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WW International, Inc.
5/7/2026
Good day and welcome to the Weight Watchers first quarter 2026 earnings conference call. All participants will be in listen only mode. Should you need assistance, please signal a conference specialist by pressing the star key followed by zero. After today's presentation, there will be an opportunity to ask questions. To ask a question, you may press star then one on a touch tone phone. To withdraw your question, please press star then two. Please note this event is being recorded. I would now like to turn the conference over to David Helderman, Senior Director of Investor Relations. Please go ahead.
Thank you for joining us today for the Weight Watchers' first quarter 2026 earnings conference call. Earlier this morning, we released the shareholder letter and press release with our first quarter 2026 results, which are available on the company's corporate website located at corporate.ww.com. The purpose of this call is to provide investors with some further details regarding the company's financial results, as well as to provide a general update on the company's progress. Reconciliations of non-GAAP measures disclosed on this conference call to the most directly comparable GAAP financial measures are also available as part of the shareholder letter and press release. Before we begin, let me remind everyone that this call will contain forward-looking statements. Investors should be aware that any forward-looking statements are subject to various risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those discussed here today. These risk factors are explained in detail in the company's latest annual report on Form 10-K, quarterly report on Form 10-Q, the earnings release, the shareholder letter, and as updated by the company's other filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Please refer to these filings for a more detailed discussion of forward-looking statements and the risks and uncertainties of such statements. All forward-looking statements are made as of today and accept as required by law. The company undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise. Joining today's call are Felicia De La Fortuna, Chief Financial Officer, and John Volkmann, Chief Operations Officer. Both are members of the interim office of the chief executives.
Thanks, David, and thanks to all of you for joining. Before we get started, I encourage everyone to read our shareholder letter, which we posted on our corporate website earlier this morning. This letter shares our progress as well as key financial trends. Felicia will also provide more Colorado results later in the call. When we last spoke to you in mid-March, we laid out our Weight Watchers strategy to become the preferred destination for weight health in a GLT-1 era by integrating groundbreaking medical advances like GLT-1s with our time-tested behavioral and community programming. We remain confident that this approach can help Weight Watchers create better health outcomes for our members while driving higher lifetime value and return the company to profitable long-term growth. Before we discuss our business progress, We want to briefly acknowledge the recent transitions on the board. The board is committed to Weight Watchers transformation and long-term success. And over the past month, the board has welcomed three highly qualified independent directors who bring valuable expertise in transformation, healthcare, and GLT-1 market dynamics. Felicia and I, along with the board, are fully focused on executing our strategic plan so we can capture the significant opportunity before us. It's an opportunity that continues to grow. Through the first three months of 2026, demand for GLT-1s has accelerated with the launch of oral versions. We've also seen employers, payers, and governments increasingly looking to drive tangible health benefits, economic outcomes, and returns on investment that come with these new medications. Our industry has never changed faster or drawn more interest than today. These medications are an important part of our sector's future. which is why we have expanded our clinical capabilities to meet consumer demand and offer our members the best tools available. But even as GLP-1 adoption grows and benefits become clearer, a growing body of evidence is also illustrating that many people are not staying on GLP-1s long-term and that absent other interventions, patients are likely to regain weight after discontinuing treatment. Comprehensive care models and support systems like ours that go beyond the prescription are critical to maximizing the potential of GLV-1s going forward. As the global leader in sustainable science-backed weight management for more than 60 years, Weight Watchers is perfectly positioned to meet this need. Our unique portfolio of weight health offerings enables members to choose the right level of support for wherever they are on their weight loss journey, with or without medications. The data continues to back our approach. At 12 months, MedPLUS members who engaged regularly with our GLT-1 success program lost 29.1% more body weight on average than those who did not engage in structured behavioral support. That is a massive competitive advantage, and we're committed to seizing this opportunity by continuing to transform our company for the future. But as our members know well, transformations require time and discipline. We are in the early stages of a multi-year reinvention that will require a sustainable approach. That is why, as we continue to shift our legacy business to address market realities, we are committed to finding consistent, incremental wins that facilitate our long-term ambitions. During Q1, we drove many of those wins through our MedPlus tier. This higher-value membership integrates premium clinical capabilities with the proven community solutions and behavioral tools that have driven results for Weight Watchers members over the last six decades. Clinical subscription revenue and end-of-period clinical subscribers grew 32% and 46% year-over-year, respectively, despite lapping our former compounded semi-glutide offering, which demonstrates our growing strength in this increasingly important vertical. Our clinical capabilities are making inroads with existing members and prospective new members. During Q1, we saw more than 20,000 existing behavioral members upgrade to clinical, which has an ARPU over four times greater than our behavioral offering. This mobility within our ecosystem speaks to the benefits of our tiered service approach and demonstrates how our portfolio of products can drive higher lifetime value. At a time when compounded medications are facing increased scrutiny, we continue to expand access to FDA-approved medications, including oral versions, which are growing the total addressable market for GLP-1s and becoming increasingly affordable for our members. This progress in our clinical business comes as our behavioral business continues to face headwinds. We are focused on stabilizing our behavioral business by recalibrating marketing spend across our portfolio facilitating seamless navigation of members across our ecosystem and continuing to enhance our coaching, community, and medically tailored support programs, all of which are available through our Core Plus tier. We are encouraged by the return to growth of Core Plus, which ended Q1 with 537,000 subscribers, representing a 6% year-over-year increase. This higher value offering doubles down in our community, which continues to be at the heart of the Weight Watchers experience. Our virtual workshop experiences are expanding, including sessions led by registered dietitians and physicians, and classes tailored to GLT1 users and members experiencing menopause. Members are responding. In Q1, virtual workshop attendance among Core Plus members in the U.S. increased nearly 40% year over year, with increases in members participating in multiple meetings per week as well. In addition to driving engagement, these workshops are also converting subscribers to higher value memberships. As we strategically offer complementary virtual experiences to Core members, we found that those who attend are three to four times more likely to upgrade to Core Plus. which has an ARPU nearly two times greater than our core tier. In Q1, nearly 20% of Core Plus signups were upgrades from Core. Core Plus also includes our GLT-1 Success and Menopause programs, two medically adjacent offerings tailored to the needs of our members. As the weight health industry embraces medical advances, these programs illustrate how Weight Watchers can combine our tried and true behavioral methods with new evidence-based approaches that drive better results. The future of our industry will be defined by the intersection of scientific innovation, behavioral programming, and human support, and no company is better prepared to operate at that intersection than Weight Watchers. We have an unparalleled track record of helping our members live healthier, happier lives, as well as the plan and the team to return this global brand to long-term growth. As we continue to transform Weight Watchers to prepare for what's next, we believe that 2026 will be an important inflection year that unlocks the potential for sustainable value creation. With that, I'll turn it over to Felicia to cover the financials.
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