Weibo’s Quarterly Profit Beats Analysts’ Estimates; Street Says Buy

Weibo’s net revenues in the third quarter ended September 30 declined 4% year-on-year to $465.7 million on a constant currency basis, beating Street estimates by $14.81 million. Shares of the social media company slipped by 1.7% in Monday’s pre-market trading.

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Weibo’s (WB) non-GAAP EPS declined 14% to $0.66 but exceeded analysts’ estimates by $0.06. Advertising and marketing revenues rose by 1% to $416.7 million. Meanwhile, value-added service sales declined by 11% to $49.1 million.

Monthly active users (MAUs) stood at 511 million representing an addition of 14 million users. Mobile MAUs made up 94% of MAUs. Average daily active users stood at 224 million, an addition of 8 million users versus the same period last year.

“We are pleased with Weibo’s recovery trend, despite challenges still persisted,” said Gaofei Wang, CEO of Weibo. “Weibo’s KA [key accounts] business delivered broad-based recovery, with a record high number of brand customers marketing with us. We are glad to see brands increasingly recognize Weibo’s unique value proposition in reaching young audience.”

Looking ahead, Weibo expects its Q4 net revenues to grow by 1% to 3% year-over-year on a constant currency basis. (See WB stock analysis on TipRanks)

On Dec. 14, UBS analyst Zhijing Liu upgraded the stock’s rating from Hold to Buy and raised the price target from $43.50 to $52 (17.4% upside potential).

From the rest of the Street, the stock scores an analyst consensus of a Strong Buy based on 4 Buys and 1 Hold. The average analyst price target of $46.30 implies upside potential of 4.5% to current levels. Shares have lost 4.4% year-to-date.