Herbalife reported fourth-quarter profits that beat expectations — while raising its earnings forecast for this year — but shares dipped in after-hours trading.
The Los Angeles distributor of nutritional products and weight-loss shakes is the focus of a bruising battle between hedge-fund billionaires Carl Icahn and Bill Ackman.
Ackman on Dec. 19 called Herbalife, a multilevel marketing company, a pyramid scheme and made a $1 billion short bet against it. The company denies the charge.
Icahn this month disclosed a 13 percent stake in the company, saying Ackman’s theory is totally wrong.
The battle has commanded Wall Street’s attention because of the size and certainty of each hedgie’s bet, and the fact that there is no love lost between the two.
In reporting a 12 percent rise in profits, Herbalife acknowledged that the Securities and Exchange Commission requested information on its business, and that it was responding to those requests.