Will An Investment In Nu Skin Age Well?

iStockAnalyst:

Last year, the Nu Skin line accounted for about 55% of sales, and Pharmanex 43%. Over a longer period of time, the breakdown has been about 50/50. Nu Skin is truly a global company. Japan is its largest market at about 30% of sales. China accounts for about 18% of revenue, and both the U.S. and South Korea 15%.

You won’t find Nu Skin products in your local grocery store. This is a direct marketing (or “network marketing” or “multi-level marketing/MLM”) firm, with products only available through individual distributors. Most are probably familiar with Avon (AVP) or Amway, which have similar business models (and in some products are direct competitors to NUS). Individuals start their own Nu Skin distribution business, which can be expanded by recruiting new people to be distributors under them. Nu Skin has over 761,000 active distributors worldwide. While that figure has been pretty much flat over the past 3 years, the number of “executive distributors” has increased about 10%. Executive distributors are those that have built large networks and sales volumes.

While many (including myself) have been skeptical of MLM companies, a few things caught my eye on NUS. First, they do not pay recruitment bonuses – only commissions on sub-distributor sales. Second, the company’s culture is not focused on signing up new distributors at any cost. This limits the “churn and burn” aspect that is the major turn-off against more aggressive firms. Additionally, NUS averages a 42% commission payout on sales, one of the highest of any MLM.

Logo from Nu Skin

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