Author name: John LaRosa

November 2015 – The American Society for Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery (ASMBS) and groups including The Obesity Society (TOS) and Academy for Nutrition and Dietetics (AND), filed a complaint with U.S. Health and Human Services (HHS) claiming the 27 states that deny coverage for bariatric surgery are in non-compliance with the Affordable Care Act (ACA) […]

March 10, 2016 — Medifast reported financial results, and management changes. Year – 2015 For the fiscal year ended December 31, 2015, Medifast net revenue was $272.8 million as compared to net revenue of $285.3 million in 2014.  Take Shape For Life accounted for approximately 74.1% of net revenue, Medifast Direct accounted for 17.8%, Medifast

Feb. 26, 2016 – The company reported that 2015 revenues declined 16.3% to $1.16 billion, a huge drop. Fiscal 2015 net income was $32.9 million versus $117.8 million in the prior year. The firm has benefited from Oprah Winfrey’s investment and her being a new ad spokesperson, but not to the degree many were expecting.

Feb. 25, 2015 – NutriSystem reported strong results again for the year–a combination of increased revenues per client and longer length of stay, coupled with moderate price increases. The company also continues to innovate via new products and programs such as the Turbo 10 plan and Shake 360. Despite this, the market battered its stock

Dec. 18, 2015 – Nutrisystem (NTRI) announced that it has acquired the South Beach Diet brand from SBD Holdings Group Corp., for $15 million. Nutrisystem has also entered into an agreement with the South Beach Diet founder, Dr. Arthur Agatston, who will join the Nutrisystem Science Advisory Board. During 2016, in addition to growing its core

Dec. 18, 2015 –  Humana confirmed a 40% increase in monthly enrollment of its program with Weight Watchers for October, the same month Oprah Winfrey announced she was taking a 10% stake and Weight Watchers’ shares soared. “We did see an enrollment spike in our Weight Watchers program in October,” Humana spokesman Jeff Blunt said. “It’s

Dec. 7, 2015 – Weight Watchers today launched its new Beyond The Scale program, getting an early jump on the new diet season. This is about a week or two earlier than last year’s diet season launch. According to the firm’s press release, the new program includes: New SmartPoints™ plan to make healthy eating simple:

Nov. 13, 2015 – According to a new report by the CDC,  for the past several years, experts thought the nation’s long-term rise in obesity had leveled off. But the CDC said that the obesity rate has climbed to nearly 38% of adults, up from 32% about a decade earlier. Experts said they had no explanation

Nov. 5, 2015 – Despite all the hype over the Oprah deal, one should remember that revenues and paid weeks are still declining significantly. Q3 2015 revenues were $273.3 million, down 20.8% (15.6% on a constant currency basis) vs. the prior year period, with total paid weeks down 15.7%. Q3 2015 net income was $21.8 million versus

Oct. 28, 2015 — Company results beat Wall Street expectations. NutriSystem posted revenue of $104.9 million in the period, up 16% vs. last year. For the 4th quarter ending in December, Nutrisystem said it expects revenue in the range of $86.6 million to $91.6 million. The company expects full-year earnings to be 91 cents to 96 cents