Weight Watchers stock soars as Oprah sheds pounds

Eat bread. Lose weight. Whaaatttt? #ComeJoinMe https://t.co/jUgpk9ToXY https://t.co/xtnB53EwSf

— Oprah Winfrey (@Oprah) January 26, 2016

Weight Watchers stock price is yo-yoing, just like the weight of its famous shareholder and pitchwoman, Oprah Winfrey.

The media mogul tweeted on Tuesday that she’s lost 26 pounds since she’s been on the diet, even boasting that she’s eaten bread every day.

“That’s the genius of this program,” she said in a video posted on Twitter.

Weight Watchers stock immediately spiked, closing up 20 percent, to $13.29.

In fact, most every time Winfrey updates the world on her weight loss, shares of the New York company jump.

To some, that would make Winfrey’s weight loss a special kind of insider information. The media mogul has to take care in how she shares information on every weigh-in, according to Morningstar analyst RJ Hottovy.

“Technically she can’t tell a private group of people about her weight loss before she makes it known to the public,” Hottovy said.

Also, one lawyer said Winfrey better have lost that weight she’s boasting about, because her statements are now a matter of securities law.

“If she said she lost weight and she didn’t, that would be fraud because she’s inducing people to purchase the stock,” said Linda Riefberg, a partner in the law firm Cozen O’Connor.