Weight Watchers International, Inc. (NASDAQ:WW) reported upbeat earnings for its third quarter, while sales missed estimates.
Net revenues came in at $348.6 million, compared to $365.8 million. Net income registered $47.1 million, compared to $70.1 million.
End of Period subscribers in Q3 2019 were up 5.7% versus the prior year period. Q3 2019 End of Period Digital Subscribers were up 12.5% and End of Period Studio + Digital Subscribers were down 7.3% versus the prior year period.
Total Paid Weeks in Q3 2019 were up 3.7% versus the prior year period. Q3 2019 Digital Paid Weeks increased 10.8% and Studio + Digital Paid Weeks decreased 9.1% versus the prior year period.
According to CEO Mindy Grossman, "As our strong marketing execution successfully recruited new members and retention continued to increase, we outperformed our expectations for subscriber growth, resulting in our highest-ever end of period subscribers in a third quarter.
"Next week, we will be launching our new program – our most customized yet – which we believe will have broad appeal among current, returning, and first-time members.
"The new program, paired with our overall marketing strategy and community activations, including WW Presents Oprah’s 2020 Vision: Your Life in Focus tour, will serve as a strong foundation to accelerate subscriber growth in 2020 and deliver value to our members, employees and shareholders."
Cash balance as of September 28, 2019 was $239.2 million. On that same date, the Company had no outstanding borrowings under its $150 million revolving credit facility.
The Company is reiterating its full-year fiscal 2019 revenue guidance of at least $1.4 billion and raising its earnings guidance to between $1.63 and $1.75 per fully diluted share.
Shares faltered $7.51, or 20%, to $29.96 early Wednesday.
