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Weibo Reports First Quarter 2019 Unaudited Financial Results

BEIJING, May 23, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Weibo Corporation ("Weibo" or the "Company") (NASDAQ: WB), a leading social media in China, today announced its unaudited financial results for the first quarter ended March 31, 2019.

"We are pleased with Weibo's first quarter results," said Gaofei Wang, CEO of Weibo. "Weibo has delivered solid traffic growth through effective product upgrade and channel investment. We have also achieved strong advertising revenue growth for KA business, as we demonstrated unique value proposition for brand customers with the breadth of our social ad offerings and enhanced ad performance," said Mr. Wang.

First Quarter 2019 Highlights

  • Net revenues increased 14% year-over-year to $399.2 million.
  • Advertising and marketing revenues increased 13% year-over-year to $341.1 million.
  • Value-added service ("VAS") revenues increased 24% year-over-year to $58.0 million.
  • Net income attributable to Weibo was $150.4 million, an increase of 52% year-over-year, and diluted net income per share was $0.66, compared to $0.44 for the same period last year.
  • Non-GAAP net income attributable to Weibo was $128.5 million, an increase of 14% year-over-year, and non-GAAP diluted net income per share was $0.56, compared to $0.50 for the same period last year.
  • Monthly active users ("MAUs") were 465 million in March 2019, a net addition of approximately 54 million users on year over year basis. Mobile MAUs represented approximately 94% of MAUs.
  • Average daily active users ("DAUs") were 203 million in March 2019, a net addition of approximately 19 million users on year over year basis.

First Quarter 2019 Financial Results

For the first quarter of 2019, Weibo's total net revenues were $399.2 million, an increase of 14% compared to $349.9 million for the same period last year.

Advertising and marketing revenues for the first quarter of 2019 were $341.1 million, an increase of 13% compared to $302.9 million for the same period last year. Advertising and marketing revenues from small & medium-sized enterprises ("SMEs") and key accounts ("KAs") were $324.5 million, representing an increase of 17% compared to $276.6 million same period last year.

VAS revenues for the first quarter of 2019 were $58.0 million, an increase of 24% year-over-year compared to $46.9 million for the same period last year, mainly attributable to the revenues derived from the live streaming business acquired in the fourth quarter of 2018.

Costs and expenses for the first quarter of 2019 totaled $276.1 million, compared to $240.5 million for the same period last year. The increase in costs and expenses was primarily due to the costs of revenue share incurred by the live streaming business and the increase in personnel related costs and expenses. Non-GAAP costs and expenses were $262.4 million, compared to $229.3 million for the same period last year.

Income from operations for the first quarter of 2019 was $123.1 million, compared to $109.4 million for the same period last year. Non-GAAP income from operations was $136.8 million, compared to $120.6 million for the same period last year.

Non-operating income for the first quarter of 2019 was $48.6 million, compared to $7.6 million for the same period last year, mainly resulted from a gain of $38.5 million from fair value change of investments for the first quarter of 2019.

Income tax expenses were $21.1 million, compared to $18.3 million for the same period last year.

Net income attributable to Weibo for the first quarter of 2019 was $150.4 million, compared to $99.1 million for the same period last year. Diluted net income per share attributable to Weibo for the first quarter of 2019 was $0.66, compared to $0.44 for the same period last year. Non-GAAP net income attributable to Weibo for the first quarter of 2019 was $128.5 million, compared to $112.6 million for the same period last year. Non-GAAP diluted net income per share attributable to Weibo for the first quarter of 2019 was $0.56, compared to $0.50 for the same period last year.

As of March 31, 2019, Weibo's cash, cash equivalents and short-term investments totaled $1.49 billion. For the first quarter of 2019, cash provided by operating activities was $80.8 million, capital expenditures totaled $7.7 million, and depreciation and amortization expenses amounted to $6.2 million.

Business Outlook

For the second quarter of 2019, Weibo estimates its net revenues to be between $427 million and $437 million, or an increase of 7% year over year to 10% year over year on a constant currency basis. This forecast reflects the currency translation risks and assumes an average exchange rate of RMB 6.90 to US$1.00. This forecast also reflects Weibo's current and preliminary view, which is subject to change.

Conference Call

Weibo's management team will host a conference call from 7AM8AM Eastern Time on May 23, 2019 (or 7 PM8 PM Beijing Time on May 23, 2019) to present an overview of the Company's financial performance and business operations. A live webcast of the call will be available through the Company's corporate website at http://ir.weibo.com.

