By McKinsleigh Smith
A prominent feature of the downtown Provo skyline, Nu Skin Enterprises is one of Provo’s largest employers and a frequent sponsor of community sporting and entertainment events. Publicly traded on the New York Stock Exchange as NUS, Nu Skin Enterprises Inc. operates Nu Skin and Rhyz Inc. As such, its economic health directly impacts the lives of Provo residents.
Nu Skin is a multilevel marketing company that develops and sells dietary and nutritional supplements, oils, and skin and beauty products under the Nu Skin and Pharmanex brands. It operates in 54 markets and has an affiliate network of 1.2 million “independent distributors.”
Rhyz is Nu Skin’s strategic investment arm and was formed in 2018. It is attempting to develop an economically sustainable ecosystem of consumer, technology, and manufacturing companies focused on innovation in the beauty and wellness space. This branch of the business was likely formed in response to the increasingly negative public perception of MLMs and declining revenue. For example, in 2014, the Chinese government investigated Nu Skin and fined them $540,000 due to their sales tactics.
In 2022, the company began an intense restructuring process and initiated layoffs. At the time, CEO Ryan Napierski said the company wanted to be recognized for the way it designs beauty and wellness products, and not for the way it sells them.
Unfortunately, third quarter results in 2023 were “softer than expected,” according to Nu Skin. The company brought in $498.8 million – $8.1 million less than the same quarter last year.
“Although we are disappointed in the third quarter results of our Nu Skin business, we are encouraged by stabilization and modest growth in three of our Nu Skin reporting segments, highlighted by double-digit gains in Europe/Africa,” said Napierski in a press release. “We are also pleased with accelerated growth of our Rhyz businesses as we lean further into our synergistic enterprise ecosystem.”
Despite these challenges, Nu Skin is still expecting to bring in $1.96 billion in revenue by the end of 2023, according to James D. Thomas, Nu Skin’s chief financial officer.
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