As shareholders of downtown-based Herbalife Nutrition Ltd. await the company’s third-quarter earnings report next week, observers are likely wondering how that report will influence Herbalife stock.

While share prices are down more than 30% on the year, it’s been a bit of a roller coaster ride lately for the multilevel marketing dietary supplement company. After climbing to more than $22 a share last October, the stock sunk as low as $11.47 since then, in between jumps to $21.27 and $18.74 in February and August, respectively. The sclerotic stock began climbing again last week, only to plummet as investors speculate on the outlook for the company.

Herbalife closed at $14.31 a share on Oct. 19, an increase of 5.61% from the prior week. Shares were on an upward trajectory, reaching $15.60 on Wednesday, but by the close of the markets on Oct. 19 most of the week’s gains had been erased.

Shares are down 1.24% from both the past month and past six months.

“The negative impact (year over year) has been China and the economic issues going on in China, because that’s a big market for these companies,” said Ivan Feinseth, a senior partner at Tigress Financial Partners.

Without any one obvious reason for the boost, shareholders will be on the lookout for good news on Nov. 1, when the earnings report is scheduled.

Herbalife’s first-quarter financials showed essentially flat net sales but a significant drop in net income from the prior quarter. Sales were again essentially unchanged for the second quarter; however, net income skyrocketed, nearly doubling to $59.9 million. This report prompted a spike in share prices, which soared by nearly $3 the following day. In the bigger picture, Herbalife has consistently remained profitable for the past decade.

With prices having fallen to $12.74 a share on Oct. 5, investors may have been tempted to gamble on continued financial improvement for the company.

“Despite operating in a competitive industry, the company’s consistent profitability over the past 10 years and its robust growth prospects make it a compelling investment,” noted a recent analysis of Herbalife by stock site GuruFocus.

In the same time period, Utah-based USANA Health Science Inc. – another multilevel marketing dietary supplement company – saw its share price rise around 1%. Meanwhile, shares for Illinois snack company John B. Sanfilipp & Son Inc. also rose, though at an even lower clip.

Feinseth, who is also director of research for New York-based Tigress, speculated that the advent of new weight-loss drugs may be influencing investor activity. Some of these medications, such as Ozempic, entered the market for diabetes patients but are being used more and more for weight loss.

Feinseth said as that routine takes off there may be a growth market for Herbalife as customers seek dietary supplements in place of food to maintain the weight loss.

“I think that they have to focus on what can make customers more sticky and consistent,” he said. “Helping to design a lifestyle routine that, if they do involve the GLP (glucagon-like peptide) drugs, includes other kinds of nutritional supplements and other things is the opportunity.

“These stocks have not really had a catalyst,” Feinseth added, “so for Herbalife, the prospect of these GLP drugs would be a positive. That’s, I think, what’s helping.”