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Weight Watchers shares spike after earnings beat

Oprah Winfrey
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Shares of Weight Watchers International briefly spiked more than 18 percent in extended trade Tuesday, after the company reported earnings that beat expectations.

The New York-based company reported quarterly earnings of 20 cents per share, topping a Thomson Reuters consensus estimate of 18 cents. Weight Watchers also reported revenue of $267 million, up 3 percent from one year ago but missing a $274 million Reuters consensus estimate.

"We delivered positive member recruitment growth in every quarter of 2016, ending the year with 10 percent more subscribers than the prior year," CFO Nick Hotchkin said in the earnings release.

The stock later pared its initial gains, but was still trading up more than 8 percent after hours.

Weight Watchers also announced Tuesday that its Spanish subsidiary, "Entulinea," has been "unable to reach profitability," so it will cease operations.

The diet company has benefited from the help of billionaire Oprah Winfrey, who has taken a more active leadership role as of late, appearing in more marketing materials for Weight Watchers and promoting her own weight loss progress.

Shares of Weight Watchers are up more than 25 percent for the year so far and up over 30 percent for the past 12 months.

Weight Watchers year-to-date performance

Source: FactSet