WeightWatchers (WW International) Stock Is Gaining: What's Going On?

WW International Inc WW shares are soaring Tuesday after Goldman Sachs upgraded the stock and raised its price target well above current levels.

What Happened: Goldman Sachs analyst Jason English upgraded WeightWatchers from Neutral to Buy and raised the price target from $3.80 to $13, citing the company's new obesity drug on-ramp solution. 

Following the company's acquisition of Sequence, WeightWatchers is set to begin offering a pharmaceutical based clinical subscription service. Goldman believes the new offering will lead to increased demand. 

From Last Month: WeightWatchers Analyst Expects Stock To Slim Down After Gaining 80% On Telehealth Takeover

English noted that if WW can grab just 3% of the total addressable market in the U.S., it could add $2 to the company's bottom line.

"We do not believe this potential is adequately captured in consensus estimates or the stock price," the Goldman analyst wrote in a new note to clients.

The $13 price target suggests more than 100% upside from current levels, even with shares up nearly 50% in Tuesday's session. 

The stock is moving on abnormally-high volume. WW's average session volume over a 100-day period is about 4 million. Tuesday's trading volume has already exceeded 23.5 million at the time of writing. 

WW was the top trending ticker on Stocktwits at last check and several retail traders are pointing to high short interest in the name. According to Benzinga Pro, 17.55% of the float is currently sold short, which could be helping to fuel Tuesday's strong move.

WW Price Action: WeightWatchers has a 52-week high of $11.03 and a 52-week low of $3.28.

The stock was up 45.2% at $5.98 at time of publication, per Benzinga Pro.

Photo: Mike Mozart from Flickr.