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Oprah helps Weight Watchers’ stock

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NEW YORK – Weight Watchers stock is gaining again, thanks to Oprah Winfrey’s weight loss.

The company’s shares soared Tuesday after a new commercial starring Winfrey aired. On it, she said she lost 26 pounds on Weight Watchers.

Winfrey said during an appearance on “The Ellen DeGeneres Show” she started on the plan in August.

She bought a 10 percent stake in the weight-loss company in October, and its stock is up more than 90 percent since then. Winfrey is a natural fit for the company: Her struggle with weight was a frequent topic of her former talk show.

“I love bread!” she says in the new commercial. “That’s the genius of this program. I lost 26 pounds and I have eaten bread every single day.”

Winfrey posted the ad online Tuesday to her nearly 31 million Twitter followers.

Weight Watchers also made changes to its plans recently to better fit in with Winfrey’s message of living a healthy and happier life, and not just focusing on weight loss.

Shares of New York-based Weight Watchers International Inc. rose 21 percent to $13.44 in afternoon trading. But they were still down about 21 percent from a year ago.

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