Herbalife’s stock price jumped as much 8.4% on Tuesday on a report that it may finally have put its years-long problems with the Federal Trade Commission behind it.
The New York Post report said that a settlement between Herbalife and the FTC could be announced as soon as Wednesday, though the agreement is not yet finalized and could still fall apart. The Post’s report says that the terms of the settlement couldn’t be determined, though one source told the newspaper that Herbalife had agreed to a financial penalty.
However, within hours, the report was refuted by CNBC’s Scott Wapner, who said that a deal is not imminent and conversations between the two groups remain active and in advance stages.
The FTC’s weekly calendar lists a commission meeting Wednesday at 1 p.m. ET that is “closed to the public and limited to commissioners” and will include a “discussion of a law enforcement matter.” An FTC spokesman said the commission didn’t have additional information on the probe.
An Herbalife spokesperson said that nothing has changed since the company’s comments two weeks ago during its first-quarter earnings.
The company said in a statement that there could be “injunctive and other relief as well as a monetary payment with our best estimate of a payment being $200 million.” Herbalife Chairman and CEO Michael Johnson went on to say during the conference call that “there are a number of open issues” and the company doesn’t yet have an agreement.
For more on Herbalife, read Coins2Day’s investigation The Siege of Herbalife.
“What we have is the reasonable possibility of an agreement,” said Herbalife CFO John DeSimone.
The FTC had been investigating whether or not Herbalife is a pyramid scheme, a type of business model that recruits members by promising to pay them for recruiting others rather than selling products. The probe was prompted by activist investor Bill Ackman who has spoken out aggressively against the company since December 2012, and his company, Pershing Square Capital Management, has a $1 billion short position in the company’s stock.
Herbalife (HLF) shares still remain up over 6% in mid-day trading.