What happened
Shares of Qutoutiao (QTT) slumped on Thursday after the Chinese mobile-content platform company reported its second-quarter results. They were mixed relative to analyst expectations, and its guidance called for no sequential revenue growth in the third quarter. The stock was down about 12.2% at 10:45 a.m. EDT today.
So what
Second-quarter revenue was $201.9 million, up 187.9% year over year in local currency and about $8.8 million above the average analyst estimate. Average monthly active users reached 119.3 million, up from 111.4 million in the first quarter, and average daily active users totaled 38.7 million, up from 37.5 million in the first quarter. Average daily time spent per daily active user was 60 minutes, down from 62.1 minutes in the first quarter.
"In this quarter, we further improved our efficiency and internal collaboration through modularizing common functionalities, building full function teams, and introducing internal rotation programs for team leaders," said CEO Eric Siliang Tan in prepared remarks with the earnings release.
Non-GAAP (adjusted) earnings per American depositary share came in at a loss of $0.28, worse than analyst expectations by $0.05. The company's total non-GAAP net loss was $72.3 million, more than quadrupling from the prior-year period in local currency.
Now what
For the third quarter, the company expects revenue to be roughly unchanged from the second quarter. That implies user growth will likely stagnate.
The plunge on Thursday brings the stock close to $4 per share, far below the highs around $15 reached earlier this year. The stock is now down about 74% from its 2019 high.