What happened
Shares of Vipshop Holdings (VIPS 0.13%) have popped today, up by 17% as of 11:30 a.m. EST, after the company reported fourth-quarter earnings. The results topped expectations and the Chinese e-commerce specialist warned that the coronavirus outbreak would impact the first quarter.
So what
Revenue in the fourth quarter increased 12% to $4.2 billion, ahead of the $4 billion in sales that the market was expecting. That translated into adjusted net income of $277.4 million, or $0.41 per share. Analysts were modeling for just $0.29 per share in adjusted profits. Gross merchandise value (GMV) increased 14% to 47.6 billion yuan ($6.9 billion).
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"We are delighted to have finished the year of 2019 with strong financial results and operating performance," CEO Eric Shen said in a statement. "Specifically, our total active customers for the fourth quarter of 2019 maintained a robust year-over-year growth rate of 19%, and our annual active customers for the year of 2019 reached 69.0 million."
Now what
Vipshop recently granted Shen and COO Arthur Hong options to purchase 2.7 shares each at a strike price of $13.37 per American depositary share (ADS), with the grants vesting over six years.
The company said that the ongoing novel coronavirus epidemic would impact its results in the first quarter. Revenue is expected to decline by 15% to 20% to 17.1 billion yuan to 18.1 billion yuan ($2.5 billion to $2.6 billion) due to the outbreak. Shen added, "Although our business is experiencing some short-term impact from the novel coronavirus outbreak, we are fully confident in the long-term potential of the Chinese economy and the growth opportunities in China's discount retail segment."
