Ozempic, a GLP-1 drug, has gained popularity for aiding in weight loss. Oprah Winfrey, who is on the board of WW International (WW), formerly Weight Watchers, declined to use Ozempic when it was suggested to her before knee surgery, expressing her belief that taking the medication was "the easy way out."

Given Oprah's influential position, her remarks carry potential influence over people's perceptions. Interestingly, Weight Watchers has shown interest in entering the GLP-1 industry. In today's top stories, Yahoo Finance's reporter Anjalee Khemlani, Pras Subramanian, and Josh Schafer explore the future of GLP-1 drugs and whether the industry's current challenges may impact their continued relevance.

For more expert insight and the latest market action, click here to watch this full episode of Yahoo Finance Live.

Video Transcript

ANJALEE KHEMLANI: Of course, you know, we know how much of a big deal Ozempic has been, right, in mainstream. But I saw some interesting stock activity today for Weight Watchers after the one and only Oprah Winfrey just made a comment about her not wanting to basically take the drug when she needed to get knee surgery and then lose some weight for that reason. She said, quote, "If I take the drug, that's the easy way out." And she, you know, really opened up talking about how much shame she has faced and felt in her struggle to lose weight over the years. And I think that's pretty interesting considering she's on the board of Weight Watchers.

We saw that stock take a little bit of a dive on this news. And I don't know that it necessarily makes that big of an impact. We did see one of the analysts saying in a note, quote, "Oprah's comments should not be viewed as the nail in the coffin on GLP-1 drugs, but people do hear what she says."

So the question is, does this then start to symbolize what we see as a broader discussion of, you know, maybe people aren't going to be-- maybe it's not going to be that big a deal six months from now. I've been having this conversation with people. Obviously, you guys know I cover the health beat. So will GLP-1 drugs, will these weight loss drugs be as big a deal six months from now or is it going to be this passing fad once again in, like, weight loss world?

JOSH SCHAFER: Fascinating to me to see Oprah, who is-- I mean, obviously, Oprah is going to speak her mind because she is Oprah, right? But when you think about Weight Watchers, and her being on the board of Weight Watchers, and Weight Watchers' involvement in GLP-1 drugs this year and, kind of, finally taking that turn has meant for the stock. When you take a look at that stock year to date, you see a giant bump in May when they announced that they were going to start getting into that industry.