WW International could be in for big gains ahead, according to Morgan Stanley. The bank upgraded the company formerly known as Weight Watchers to overweight from equal weight. It also raised its price target to $13 per share from $5. The new forecast implies upside of 31% over the next 12 months. Shares of WW International popped more than 7% in the premarket. Year to date, the stock is more than 150%. WW YTD mountain WW in 2023 Analyst Lauren Schenk said the company will benefit from its acquisition of Sequence, which gives WW International exposure to weight loss drugs. Sequence connects patients and doctors for the service to obtain GLP-1 obesity drugs. “We believe Sequence share gains can continue as WW ramps its integration plans and markets to the estimated ~6M current and lapsed WW subscribers that qualify for GLP-1s,” Schenk said. Schenk thinks the acquisition will help driver users to the Weight Watchers platform, which could bring the company to $300 million in revenue in 2025, she said. “We increase our base case Sequence estimates and now project ~250K subscribers generating ~$300M/$50M in revenue/EBITDA in FY25 … implying Sequence grows to be > 20% of consolidated EBITDA in just 3 years,” she said. WW International announced in March its Sequence acquisition for $106 million. The deal was completed in April. — CNBC’s Michael Bloom contributed to this report.
