On May 21, NetEase (NASDAQ:NTES) released first-quarter earnings for the period ended March 31.

  • To dig deeper into NetEase's Q1 results, read our earnings take.
  • Total revenue rose by 8.6% to $71.8 million, with only the online gaming segment noting an increase -- 7% year over year. The other two segments, advertising services and wireless value-added services, together decreased by 8.1% and only contributed 13.1% of the revenue pie.
  • While the company has been cruising along with the popularity of its popular Fantasy Westward Journey game, the poor performance of its Tianxia II game during open beta testing has led to a postponement of the game launch to correct design issues.
  • NetEase is a four-star stock in CAPS, our interactive stock database. Chinese competitor Shanda Interactive (NASDAQ:SNDA) also holds a four-star rating. The recent news of five-star gamer The9 (NASDAQ:NCTY) teaming up with Electronic Arts (NASDAQ:ERTS) -- in addition to its "market-thumping" quarter -- may prove that The9 is another strong Chinese contender in the online gaming industry.

(Figures in millions, except per-share data.)

Income Statement Highlights

Q1 2007

Q1 2006

Change

Total Sales

$71.8

$66.1

8.6%

Net Profit

$39.0

$36.6

6.6%

Earnings per ADS

$0.29

$0.26

11.5%

Diluted Shares

136.4

141.9

(3.9%)

Get back to basics with the income statement.

Margin Checkup

Q1 2007

Q1 2006

Change*

Gross Margin

77.6%

79.4%

(1.8)

Operating Margin

56.3%

58.0%

(1.7)

Net Margin

54.4%

55.4%

(1.0)

*Expressed in percentage points.

Margins are the earnings engine.

Balance Sheet Highlights

Assets

Q1 2007

Q1 2006

Change

Cash + ST Invest.

$520.6

$469.8

10.8%

Accounts Rec.

$9.9

$7.7

28.2%

Inventory

N/A

N/A

N/A

Liabilities

Q1 2007

Q1 2006

Change

Accounts Payable

$9.2

$12.4

(26.3%)

Long-Term Debt

$90.2

$101.4

(11.1%)

The balance sheet reflects the company's health.

Cash Flow Highlights

Q1 2007

Q1 2006

Change

Cash From Ops.

$36.6

$51.4

(28.8%)

Capital Expenditures

$4.3

$2.7

58.2%

Free Cash Flow

$32.3

$48.7

(33.6%)

Free cash flow is a Fool's best friend.

Related Foolishness:

Both NetEase and Shanda Interactive are Rule Breakers picks, while Electronic Arts has been recommended to our Stock Advisor subscribers. A free 30-day trial of either newsletter will keep you up-to-date on potential entertainment investments.

Fool by Numbers is designed to give you the raw earnings information in a timely fashion, putting all the numbers you need in one easy-to-read place. But at The Motley Fool, we believe numbers tell only part of the story, so check Fool.com for more of our in-depth discussion of what the numbers mean. This data has been provided by Netscribes. To provide feedback on this article, please click on the "feedback" button below.