Investopedia: More Yo-Yo'ing At Weight Watchers

Weight Watchers (NYSE:WTW) is one of those oddly volatile stocks. Although the company's inconsistent attendance history and highly levered balance sheet no doubt explain some of it, it is curious that this is a Wall Street plaything. With the company offering disappointing guidance on attendance, it looks like this earnings cycle is just feeding that volatility engine once again. (To know more about analyzing a business, read How To Evaluate A Company's Balance Sheet.)

Good Performance All Around  
Weight Watcher's third quarter was actually pretty strong in many respects. Revenue was up almost 30% as reported, and more than 26% on a constant currency basis. Paid weeks rose 38% and overall attendance was up 9%. North America was strong - revenue was up almost 25%, paid weeks were up almost 26% and attendance jumped more than 13% (though was up just about 5% on a rolling two-year basis). International was not so strong - revenue was up just 7% in constant currency and attendance growth barely surpassed 1%.

To read the full article, please follow this link:
http://stocks.investopedia.com/stock-analysis/2011/More-Yo-Yoing-At-Weight-Watchers-WTW-HLF-USNA-NUS-MED-NTRI-VVUS-NSRGY-MED-ARNA1109.aspx

Seeking Alpha: Little Wrong With Herbalife Other Than Its Valuation

The devil's bargain between Wall Street and growth stocks goes a little something like this: “You give us exactly the growth we expect or more (but never less!) and we'll support extreme valuations that your cash flow probably can't support”. There's also an “or else” attached – if a company disappoints even slightly, there's an outsized price to pay.

Honestly, that's about the only context in which Herbalife (NYSE: HLF) is really disappointing anyone, and perhaps shareholders can count themselves lucky that the stock isn't down even worse against a backdrop of a pretty ugly tape.

More Growth In Q3

Herbalife's growth is almost hard to believe. Apparently there really is gold in guarana, protein shakes, and the other assorted supplements and “solutions” that the company offers through its army of over 2 million independent sellers.

To read the full piece at Seeking Alpha, click here:
Little Wrong With Herbalife Other Than Its Valuation