When Oprah Winfrey appeared in a new commercial saying that she lost 26 pounds in Weight Watchers, company shares of WW started soaring almost immediately. It seems that Oprah's loss is Weight Watchers' gain.
When she appeared in "The Ellen DeGeneres Show", Winfrey said she started on Weight Watchers plan in August, presumably in her effort to lose weight.
She is reported to have bought 10 percent stake in the company in October. Since then, the weight-loss company's stock has increased over 90 percent.
It seems Winfrey has helped the company increase its value considerably. In October, Weight Watchers International stocks were slumping for several years. When she announced in October that she would buy a 10 percent stake, the company's value soared right after.
The company also announced at that time that it is going beyond weight loss and is pursuing an overall focus on healthier and happier living.
Winfrey is just right for the company's business since she has constantly struggled with losing weight. It was the frequent subject on her previous 'Oprah' talk show.
It appears that the new commercial is effective since it appeals to people who are dealing with the same struggle of gaining weight because of too much eating.
"I love bread," says Winfrey in the advertisement. "That's the genius of this program. I lost 26 pounds and I have eaten bread every single day," she adds.
Winfrey unveiled her ad online to her Twitter followers of about 31 million Tuesday. Apparently, shares of the weigh-loss company increased 21 percent to $13.44 during the afternoon trading. However, WWI's stocks are still down around 21 percent from one year ago.
The gain, according to Marketwatch, was approximately $2 per share. That means Winfrey, who owns 6 million WWI shares, appears to have earned $12 million just one hour after her tweet appeared online.
