Nu Skin Enterprises Inc.

Nu Skin Enterprises Inc. (NUS - Snapshot Report) is proving that even a global recession can't keep people from wanting to look young. Earnings are expected to grow by 32.9% in 2010 on the strength of its anti-aging skin care systems.

Nu Skin Enterprises is a direct selling business with three brands including Nu Skin personal skin care line called ageLoc, and Pharmanex. The company operates in 48 markets around the globe and has 750,000 independent sales representatives.

Nu Skin Posts Record Second Quarter

On July 28, Nu Skin Enterprises reported second quarter results which surprised on the Zacks Consensus by 8.7%. Earnings per share were 50 cents compared to the consensus of 46 cents. It was the third beat in the last four quarters.

Revenue jumped 20% to $388.4 million driven by Asia. North Asia saw sales rise 12% to $164.1 million over the second quarter of 2009.

Greater China surged 53% to $80.6 million and was especially boosted by a 162% gain in Hong Kong due to the introduction of the ageLoc Transformation System at the Greater China convention. The number of active distributors increased by 11%.

South Asia/Pacific was also strong, rising 60% to $45.9 million.

Raised Full Year Guidance

The first half of the year was much stronger than the company anticipated, especially in the Asian markets.

It raised its full year earnings per share guidance to the range of $1.90 to $1.96 from $1.47 to $1.49.

Third quarter earnings per share are expected to be in the range of 45 to 48 cents.

Zacks Consensus Estimates Jump

Obviously, given the guidance and the record quarter, the estimates have all surged.

The third quarter consensus jumped to the high range of the guidance, to 48 cents.

The 2010 Zacks Consensus climbed past the current guidance, gaining 8 cents to $1.97 per share.

Nu Skin is a Zacks #2 Rank (buy) stock.

Income

Nu Skin pays a dividend currently yielding 1.9% which is higher than its industry which pays, on average, nothing.

Tracey Ryniec is the Value Stock Strategist for Zacks.com. She is also the Editor in charge of the market-beating Zacks Value Trader service. You can follow her at twitter.com/traceyryniec.

Read the full analyst report on NUS