Weibo (NASDAQ:WB) Shares Gap Up on Better-Than-Expected Earnings

Key Points

• Weibo's stock price gapped up from a closing price of $10.28 to $10.54 in pre-trading, with recent trades at $10.67 and a volume of 674,857 shares.
• Wall Street analysts have downgraded Weibo's rating from "buy" to "hold," with an average price target of $9.75.
• Weibo reported earnings of $0.45 per share for the last quarter, exceeding expectations, alongside a revenue of $396.86 million, marking a 0.4% increase year-over-year.

Shares of Weibo Corporation (NASDAQ:WB - Get Free Report) gapped up prior to trading on Thursday after the company announced better than expected quarterly earnings. The stock had previously closed at $10.28, but opened at $10.54. Weibo shares last traded at $10.67, with a volume of 674,857 shares.

The information services provider reported $0.54 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.27 by $0.27. The firm had revenue of $444.80 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $438.84 million. Weibo had a return on equity of 12.65% and a net margin of 21.10%.The company's revenue was up 1.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.48 EPS.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on WB shares. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Weibo from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 13th. Citigroup raised their price objective on Weibo from $12.00 to $14.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $10.75.

Institutional Trading of Weibo

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Shell Asset Management Co. purchased a new stake in shares of Weibo in the 4th quarter worth approximately $54,000. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. bought a new stake in Weibo during the 2nd quarter valued at $61,000. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank lifted its stake in shares of Weibo by 22.4% during the 1st quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 11,653 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $110,000 after purchasing an additional 2,135 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in Weibo during the first quarter valued at about $117,000. Finally, Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado purchased a new position in Weibo in the fourth quarter valued at about $133,000. 68.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Weibo Price Performance

The firm has a market capitalization of $2.72 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.84 and a beta of 0.10. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $9.95 and its 200 day simple moving average is $9.59. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a current ratio of 3.65 and a quick ratio of 2.72.

Weibo Company Profile

Weibo Corporation, through its subsidiaries, operates as a social media platform for people to create, discover, and distribute content in the People's Republic of China. It operates in two segments, Advertising and Marketing Services; and Value-Added Services. The company offers discovery products to help users discover content on its platform; self-expression products that enable its users to express themselves on its platform; and social products to promote social interaction between users on its platform.