WeightWatchers guzzles wonder weight-loss pills
WW, formerly known as WeightWatchers, is using the new diet drugs in its programmes.


Shares in diet group WW (formerly WeightWatchers) climbed by 7% recently after US television personality Oprah Winfrey, a board member and one its largest investors, said she was taking weight-loss medication as a “maintenance tool”, says Erich Schwartzel in The Wall Street Journal.
Her statement introduces “star wattage” to the debate about weight-loss drugs that have “rocked the pharmaceutical, food and diet industries since their widespread adoption”. Her comments come as the company has begun its long-awaited shift to incorporate such prescriptions alongside its... “iconic count-your-points eating plan”, in the hope it will help WeightWatchers stock “reverse a steep, years-long decline”.
WW’s change of plan is a “significant shift” for a company that has long focused on “behaviour-based strategies” such as alterations in diet and exercise, counting calories and “relying on a community of support”, says Alice Park for Time magazine. The shift began in 2018 when it ditched the WeightWatchers name to emphasise “wellness”.
MoneyWeek
Subscribe to MoneyWeek today and get your first six magazine issues absolutely FREE

Sign up to Money Morning
Don't miss the latest investment and personal finances news, market analysis, plus money-saving tips with our free twice-daily newsletter
Don't miss the latest investment and personal finances news, market analysis, plus money-saving tips with our free twice-daily newsletter
In 2023 it bought digital health company Sequence, and will now, for an extra $99 a month, offer members digital consultations allowing them to get prescriptions for weight-loss drugs such as semaglutide (Ozempic and Wegovy) and Eli Lilly's tirzepatide (Zepbound). They have proven to be “more effective than any previous weight-loss drugs”. The decision to build a business “around pushing pharmaceuticals” is a clever way to embrace the threat of drugs that might otherwise make WW seem “obsolete”, says Lauren Silva Laughlin on Breakingviews.
Early results seem to suggest it is working, with the number of clinical subscribers at WW jumping far more quickly than expected while latching on to the hype surrounding Wegovy has given the stock a fillip of 60%.
While giving their customers an easier path to a drug in short supply gives WW an “edge”, the key will be “whether WW can break out of the familiar cycle of customers ambitiously signing up for weight-loss programmes, only to fail and drop their subscriptions”. The Wegovy boom has also been good news for its manufacturer Novo Nordisk, say Jonas Ekblom and Lisa Pham on Bloomberg. The stock has risen by 42% this year as investors “latched on to the growth potential of a market that some analysts predict could reach $100bn by 2030”. However, while this surge has “pushed the Danish firm’s value past the size of its domestic economy”, repeating the trick “won’t be so easy” thanks to “rising competition, issues with producing enough of its blockbuster drugs, and a valuation that’s getting stretched”. In addition to Eli Lilly’s Zepbound, cheaper than Wegovy, drugs from Zealand Pharma as well as Amgen are on the horizon.
This article was first published in MoneyWeek's magazine. Enjoy exclusive early access to news, opinion and analysis from our team of financial experts with a MoneyWeek subscription.
Get the latest financial news, insights and expert analysis from our award-winning MoneyWeek team, to help you understand what really matters when it comes to your finances.

Matthew graduated from the University of Durham in 2004; he then gained an MSc, followed by a PhD at the London School of Economics.
He has previously written for a wide range of publications, including the Guardian and the Economist, and also helped to run a newsletter on terrorism. He has spent time at Lehman Brothers, Citigroup and the consultancy Lombard Street Research.
Matthew is the author of Superinvestors: Lessons from the greatest investors in history, published by Harriman House, which has been translated into several languages. His second book, Investing Explained: The Accessible Guide to Building an Investment Portfolio, is published by Kogan Page.
As senior writer, he writes the shares and politics & economics pages, as well as weekly Blowing It and Great Frauds in History columns He also writes a fortnightly reviews page and trading tips, as well as regular cover stories and multi-page investment focus features.
Follow Matthew on Twitter: @DrMatthewPartri
-
HMRC confirms crypto ETN ISA rules
With crypto ETNs now technically available for UK retail investors, HMRC has confirmed they can be held in an ISA – but there’s a complication
-
Pensioners targeted in fine wine scams – the tactics to watch for
Wine has emerged as the latest lure in investment fraud, with pensioners being specifically targeted by scammers
-
Pierre-Édouard Stérin wants to make France great again
Conservative billionaire Pierre-Édouard Stérin is seeking to lead a political and spiritual renaissance across the Channel. The planning looks meticulous
-
Global investors have overlooked the top innovators in emerging markets
Opinion Carlos Hardenberg, portfolio manager, Mobius Investment Trust, highlights three emerging market stocks where he’d put his money
-
Pinewood Technologies: a drive for growth
Pinewood Technologies’ platform is one of the best in the business. Investors should buy in
-
'EV maker Faraday Future will crash'
Faraday Future Intelligent Electric is failing dismally to live up to its name, says Matthew Partridge
-
Investors should cheer the coming nuclear summer
The US and UK have agreed a groundbreaking deal on nuclear power, and the sector is seeing a surge in interest from around the world. Here's how you can profit
-
8 of the best houses for sale with follies
The best houses for sale with follies in the grounds – from a five-storey Victorian Gothic tower in Tonbridge, Kent, to a former mill in Oxfordshire with gardens that include a folly on an island in a lake
-
A tale of two Reits – why performance matters for valuation
AEW UK and Regional are two Reits that are valued very differently, despite a shared focus on properties outside London
-
Healthcare stocks look cheap, but tread carefully
Shares in healthcare companies could get a shot in the arm if uncertainty over policy in the US wanes, but are they worth the risk?