The conference call can be accessed as follows:

US Toll Free:

+1 866-519-4004

Hong Kong Toll Free: 

800-906-601

China: 

400-620-8038

International:

+65 6713-5090

Passcode for all regions:

5995595

A replay of the conference call will be available from 22:00 China Standard Time on May 23, 2019 to 21:59 China Standard Time on May 31, 2019. The dial-in number is +61 2-8199-0299. The passcode for the replay is 5995595.

Non-GAAP Financial Measures

This release contains the following non-GAAP financial measures: non-GAAP costs and expenses, non-GAAP income from operations, non-GAAP net income attributable to Weibo, non-GAAP diluted net income per share attributable to Weibo and adjusted EBITDA. These non-GAAP financial measures should be considered in addition to, not as a substitute for, measures of the Company's financial performance prepared in accordance with U.S. GAAP.

The Company's non-GAAP financial measures exclude stock-based compensation, amortization of intangible assets, net results of impairment on, gain on sale of and fair value change of investments, non-GAAP to GAAP reconciling items on the share of equity method investments, non-GAAP to GAAP reconciling items for the income/loss attributable to non-controlling interests, provision for income tax related to the amortization of intangible assets (other non-GAAP to GAAP reconciling items have no tax effect), and amortization of convertible debt issuance cost. Adjusted EBITDA excludes interest income, net, income tax expenses, and depreciation expenses. The Company's management uses these non-GAAP financial measures in their financial and operating decision-making, because management believes these measures reflect the Company's ongoing operating performance in a manner that allows more meaningful period-to-period comparisons. The Company believes that these non-GAAP financial measures provide useful information to investors and others in the following ways: (i) in comparing the Company's current financial results with the Company's past financial results in a consistent manner, and (ii) in understanding and evaluating the Company's current operating performance and future prospects in the same manner as management does, if they so choose. The Company also believes that the non-GAAP financial measures provide useful information to both management and investors by excluding certain expenses, gains (losses) and other items (i) that are not expected to result in future cash payments or (ii) that are non-recurring in nature or may not be indicative of the Company's core operating results and business outlook.

Use of non-GAAP financial measures has limitations. The Company's non-GAAP financial measures do not include all income and expense items that affect the Company's operations. They may not be comparable to non-GAAP financial measures used by other companies. Accordingly, care should be exercised in understanding how the Company defines its non-GAAP financial measures. Reconciliations of the Company's non-GAAP financial measures to the nearest comparable GAAP measures are set forth in the section below titled "Unaudited Reconciliation of Non-GAAP to GAAP Results."

About Weibo

Weibo is a leading social media for people to create, share and discover content online. Weibo combines the means of public self-expression in real time with a powerful platform for social interaction, content aggregation and content distribution. Any user can create and post a feed and attach multi-media and long-form content. User relationships on Weibo may be asymmetric; any user can follow any other user and add comments to a feed while reposting. This simple, asymmetric and distributed nature of Weibo allows an original feed to become a live viral conversation stream.

Weibo enables its advertising and marketing customers to promote their brands, products and services to users. Weibo offers a wide range of advertising and marketing solutions to companies of all sizes. The Company generates a substantial majority of its revenues from the sale of advertising and marketing services, including the sale of social display advertisement and promoted marketing offerings. Designed with a "mobile first" philosophy, Weibo displays content in a simple information feed format and offers native advertisement that conform to the information feed on our platform. To support the mobile format, we have developed and continuously refining our social interest graph recommendation engine, which enables our customers to perform people marketing and target audiences based on user demographics, social relationships, interests and behaviors, to achieve greater relevance, engagement and marketing effectiveness.

Safe Harbor Statement

This press release contains forward-looking statements that relate to, among other things, Weibo's expected financial performance and strategic and operational plans (as described, without limitation, in the "Business Outlook" section and in quotations from management in this press release. Weibo may also make forward-looking statements in the Company's periodic reports to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC"), in press releases and other written materials and in oral statements made by its officers, directors or employees to third parties. Statements that are not historical facts, including statements about the Company's beliefs and expectations, are forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements can be identified by terminology, such as "will," "expects," "anticipates," "future," "intends," "plans," "believes," "confidence," "estimates" and similar statements. Forward-looking statements involve inherent risks and uncertainties. A number of important factors could cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in any forward-looking statement. Potential risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, Weibo's limited operating history in certain new businesses; failure to grow active user base and the level of user engagement; the uncertain regulatory landscape in China; fluctuations in the Company's quarterly operating results; the Company's reliance on advertising and marketing sales for a majority of its revenues; failure to successfully develop, introduce, drive adoption of or monetize new features and products; failure to compete effectively for advertising and marketing spending; failure to successfully integrate acquired businesses; risks associated with the Company's investments, including equity pick-up and impairment; failure to compete successfully against new entrants and established industry competitors; changes in the macro-economic environment, including the depreciation of the Renminbi; and adverse changes in economic and political policies of the PRC government and its impact on the Chinese economy. Further information regarding these and other risks is included in Weibo's annual report on Form 20-Fs and other filings with the SEC. All information provided in this press release is current as of the date hereof, and Weibo assumes no obligation to update such information, except as required under applicable law.

