SINA (Nasdaq: SINA) may be one of the last Chinese Internet companies to report its first-quarter numbers, but you know what they say about good things coming to those who wait.
You won't find too many people complaining about the fashionably late company. First-quarter revenue climbed 39% to $71.3 million, comfortably ahead of its original top-line guidance of $66 million to $68 million. Earnings on an adjusted basis -- which backs out items like stock-based compensation and certain amortization items -- soared 73% higher to $0.33 a share.
The company's performance easily lapped Wall Street's expectations of $0.27 a share in adjusted profitability on $67.4 million in revenue. (SINA's fourth-quarter earnings also clocked in ahead of analysts.)
Analysts should have known better. Didn't they see the wave of online ad-centric companies like Sohu.com (Nasdaq: SOHU) and Baidu.com (Nasdaq: BIDU) blow past their profit targets last month? This is, after all, SINA's bread and butter. Ad revenue at the company climbed 51%, now accounting for 67% of the revenue mix.
Even outdoor display advertising specialists like Focus Media (Nasdaq: FMCN) and VisionChina Media (Nasdaq: VISN) have come up big in their latest quarters.
If these companies are doing well now, imagine how things will be hopping in a few months, when advertisers really want to be seen and heard during the Beijing Olympic Games.
SINA also was no slouch in its mobile value-added services business. The 20% year-over-year improvement there isn't the same kind of heady growth that SINA's posting in its advertising stronghold, but it's a welcome change for an industry that has been in decline over the past two years.
Companies like SINA and NetEase (Nasdaq: NTES), which cut their teeth in delivering mobile content, went scrambling into healthier growth areas like cyberspace and online gaming. These days, just a few companies like KongZhong (Nasdaq: KONG) and TOM Online are willing to live and die by the regulatory whims of wireless entertainment.
SINA diversified, and diversified well.
The company's outlook for the current quarter calls for $88 million to $90 million in revenue. Will analysts believe SINA again? Will they miss the signs if other online advertisers come through with monster reports in two months?
You know the answer. We'll find ourselves just where we are today, with SINA lapping the humbled pros again.
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