Weight-loss drugs shook up the stock market. Menopause treatments could be next.

Dow Jones
Oct 16, 2025

MW Weight-loss drugs shook up the stock market. Menopause treatments could be next.

By James Rogers

Hims & Hers is taking aim at menopause and perimenopause in an attempt to tap in to a huge and potentially highly lucrative market

Hims & Hers is the latest company to take aim at perimenopause and menopause.

Shares of Hims & Hers Health Inc. were surging Wednesday after the telehealth company announced new treatment plans for women experiencing menopause and perimenopause.

Hims & Hers $(HIMS)$, which had previously gained notoriety for offering alternative GLP-1 weight-loss treatments, is now taking aim at this large and potentially highly lucrative market. The company's move comes a few months after rival WeightWatchers $(WW)$ did the same.

Each year, around 1.3 million women in the U.S. experience menopause, Hims & Hers said, but less than one-third of obstetrician-gynecologist residency programs provide formal menopause training. And according to the Society for Women's Health Research, an estimated 6,000 women reach menopause each day.

There is clearly a draw for companies looking to enter the market for menopause-related products and services. The Female Founders Fund, a seed-stage venture fund that invests exclusively in female-founded companies, estimates that menopause could be a $600 billion market. In a 2020 report, the fund cited a need for better products to cater for this stage of life and said that, on average, women spend $2,000 a year on treatments, devices, doctor's visits and products.

Hims & Hers' stock shot up 16.5% in afternoon trading, which would the volatile stock's biggest one-day gain in five months. The company's move didn't seen to bother investors in WeightWatchers parent WW International Inc.'s stock, which gained 4%.

Hims & Hers investors have been riding a roller coaster over the past year, as the company positioned itself the growing market for weight-loss drugs. The stock had soared from late 2024 into early 2025, as a shortage of prescription diabetes treatments and weight-loss drugs, such as Ozempic and Wegovy from Novo Nordisk A/S (NVO), and Zepbound and Mounjaro from Eli Lilly and Co. $(LLY)$, led the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to allow companies like Hims & Hers to sell alternate versions of those drugs.

When the shortages abated, Hims & Hers shares fell back to earth.

Then in late April, the company teamed up with Novo Nordisk to make obesity care more accessible and more affordable. But just two months later, the partnership ended, with Novo Nordisk saying Hims & Hers was selling "knockoff" versions of Wegovy.

On Wednesday, San Francisco-based Hims & Hers said that its personalized menopause and perimenopause treatment plans could include prescription medication in the form of a pill, patch or cream.

The hormone estradiol could also be used to alleviate menopause symptoms like hot flashes and night sweats, and progesterone could be used to protect the uterine lining and improve sleep quality. The treatment options are expected to launch next year.

In the statement announcing the plans, the company said that its Hers women's health business it is on track to surpass $1 billion in annual revenue in 2026, which would represent roughly 36% of the average analyst estimate of total revenue of $2.8 billion, according to FactSet.

Hims & Hers shares have powered up 160.2% in 2025, outpacing the S&P 500 index's SPX gain of 13.6%.

-James Rogers

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(END) Dow Jones Newswires

October 15, 2025 15:17 ET (19:17 GMT)

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