All right time.
Now for our stock of the week, we are recapping a big week for W W International,
also known as Weight Washers.
After a major acquisition,
the weight management company,
moving into the hot market for diet and weight loss drugs,
buying digital health companies sequence a subscription service for
telehealth visits with doctors who can prescribe drugs.
Like those epic
the buzzy diabetes drug that many Americans have started using to lose weight
and with A V which is intended for those with obesity related health problems.
While both drugs suppressing the appetite and the deal worth some $132
million also gives W W users access to fitness instructors and dieticians.
The deal positioning W W and the obesity drug prescription business at
a time when drugs like those m pick are soaring in demand.
Prescriptions from LEGO V jumping a whopping 732% in
January from February from the same time last year.
While those epic prescriptions jumped 273%.
The obesity drug market could reach 54 billion by 2030
up from 2.4 billion in 2022 according to Morgan Stanley,
but there are so many unknowns and even
some concern from medical professionals about drugs,
Lycos epic, which can have some serious side effects.
W w saying these drugs shouldn't be used for crash
dieting but used alongside w w eating and exercise plans.
So far,
the medical can community split on whether patients are at a
high risk of becoming overly reliant on weight loss drugs.
Some including an obesity expert at Massachusetts General Hospital saying
the drugs can actually be the catalyst that people need
to push them into healthier lifestyles and habits. So two sides of the aisle here,
I've been looking at shares of W w it's had a rough few years,
the stock trading at over $100.05 years ago,
but it has been on a downward trend since then.
You see down 94% in the past five years continue to see major losses as inflation hit
Americans these past 12 months or so causing
people to cut out extra services and subscriptions.
Well, the stock seen slight gains this week on the deal.
We'll see if w w can see some tangible benefits in the coming months.
Um from this new direction for the business, the stock is up 7%
these past five days. We did see that big pop on Tuesday.
But because the stock is priced so low, you saw there just a little over $4 a share.
Um any kind of small movement in the overall share price does
lead to a larger outsized percentage gain in this particular case.
So we'll be watching that story and of course, that stock in the week ahead.