What happened
Shares of Kingsoft Cloud (KC +7.10%) crashed by as much as 13% this morning after the company reported fourth-quarter earnings. The results were mixed relative to analyst expectations. As of 11:30 a.m. EDT, Kingsoft Cloud shares were down 9%.
So what
Revenue in the fourth quarter was 1.9 billion yuan ($294.7 million), which was shy of the $297.2 million in sales that analysts were modeling for. That resulted in a net loss per share of 0.03 yuan ($0.00), which was slightly better than the consensus estimate of a net loss per share of $0.09. The Chinese technology company, which provides cloud services to enterprise customers, said EBITDA in the fourth quarter was negative 17.5 million yuan (negative $2.7 million).
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"As a leading independent cloud services provider, and with our full dedication to cloud business, we are able to avoid potential conflicts of interest with our premium customers and enhance our neutral position, which in turn gains additional trust from customers," CEO Yulin Wang said in a statement. "With more and more customers deploying a multi-cloud strategy, we are being warmly welcomed as their vendor of choice."
Now what
In terms of outlook for the first quarter, Kingsoft Cloud is forecasting revenue in the range of 1.83 billion yuan to 1.93 billion yuan ($281.4 million to $296.7 million based on current exchange rates), which is below Wall Street's expectation of $318.8 million in sales. The company notes that the guidance reflects the relatively later timing of the Chinese Lunar New Year in 2021, which impacts demand from business and public sector customers.
