Weibo (NASDAQ:WB) Shares Gap Up Following 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.

Weibo Corporation (NASDAQ:WB - Get Free Report)'s share price gapped up prior to trading on Thursday following a better than expected earnings announcement. 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, topping the consensus estimate of $0.27 by $0.27. The business had revenue of $444.80 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $438.84 million. Weibo had a return on equity of 12.74% and a net margin of 21.10%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 1.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.48 earnings per share.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently commented on WB shares. Wall Street Zen lowered Weibo from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, May 13th. Citigroup lifted their target price on Weibo from $12.00 to $14.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and one has assigned a buy 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 $10.75.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in WB. Shell Asset Management Co. acquired a new stake in shares of Weibo during the 4th quarter worth $54,000. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. bought a new position in shares of Weibo during the second quarter worth about $61,000. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank lifted its holdings in shares of Weibo by 22.4% in 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 shares of Weibo during the first quarter valued at approximately $117,000. Finally, Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado bought a new stake in shares of Weibo during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $133,000. 68.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Weibo Trading Up 1.9%

The company has a market capitalization of $2.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.23 and a beta of 0.10. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $9.88 and a 200-day moving average price of $9.56. The company has a current ratio of 2.72, a quick ratio of 2.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53.

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.