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Weight Watchers International WW shares fell sharply Tuesday afternoon after reporting a third-quarter sales miss.

Earnings came in at 68 cents per share, beating estimates by 2 cents. Sales came in at $348.6 million, missing estimates by $4.12 million. Operating Income was $94.7 million compared to $118.9 million in the prior-year period. This decrease in operating income was primarily driven by operating deleverage on lower revenues in the quarter versus the prior-year period.

The company raised its 2019 earnings guidance from $1.55-$1.70 to $1.63-$1.75.

"As our strong marketing execution successfully recruited new members and retention continued to increase, we outperformed our expectations for subscriber growth, resulting in our highest-ever end of period subscribers in a third quarter," CEO Mindy Grossman said. "Next week, we will be launching our new program – our most customized yet – which we believe will have broad appeal among current, returning, and first-time members."

Highlights

• End of period subscribers of 4.4 million
• Subscribers increased 6% year-over-year
• Total paid weeks were up 3.7% year-over-year

Weight Watchers shares are down 12% to $33 in Tuesday's after-hours session. The stock closed the regular session higher by 3.79% at $37.51 per share.