We recently published a list of Why These 15 Defensive Stocks Are Surging In 2025. In this article, we are going to take a look at where Nu Skin Enterprises, Inc. (NYSE:NUS) stands against other defensive stocks that are surging in 2025.

Defensive stocks are surging as investors have been shifting their focus. Growth stocks dominated the past two years. Now, slower economic signals and rising risks are changing the landscape due to market uncertainty.

Defensive stocks offer much more stability and tend to perform well even in tough times. People still need electricity, medicine, and food. That reliability draws investors when uncertainty grows.

Many are rotating into these stocks for safety. The surge suggests a broader trend. It could mark a turning point after years of growth-led rallies., so it’s worth looking into the defensive stocks that stand out right now.

Methodology

For this article, I screened the best-performing defensive stocks year-to-date.

I will also mention the number of hedge fund investors in these stocks. Why are we interested in the stocks that hedge funds pile into? The reason is simple: our research has shown that we can outperform the market by imitating the top stock picks of the best hedge funds. Our quarterly newsletter’s strategy selects 14 small-cap and large-cap stocks every quarter and has returned 373.4% since May 2014, beating its benchmark by 218 percentage points (see more details here).

A smiling woman applying a product from the company's skin care line.

Nu Skin Enterprises, Inc. (NYSE:NUS)

Number of Hedge Fund Holders In Q4 2024: 29

Nu Skin Enterprises, Inc. (NYSE:NUS) is a beauty and wellness company that makes personal care products.

The stock is up significantly so far in 2025 due to it selling the Mavely affiliate marketing platform to Later for $250 million in cash and equity. This transaction generated a five-times return on investment.

Plus, Nu Skin (NYSE:NUS) reported better-than-expected Q4 earnings with $445.6 million in revenue and adjusted EPS of $0.38. This exceeded guidance, and the company also projected strong 2025 earnings and revenue guidance despite foreign currency headwinds.

The consensus price target of $6.88 implies 14.43% downside.

NUS stock is up 17.33% year-to-date.

Overall, NUS ranks 11th on our list of defensive stocks that are surging in 2025. While we acknowledge the potential of NUS as an investment, our conviction lies in the belief that some AI stocks hold greater promise for delivering higher returns and doing so within a shorter time frame. If you are looking for an AI stock that is more promising than NUS but that trades at less than 5 times its earnings, check out our report about the cheapest AI stock.

READ NEXT: 20 Best AI Stocks To Buy Now and 30 Best Stocks to Buy Now According to Billionaires.

Disclosure: None. This article is originally published at Insider Monkey.