What happened
Shares of NetEase Inc. (NTES 1.02%) were up 12.1% as of 11:30 a.m. EST Thursday after the Chinese internet technology company announced strong fourth-quarter 2016 results.
So what
Quarterly revenue climbed 53.1% year over year, to 12.099 billion Chinese renminbi (RMB), or roughly $1.7426 billion, which translated to adjusted net income of RMB 4.0 billion, or $569.9 million. Adjusted net income was $4.30 per diluted American depositary share (ADS), up from $2.56 in the same year-ago period. By contrast, analysts' consensus estimates called for fourth-quarter revenue of just $1.58 billion and adjusted earnings of $3.44 per ADS.
According to CEO William Ding:
Our focus on innovation and quality has served us well, enabling NetEase to create significant value for each of our major constituencies: our players, our partners and our shareholders. In 2016, we brought best-in-class products and services to our community and continued to grow our business. As we move through 2017 we will look toward the future, designing products and services that address fluid market dynamics, enabling continued growth and value creation.
IMAGE SOURCE: NETEASE.
Now what
In the end, these results were far above the heady growth even the most optimistic investors were expecting, so it's unsurprising to see NetEase stock hitting new highs today. If NetEase can sustain this momentum in the coming year, and as Wall Street mulls its relative outperformance, I won't be surprised to see shares continue to rise going forward.
