Herbalife Shares Plunged: What You Need to Know

Although we don't believe in timing the market or panicking over market movements, we do like to keep an eye on big changes -- just in case they're material to our investing thesis.

What: Shares of supplements supplier Herbalife (NYS: HLF) fell more than 12% in early trading on worse-than-expected 2012 guidance. The stock closed down roughly 7%.

So what: Management told investors to expect $3.25 to $3.45 a share in profits next year, well below the $3.57 Wall Street had been projecting.

Now what: Interestingly, the guidance overshadowed an otherwise big Q3 beat. Revenue grew 30% to $895.2 million. Profits improved 38% to $0.87 a share. Analysts were expecting just $0.76 a share of profit on $845.2 million in revenue, according to data compiled by Yahoo! Finance. Which matters more: the beat or the miss? Would you buy shares of Herbalife at current prices? Please weigh in using the comments box below.

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At the time thisarticle was published Fool contributorTim Beyersis a member of theMotley Fool Rule Breakersstock-picking team. He didn't own shares in any of the companies mentioned at the time of publication. Check out Tim'sportfolio holdingsandFoolish writings, or connect with him onGoogle+or Twitter, where he goes by@milehighfool. You can also get his insightsdelivered directly to your RSS reader.Try any of our Foolish newsletter servicesfree for 30 days. We Fools don't all hold the same opinions, but we all believe thatconsidering a diverse range of insightsmakes us better investors. The Motley Fool has adisclosure policy.

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