NetEase Posts Mixed Q2 Results; Stock Gains 3.2%

Internet and online game services provider NetEase (NTES) has posted mixed results for the second quarter of 2021. Shares of the company gained 3.2%, at the time of writing, in Tuesday’s pre-market trade.

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Revenues came in at RMB20.5 billion ($3.2 billion), up 12.9% from the year-ago quarter. The revenues matched the Street’s expectations. The upside can be attributed to a 107.5% rise in Youdao revenues. Revenues from online game services grew 5.1% to RMB14.5 billion ($2.3 billion).

The company reported adjusted earnings per ADS of RMB6.24 ($0.97), surpassing analysts’ expectations of RMB5.87 ($0.91). Earnings, however, declined 21.6% from the year-ago quarter. (See NetEase stock charts on TipRanks)

Meanwhile, NetEase announced that its Board of Directors has increased the existing share repurchase capacity by up to $1 billion. It has also approved a share purchase program of up to $50 million of Youdao’s outstanding ADSs. The plan expires on September 2, 2024.

The CEO and Director of NetEase, William Ding, said, “Our existing games grew steadily despite a high base last year, and we are excited about our robust pipeline of new titles that builds on our leading game roster.”

“In addition, we continue to boost our content ecosystem and bring innovative product additions to NetEase Cloud Music strengthening its highly engaged music-centric community,” Ding added.

On August 11, J.P. Morgan analyst Alex Yao reiterated a Buy rating on the stock and lowered the price target to $120 from $130. The new price target implies 33.9% upside potential from current levels.

Overall, the rest of the Street is bullish on the stock with a Strong Buy consensus rating based on 5 unanimous Buys. The average NetEase price target of $134 implies upside potential of about 49.5%.

TipRanks data shows that financial blogger opinions are 100% Bullish on NTES, compared to the sector average of 71%.