Image source: SINA Corp.
What: Shares of SINA Corp. (SINA) were up 13.4% as of 2:45 p.m. EDT Tuesday after the Chinese internet company announced stronger-than-expected second-quarter 2016 results.
So what: Adjusted quarterly revenue grew 14% year over year, to $241.4 million, and translated to adjusted net income attributable to SINA of $19.9 million, or $0.27 per diluted share. For perspective -- and though we don't pay much attention to Wall Street's quarterly demands -- analysts' consensus estimates predicted SINA would achieve adjusted earnings of just $0.15 per share on revenue of $228.9 million.
Looking closer at SINA's top line, online advertising revenue jumped 16% year over year, to $205 million, as a $38.4 million increase in Weibo advertising and marketing revenue was only partially offset by a $9.7 million decline in portal ad revenue. Adjusted non-advertising revenue also climbed 4.6% year over year, to $38.9 million.
Nonetheless, SINA chairman and CEO, Charles Chao lauded the company's execution of its mobile strategy on the portal side, saying the company saw sustainable growth in mobile traffic and significant year-over-year increases in daily active users of SINA News. All told, 48% of total portal advertising revenue came from mobile devices during the quarter, up sequentially from 44% in Q1.
Meanwhile, Weibo saw monthly active users jump 33% year over year, to 282 million, of which 89% were mobile users. Daily active users on Weibo also increased 36% year over year, to 126 million.
Now what: SINA now expects adjusted revenue for the full-year 2016 to be between $950 million and $1 billion, up from its previous guidance range of $850 million to $950 million. Analysts, on average, were looking for annual revenue near the low end of SINA's new range, with consensus estimates calling for $953.6 million.
In the end, this was a solid quarter from SINA that handily beat expectations and painted a brighter picture of its future looking forward. It's no surprise to see shares up big today.
