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Shares of Nu Skin Enterprises hit at a record high of $48.70 Tuesday after it announced its best-ever third quarter results.

Nu Skin, which distributes body care and nutritional products through a network of independent distributors, finished trading Tuesday on the New York Stock Exchange at $47.48, an increase of $1.49, or 3.24 percent.

Before the opening bell the company announced record revenue for the third quarter of $428 million, up 12 percent over the same quarter last year.

Earnings per share were 72 cents, a 31 percent improvement over the same period of 2010, Nu Skin said in a news release in which it said strong sales were expected of its anti-aging products.

"Our strong quarterly results fuel our optimism for the future, particularly as we head into our next ageLOC product launch cycle that begins this month," President and CEO Truman Hunt said in a statement. "We are also pleased with 14 percent growth in the number of executive distributors this quarter, as well as with ongoing strength in emerging markets and continued operating margin improvements."

The earnings report came ahead of the company's annual international sales convention later this week in Salt Lake City, where more than 13,000 independent distributors from 50 markets will gather, with the largest contingents from Japan, South Korea and the United States.

The event Thursday through Saturday at the Calvin L. Rampton Salt Palace Convention Center and EnergySolutions Arena has the potential to generate $12 million in spending, the company said. —

Usana results

Net revenue for the third quarter at Usana Health Sciences Inc. increased 6.3 percent, to $143.5 million, compared with $135 million in the same period last year, the company said Tuesday.

But Usana said its net earnings for the quarter fell by 3.6 percent, to $12.4 million, compared with the same period last year. The drop was tied to an increase in operating expenses, said the Salt Lake City distributor of nutritional supplement and body care products.

Because of a share repurchase program, earnings per share increased 2.5 percent, to 81 cents, compared with 79 cents in the third quarter of last year.