• by Thom Forbes , May 5, 2016

In the yo-yo world of Weight Watchers International, up is good — at least when it comes to “subscriber” numbers. And when it got on the Q1 scales for analysts yesterday, it was able to show a global gain of 4.8%, fueled by an 11.2% increase in North America, year over year.

You may immediately jump to the conclusion that the Oprah Effect has a lot to do with it — and it no doubt does — but there was nary a reference to the popular talk-show host and impresario who acquired 10% of the company and joined its board in October in the release announcing the results. Credit the new regimen instead, it suggests.

“Leveraging the success of our new Beyond the Scale program, we expect to deliver revenue and profit growth for the full year 2016 and we are raising our earnings guidance to a range of $0.80 to $1.05 per share,” says president and CEO Jim Chambers. “Our first quarter loss was smaller than we expected, and for the first time since 2012 we grew our total subscribers year-over-year, clearly demonstrating that our business is turning around.”

Total attendance was up 5.8% to 9.6 million. The effect on the stock price, and headlines, was dramatic.

“Weight Watchers Shares Lose Most Of Last Year's ‘Oprah Effect,’” CNBC told us before the earnings report came out. “The shares have lost 55% of their value since peaking in the fall following billionaire Oprah Winfrey's partnership with the weight-loss company. The stock was down more than 1% Wednesday, following a nearly 5% drop on Tuesday,” Jeff Daniels reported.

Moneysaid, “The ‘Oprah Effect’ Isn’t Helping Weight Watchers Anymore,” with Martha C. White writing, “Oprah hasn’t been much help to the weight loss company, even though the stock price rose more than 20% back in January after she said had lost 26 pounds using Weight Watchers.”

Well, that all changed as quickly as the steps measured by a Fitbit.

“Oprah's Magic Returns To Weight Watchers’ Stock,” says the New York Post. “Weight Watchers Surges After Oprah Helps Company Add Subscribers,” says Bloomberg. 

“Shares of Weight Watchers surged 17% higher in after-hours trading Wednesday,” reports Brian Sozzi for The Street.com after a two-word lede: “Thanks, Oprah.”

Indeed, Oprah’s presence in the resurgence looms large even if her name is not mentioned in the press release.

“The launch of Beyond the Scale has been amplified by Oprah's involvement with our company, particularly in the United States, Canada and Australia,” CEO Chambers says in a transcript of the company’s Q1 earnings call on Seeking Alpha. “Our Winter TV campaign in the U.S. and several other markets highlighted Oprah's Come Join Me invitation, which brought waves of renewed interest in our brand. In addition, Oprah's been engaged with her fellow members in the Weight Watchers community sharing her experiences through mega-conference calls, emails and by posting on Connect,” the social network in the Weight Watchers app.  

Chambers also points to Oprah popping in unannounced at a meeting in New York City recently. “If you haven't seen the Facebook live video, which had 1 million views within 24 hours of the meeting, I recommend it to see the genuine reactions of our members and the energy and welcoming spirit of our meeting rooms,” Chamber says.

If you didn’t see the video, perhaps you read about it in People or the dozens of other publications that covered the surprise visit in retrospect.

Then there’s the spring marketing campaign that launched in the U.S. on April 2 that’s “off to a strong start,” Chambers says, not to mention the “referral campaign, where current members who encourage others to join them at Weight Watchers have the chance to win a luxury retreat in California, joined by Oprah,” that kicked off this week.

“This is evidence that consumer momentum is proven, and that the transformation is working,” Chambers tells the Wall Street Journal’s Ellen Byron in an interview, saying the lower subscriber numbers in Europe are due to lower awareness of the new program.

“He shrugged off concerns that Ms. Winfrey’s image resonated less with foreign audiences. ‘Oprah is a global brand,’ he said.”

A global brand who is 30 pounds slimmer since she got with the program, it must be noted.