(By Balachander) Herbalife Ltd. (NYSE: HLF) shares climbed in Wednesday trading after Daniel Loeb's Third Point disclosed a 8 percent stake in the nutritional supplements company.
Activist investor Loeb acquired 8.9 million HLF shares or 8.24 percent, a day before Herbalife hosts an analyst and investor meeting to respond to allegations by Pershing Square's Bill Ackman who had said the company is a pyramid scheme.
Late last month, shares of the company fell sharply after Ackman disclosed he is shorting the stock. The company said it has been informed that Ackman has shorted its stock for the past 7 to 9 months and that the stock dropped almost 15 percent following Ackman's announcement.
For the third quarter ended Sept. 30, the company's earnings increased 9 percent to $118 million on sales growth of 14 percent to $1.0 billion. The company sees earnings per share of $4.40 to $4.55 for 2013.
The stock, which has been trading in the 52-week range of $24.24 to $73.00, added 1.36 percent to trade at $38.87 at 10.49 am ET on Wednesday.