Herbalife Ltd. Beats Earnings Estimates

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Herbalife Ltd. (NYSE:HLF) released its fourth quarter earnings report after closing bell tonight, posting adjusted earnings of $1.19 per share an $1.1 billion in revenue, against the consensus estimates of 94 cents per share and $1.06 billion. The multi-level marketing firm said the result beat the high end of guidance at $1 per share.

Herbalife reports strong growth

Reported earnings were 98 cents per share for the fourth quarter, compared to $1.21 per share for the fourth quarter of 2014. The company said currency fluctuations negatively impacted its fourth quarter net income by $26 million and its reported earnings by 30.2 cents per share.

Herbalife said total volume points in the fourth quarter climbed 5% year over year, which beat management’s previously provided guidance. Net sales grew 9.7% in local currencies year over year for the fourth quarter and 4.7% for the full year. Overall, net sales fell 3.1% in the fourth quarter due mostly to currency headwinds.

The number of sales leaders qualifying through the new 4K cumulative method Herbalife recently adopted climbed to 76% for 2015, compared to 48% in 2014. The number of active sales leaders grew 5% year over year, while the sales leader retention rate for the full year was 54.2%. Herbalife also recorded an increase in new orders per month, which climbed from 2.1 million in 2014 to 2.2 million in 2015.

Herbalife updates guidance

Herbalife management also updated their full-year guidance. They project adjusted earnings of $4.05 to $4.50 per share, which is light of the consensus at $4.56 per share. The previous guidance was $4.35 to $4.75 per share. Management said the new guide reflects currency headwinds of 80 cents per share compared to last year. On a currency-adjusted basis, they expect earnings for the full year to come in between $4.85 and $5.30 per share. They left their full-year guide for volume points unchanged at between a 1.5% and 4.5% growth rate year over year.

For the first quarter, they expect adjusted earnings of 97 cents to $1.07 per share, including a currency headwind of 27 cents per share compared to last year’s fourth quarter.

Herbalife shares rose by as much as 2.71% to $47 in after-hours trades following tonight’s results.

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