Contact:

Investor Relations
Weibo Corporation
Phone: +86 10 5898-3336
Email: ir@staff.weibo.com

 

WEIBO CORPORATION

UNAUDITED CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF OPERATIONS

(In thousands, except per share data)




















Three months ended




March 31,


December 31,




2019


2018


2018









Net revenues:







     Advertising and marketing


$        341,141


$        302,949


$        417,016

     Value-added service


58,036


46,934


64,859


Net revenues


399,177


349,883


481,875









Costs and expenses:







     Cost of revenues (1)


82,817


62,902


82,940

     Sales and marketing (1)


106,151


105,863


140,525

     Product development(1)


69,853


60,523


62,515

     General and administrative(1)


17,287


11,216


12,865


Total costs and expenses


276,108


240,504


298,845

Income from operations


123,069


109,379


183,030









Non-operating income (loss):















    Impairment on, gain on sale of and
        fair value change of investments, net 


37,797


(1,499)


(12,936)

    Interest and other income , net


10,781


9,128


11,038




48,578


7,629


(1,898)









Income before income tax expenses


171,647


117,008


181,132

     Income tax expenses


(21,073)


(18,297)


(14,895)

Net income


150,574


98,711


166,237









    Less: Net income (loss) attributable to
    non-controlling interests

132


(374)


(270)









Net income attributable to Weibo

$        150,442


$           99,085


$        166,507

















Basic net income per share attributable to Weibo

$               0.67


$               0.44


$               0.74

Diluted net income per share attributable to Weibo

$               0.66


$               0.44


$               0.73









Shares used in computing basic







   net income per share attributable to Weibo

224,924


222,902


224,479

Shares used in computing diluted







   net income per share attributable to Weibo

232,894


225,971


232,558

















(1) Stock-based compensation in each category:








Cost of revenues


$             1,112


$             1,011


$               (618)


Sales and marketing


2,039


1,968


(1,205)


Product development


6,058


5,051


2,243


General and administrative


3,686


2,984


1,975

 

 

WEIBO CORPORATION

UNAUDITED CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED BALANCE SHEETS

(In thousands)








March 31,


December 31,



2019


2018






Assets





Current assets:





          Cash and cash equivalents


$                  826,990


$               1,234,596

          Short-term investments


666,244


591,269

          Accounts receivable, net


456,216


369,093

          Prepaid expenses and other current assets


269,863


168,821

          Amount due from SINA(1)


310,237


105,319

                Current assets subtotal


2,529,550


2,469,098






Property and equipment, net


47,114


45,623

Goodwill and intangible assets, net


50,838


50,449

Long-term investments


872,114


694,586

Other assets(2)


88,808


14,926

Total assets


$               3,588,424


$               3,274,682






Liabilities and Shareholders' Equity 





Liabilities:





     Current liabilities:





          Accounts payable


$                  153,337


$                  123,730

          Accrued expenses and other current liabilities(2)


378,133


317,437

          Deferred revenues


145,483


99,994

          Income tax payable


58,399


88,683

               Current liabilities subtotal


735,352


629,844






     Long-term liabilities:





          Convertible debt


885,158


884,123

          Other long-term liabilities(2)


22,306


12,577

               Total liabilities


1,642,816


1,526,544






Shareholders' equity :





     Weibo shareholders' equity 


1,942,702


1,745,459

     Non-controlling interests


2,906


2,679

          Total shareholders' equity 


1,945,608


1,748,138






Total liabilities and shareholders' equity 


$               3,588,424


$               3,274,682






(1) Included short-term loans to SINA of $233.9 million as of March 31, 2019 and $43.6 million as of December 31,
2018.






