Weibo Q4 Profit Down - Update

(RTTNews) - Weibo Corp. (WB) on Tuesday reported a smaller profit for the fourth-quarter, as higher operating costs offset increase in advertising revenues. Nevertheless, earnings for the quarter were in line with estimates, while revenues trumped expectations.

Weibo's fourth-quarter profit dropped to $4.6 million or $0.02 per share from $21.6 million or $0.11 per share last year. Excluding one-time items, adjusted earnings rose to $0.04 per share from $0.02 per share last year. Analysts estimated earnings of $0.04 per share for the quarter.

Revenues for the fourth quarter were up 47 percent to $105.2 million from $71.4 million last year, as advertising and marketing revenues grew 47 percent. Analysts had a consensus revenue estimate of $103.9 million for the quarter.

Monthly active users totaled 175.7 million for December 2014, an increase of 36 percent, while daily active users were 80.6 million on average for December 2014, an increase of 31 percent.

Total operating costs for the quarter rose to $100.3 million from $70.2 million last year.

"In 2014, Weibo experienced the largest user increase since our inception, as we continued to focus on building the leading social media in China...2015 will be another high growth year for mobile and social marketing in China, and we are well positioned to take advantage of this trend," said Weibo CEO Gaofei Wang.

Looking forward to the first quarter, the company expects revenues of $93 million to $96 million. Analysts currently expect revenues of $94.4 million for the quarter.

Meanwhile, Weibo's CFO Bonnie Yi Zhang will assume the position of CFO in Sina, while Zhang's counterpart in Sina, Herman Yu, will become CFO of Weibo.

Last year, Sina spun off Weibo, however, still continues to hold a majority stake. Chinese eCommerce firm Alibaba Group also holds a significant stake in Weibo.

WB closed Tuesday's trading at $14.88, up $0.33 or 2.27%, on the Nasdaq. The stock, however, dropped $0.68 or 4.57% in the after-hours trade.