period. WW "took quick global coordinated action and pivoted to move all of our in-person group workshops, which serve about a quarter of our members, to a virtual platform, keeping the WW community connected no matter where they are," Chief Executive Mindy Grossman said in a statement. "We are accelerating our digital transformation," she said. The company withdrew its 2020 guidance due to the coronavirus pandemic.

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WW International shares moved higher Wednesday after Jefferies analysts upgraded the stock to Buy with a $32 price target.

Macro trends are favorable for WW International Inc (NASDAQ: WW), and its digital shift is likely to boost margins and capital returns, according to Jefferies.The WW International Analyst Stephanie Wissink initiated coverage of WW International with a Buy rating and $32 price target.The WW International Thesis The COVID-19 health crisis has unlocked a durable trend of making wellness a priority, which creates better growth prospects for WW International, Wissink said in a Tuesday initiation note. (See her track record here.)Established brands with modern platforms are well-positioned in today's environment, "given scale, resources to acquire & retain customer relationships, and to develop unique content & connected communities," the analyst said. WW International has reinvented itself, creating a new brand with a digital experience known as myWW, she said. With this, the company has expanded beyond diets, Wissink said. While the company previously addressed an $18-billion weight management market, its shift to overall wellbeing implies a target market of $300 billion, the analyst said. WW International faces a "multi-year growth trajectory" in subscriptions and revenue per user, she said. "We are intrigued by WW's position as an accessibly priced, leading digital solution for individuals who seek & will pay for an integrated wellness lifestyle platform."WW Price Action Shares of WW International were up 8.32% at $25.44 at the time of publication Wednesday.Related Links:108 Biggest Movers From YesterdayGoldman Sachs Projects Subscriber Growth For WW InternationalLatest Ratings for WW DateFirmActionFromTo May 2020JefferiesInitiates Coverage OnBuy Apr 2020DA DavidsonMaintainsBuy Apr 2020SunTrust Robinson HumphreyMaintainsHold View More Analyst Ratings for WW View the Latest Analyst Ratings See more from Benzinga * Wedbush Upgrades CarMax On Potential For Strong Post-Coronavirus Recovery * Tilray Investors Overreacted To A Good Q1 Print, Says Cantor Fitzgerald * ViacomCBS Subscription Numbers Make Barrington Bullish(C) 2020 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved.

What happened WW International (NASDAQ: WW), a global wellness company formerly known as Weight Watchers, jumped as much as 14% Wednesday after an analyst upgraded the stock, but gloomy comments from Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell brought the stock back down to earth.

Shares of WW International Inc. , formerly known as Weight Watchers, rose 0.2% in afternoon trading Friday, after Morgan Stanley upgraded the wellness and weight management company to overweight, citing optimism over the outlook after the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic eventually pass. Analyst Lauren Cassel said that while data suggests new subscriber growth has fallen "precipitously" over the past couple weeks, that weakness could be expected based on the "drastic" changes being made in consumers' lives, and initial feedback on WW's virtual workshops has been positive. And Cassel believes once the "cocoon" phase of the COVID-19-related consumer behavior ends, she sees WW as a potential beneficiary. Cassel expects a heightened focus on health, wellness and weight loss after weeks of gym closures, stress eating and limited physical activity. She believes "WW's value proposition is actually stronger post virus than it was before." The stock has gained 17% this week, after plunging 62% over the previous four weeks, In comparison, the S&P 500 was down 2.5% on Friday but up 11% on the week, after a four-week loss of 31%.