Jefferies Comments on Herbalife's (NYSE: HLF) Strong Q2 Results

Jefferies is reiterating its Buy rating and $68 price target on shares of Herbalife (NYSE: HLF) following another quarter that was reported ahead of expectations.

The company released its Q2 results with EPS of $0.88, up 35 percent year-over-year and beat the firms forecast by $0.13. Guidance was set at $0.71-$0.74. Sales for the quarter rose 27.7 percent to $879.7 million and was ahead of the firms estimate of 21.6 percent growth. Guidance was set at 19-21 percent growth.

Sales growth was due to strong demand in South and Central America with +57 percent growth and Mexico which experienced +41 percent growth. China was the only region not to grow double digits.

Operating income increased 31.6 percent to $153.2 million, topping the firms estimate of $131.5 million.

Management raised its FY11 EPS guidance $2.77-$2.89 to $2.97-$3.07 and its sales guidance from 18-20 percent growth to 22-24 percent growth. Volumes growth was also increased from 12-14 percent to 15-17 percent.

For Q3, the company is forecasting EPS of $0.71-$0.76 and sales growth of 21-23 percent, with volumes expected to grow 13-15 percent.

For more ratings news on Herbalife click here and for the rating history of Herbalife click here.

Shares of Herbalife closed at $55.54 yesterday.

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