iQIYI (NASDAQ:IQ) Shares Up 7.1% - Here's What Happened

Key Points

• iQIYI shares rose by 7.1% to $2.05, although trading volume was significantly lower—77% less than the average.
• Wall Street analysts have dropped iQIYI's rating from "hold" to "sell," with two analysts issuing sell ratings and six holding, while the consensus price target is $2.39.
• In its latest earnings report, iQIYI missed consensus estimates by reporting $0.03 earnings per share against an expectation of $0.05, with revenues of $988.19 million falling short of the projected $7.10 billion.

Shares of iQIYI, Inc. Sponsored ADR (NASDAQ:IQ - Get Free Report) rose 7.1% during trading on Friday . The stock traded as high as $2.07 and last traded at $2.05. Approximately 6,483,227 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 77% from the average daily volume of 27,779,566 shares. The stock had previously closed at $1.91.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the stock. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of iQIYI from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Saturday, July 26th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price on shares of iQIYI from $2.10 to $2.50 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, CLSA raised shares of iQIYI from a "hold" rating to a "moderate buy" rating in a report on Tuesday. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $2.41.

iQIYI Trading Up 0.9%

The business has a 50-day moving average price of $1.86 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $1.96. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 57.51 and a beta of -0.14. The company has a current ratio of 0.46, a quick ratio of 0.46 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61.

iQIYI (NASDAQ:IQ - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, August 20th. The company reported ($0.01) earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.02) by $0.01. iQIYI had a return on equity of 3.62% and a net margin of 1.02%. On average, analysts expect that iQIYI, Inc. Sponsored ADR will post 0.04 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On iQIYI

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Private Advisor Group LLC bought a new position in shares of iQIYI in the 1st quarter valued at $30,000. DRW Securities LLC bought a new position in shares of iQIYI in the 1st quarter valued at $33,000. HighTower Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of iQIYI by 102.3% in the 1st quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 15,639 shares of the company's stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 698,342 shares during the last quarter. Vident Advisory LLC bought a new position in shares of iQIYI in the 4th quarter valued at $33,000. Finally, Ping Capital Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of iQIYI in the 1st quarter valued at $90,000. Institutional investors own 52.69% of the company's stock.

iQIYI Company Profile

iQIYI, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, provides online entertainment video services in the People's Republic of China. It offers various products and services, including online video, online games, online literature, animations, and other products. The company operates a platform that provides a collection of internet video content, such as professionally produced content licensed from professional content providers and self-produced content.