Shares of WW International (NASDAQ:WW) have reversed Thursday’s after-hours gains as guarded remarks from the company’s CEO pertaining to the company’s debt burden and the lingering shortage of GLP-1 medications took some of the wind out of Q4 results.
In the reported quarter, WW International (NASDAQ:WW), more commonly known as WeightWatchers, saw a 10.5% drop in revenue as double-digit revenue gains in its Clinical business helped dent losses in its traditional weight loss programs and contributed to a profit for the quarter.
During the company’s earnings call, however, CEO Tara Comonte acknowledged that the availability of weight loss drugs has created a “challenging period of transition for the business, which continues to be evidenced in our fourth quarter revenue.”
Noting that 2025 is “ultimately a year of significant reset,” the transformation of WeightWatchers will take time and investments. Comonte conceded that the company’s $100M of annual interest payments “is a significant ongoing burden for the company, not least in this period of necessary speed and innovation.”
“The benefit of our capital-light, high gross margin, cash-generative subscription model that underpins our business is almost fully offset by the strain and cost of our balance sheet,” Comonte cautions.
This was echoed by CFO Felicia DellaFortuna who admitted that the current leverage and interest payment burden “places a significant challenge around our ability to invest in the level we otherwise would in future growth initiatives.”
Shares closed nearly 21% lower, ending the week in the red for an eighth consecutive week.
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