Weibo reports stronger-than-expected quarterly revenues

By

Benjamin Fitzgerald

Published
Aug 9, 2016

Chinese internet firm Sina Corp. raised its full-year revenue expectations for the year following stronger-than-expected second-quarter results, recording continued success with its microblog portal Weibo Corp.

The Shanghai-based company reported a 16% increase in advertising revenue, with Weibo offsetting a $9.7 million decline in portal advertising revenue. Sina’s profit rose nearly fourfold to $43.3 million, or 59 cents a share. Excluding stock-based compensation and other items, profit rose to 27 cents a share, from 6 cents a share a year earlier.

Revenue rose 14% to $244 million, on the back of Weibo.
Analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters had projected 15 cents a share in adjusted profit and $231.7 million in revenue.

Following the positive quarter, Sina now projects annual revenue of $950 million to $1 billion, compared with its earlier view of $850 million to $950 million. This excludes about $10.4 million in deferred license revenue from E-House Holdings Ltd.

Sina also holds a stake in Alibaba Group, which holds a stake in Weibo, driving advertising to the microblog.

Weibo’s profit rose sixfold to $25.9 million, or 12 cents a share. Excluding stock-based compensation and other items, profit rose to 16 cents a share, from 5 cents a year earlier, above analysts’ projected 11 cents a share.

Weibo’s revenue rose 36% to $146.9 million, above the company’s projection and driven by a 45% increase in advertising and marketing revenue.

For the current quarter, Weibo projects $168 million to $173 million in revenue, compared with analysts’ projected $164.5 million.

Weibo’s monthly active users reached 282 million in the June quarter, up from 261 million in the previous quarter, with 89% accessing the platform on mobile devices.

Daily active users averaged 126 million in the quarter, a 6 million increase from the previous quarter.

"Weibo is benefiting from the strong adoption of social marketing with key account and SME revenues growing 73% and 107% year over year, respectively, in the second quarter," said Gaofei Wang, Weibo's CEO.

"User growth continues to be robust, especially coming from mobile, where we are seeing short video and live video taking off. Additionally, we are seeing strong operating leverage from Weibo's financial model, resulting from strong revenue growth, coupled with the platform nature of our business model."