What happened
Shares of SINA Corp. (SINA) declined 13.3% in the month of June, according to data provided by S&P Global Market Intelligence, following a strong post-earnings performance in May and after announcing a partial distribution of its stake in Chinese microblogging platform Weibo (WB 0.66%).
So what
As I pointed out a few weeks ago, keep in mind that SINA stock popped 27.5% in May on the heels of the company's strong first-quarter 2017 results. At the time, SINA highlighted impressive top- and bottom-line gains driven by accelerated revenue and user growth at Weibo.
On June 8, 2017, however, SINA stock began to give back some of those gains when it announced it would distribute 7,142,148 Class A ordinary shares of Weibo to SINA shareholders on a pro rata basis, representing one Weibo share for every 10 outstanding SINA ordinary shares owned.
IMAGE SOURCE: SINA.
Now what
While SINA is rewarding its shareholders in doing so -- noting the expected July 10, 2017, distribution will be traded at a taxable dividend -- its equity stake in Weibo will also decrease to roughly 46%, or 72% by voting power, down from 49%, or 74% by voting power prior to the distribution. As a result, and given SINA's relative outperformance in May, it was no surprise to see shares pull back in kind last month.