(2) The Company adopted the new leasing guidance (ASU 2016-2) started from January 1, 2019, which requires that
a lessee recognize the assets and liabilities that arise from operating leases. The Company recognized a right-of-use
asset and a liability relating to lease payments (the Lease Liability) in the statements of financial position for lease
contracts having terms beyond 12 months period. The adoption of new leasing guidance resulted in recognition of
$13.8 million of right-of-use asset and a total of $14.3 million of leasing liability as of March 31, 2019.

 

 

WEIBO CORPORATION

UNAUDITED RECONCILIATION OF NON-GAAP TO GAAP RESULTS

(In thousands, except per share data)



Three months ended


March 31, 2019


March 31, 2018


December 31, 2018

















Non-GAAP






Non-GAAP






Non-GAAP


Actual


Adjustments


Results


Actual


Adjustments


Results


Actual


Adjustments


Results



















Advertising and marketing

$            341,141




$      341,141


$    302,949




$    302,949


$    417,016




$    417,016

Value-added service

58,036




58,036


46,934




46,934


64,859




64,859

     Net revenues

$            399,177




$      399,177


$    349,883




$    349,883


$    481,875




$    481,875








































(12,895)

 (a) 





(11,014)

 (a) 





(2,395)

 (a) 





(860)

 (b) 





(169)

 (b) 





(925)

 (b) 


Total costs and expenses

$            276,108


$    (13,755)


$      262,353


$    240,504


$    (11,183)


$    229,321


$    298,845


$       (3,320)


$    295,525








































12,895

 (a) 





11,014

 (a) 





2,395

 (a) 





860

 (b) 





169

 (b) 





925

 (b) 


Income from operations

$            123,069


$      13,755


$      136,824


$    109,379


$      11,183


$    120,562


$    183,030


$        3,320


$    186,350








































12,895

 (a) 

















860

 (b) 





11,014

 (a) 





2,395

 (a) 





(37,797)

 (c) 





169

 (b) 





925

 (b) 





1,249

 (d) 





1,499

 (c) 





12,936

 (c) 





(45)

 (e) 





(118)

 (e) 





(64)

 (e) 





(126)

 (f) 





(42)

 (f) 





(145)

 (f) 





1,035

 (g) 





1,035

 (g) 





1,035

 (g) 


Net income attributable to Weibo

$            150,442


$    (21,929)


$      128,513


$      99,085


$      13,557


$    112,642


$    166,507


$      17,082


$    183,589



















Diluted net income per share attributable to Weibo

$                   0.66*




$             0.56*


$           0.44




$           0.50*


$           0.73*




$           0.80*



















Shares used in computing  diluted


















    net income per share attributable to Weibo

232,894




232,894


225,971


6,753

 (h) 

232,724


232,558




232,558



















Adjusted EBITDA:




































     Non-GAAP net income attributable to Weibo





$      128,513






$    112,642






$    183,589

          Interest income,net





(14,208)






(10,909)






(11,476)

          Income tax expenses





21,199






18,339






15,040

          Depreciation expenses





5,305






4,521






4,915

     Adjusted EBITDA





$      140,809






$    124,593






$    192,068





































(a)  To exclude stock-based compensation.

(b)  To exclude amortization of intangible assets.

(c)  To exclude net results of impairment on, gain on sale of and fair value change of investments.

(d) To exclude the non-GAAP to GAAP reconciling items on the share of equity method investments.

(e)  To exclude non-GAAP to GAAP reconciling items for the income/loss attributable to non-controlling interests.

(f)  To exclude the provision for income tax related to item (b). Other non-GAAP to GAAP reconciling items have no income tax effect.

       The Company considered the tax implication arising from the reconciliation items and part of these items recorded in entities in tax free jurisdictions were without relevant tax implications.

       For impairment on investments, valuation allowances were made for those differences the Company does not expect they can be realized in the foreseeable future.

(g)  To exclude the amortization of convertible debt issuance cost. 

(h) To adjust the number of shares for dilution resulted from convertible debt which were anti-dilutive under GAAP measures.


*  Net income attributable to Weibo is adjusted for interest expense of convertible debt for calculating diluted EPS.

 

 

WEIBO CORPORATION

UNAUDITED ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

(In thousands)










Three months ended



March 31,


December 31,



2019


2018


2018








Net revenues







Advertising and marketing







     Small & medium-sized enterprises and key accounts

$      324,506


$     276,613


$        385,464


     Alibaba

16,635


26,336


31,552


         Subtotal

341,141


302,949


417,016









Value-added service

58,036


46,934


64,859



$      399,177


$     349,883


$        481,875

 

 

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SOURCE Weibo Corporation

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