Shares of Nu Skin (NUS 0.57%) fell 20.7% on Thursday as weak forward guidance overshadowed a better-than-expected quarterly update from the personal care and dietary products company.
Nu Skin battles macro headwinds amid restructuring efforts
For its fourth quarter of 2023, Nu Skin's revenue declined 6% year over year to $488.6 million, translating to adjusted (non-GAAP) earnings of $0.37 per share. By comparison, most analysts were looking for significantly lower earnings of $0.28 per share on revenue of $477.8 million.
Still, Nu Skin CEO Ryan Napierski admitted the company's results were held back by "persistent macroeconomic pressures and disruptions associated with transforming our business."
Nu Skin previously laid off around 5% of its workforce after announcing extended restructuring initiatives in November 2023.
What's next for Nu Skin shareholders?
For the full-year 2024, Nu Skin issued guidance calling for revenue of $1.73 billion to $1.87 billion, or down 12% to 5% from 2023. That should translate to full-year 2024 adjusted earnings per share of $0.95 to $1.35. Both the top- and bottom-line outlook ranges were far below Wall Street's estimates for 2024 earnings of $2.05 per share on revenue of $2.01 billion.
In the end, Nu Skin's restructuring might well reposition the company for a return to sustained, profitable growth. But in this forward-looking market that hates being told to effectively hurry up and wait, it's no surprise to see Nu Skin stock now hovering near its 52-week low in response.
