Herbalife Nutrition Ltd. HLF

The business

Herbalife sells weight-management shakes, protein powders, teas, and supplements through a multi-level distributor network across roughly 90 countries. Revenue is diversified geographically, with North America, Latin America (Mexico is the single largest country), EMEA, and Asia Pacific each contributing meaningful slices; no single region carries the franchise. The engine that matters is the distributor base: independent distributors and preferred customers who both consume the product and recruit the next layer. Distributor productivity, not shelf placement or advertising, drives the top line. FY25 revenue of $5.04B was up 0.9% versus FY24's $4.99B, a stabilization after years of gradual decline from the 2021 peak near $5.8B.

The qualitative fact the financials do not show: this is a business the FTC extracted a $200M settlement from in 2016 over deceptive earnings claims, that Bill Ackman spent five years and hundreds of millions shorting as a pyramid scheme, and that still carries structural questions about distributor economics. What has changed is the demographic mix and the channel: nutrition clubs (physical locations run by distributors) now anchor a meaningful share of volume in Latin America and among Hispanic communities in the US, giving the model a community-anchored retail feel that the older door-to-door MLM shape lacked. GLP-1 weight-loss drugs are the visible overhang; management's counter is that shakes complement rather than compete with pharmacotherapy. That thesis is unproven.