UNITED STATES

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

Washington, D.C. 20549

 

 

 

FORM 6-K

 

 

 

REPORT OF FOREIGN PRIVATE ISSUER

PURSUANT TO RULE 13a-16 OR 15d-16

OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934

 

For the month of September 2022

 

Commission File Number: 001-36397

 

 

 

Weibo Corporation

(Registrant’s Name)

 


 

8/F, QIHAO Plaza, No. 8 Xinyuan S. Road
Chaoyang District, Beijing 100027
People’s Republic of China

 

(Address of Principal Executive Offices)

 

 

 

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant files or will file annual reports under cover Form 20-F or Form 40-F.

 

Form 20-F x      Form 40-F ¨

 

Indicate by check mark if the registrant is submitting the Form 6-K in paper as permitted by Regulation S-T Rule 101(b)(1): ¨

 

Indicate by check mark if the registrant is submitting the Form 6-K in paper as permitted by Regulation S-T Rule 101(b)(7): ¨

 

 

 

 

 

 

Exhibit Index

 

Exhibit 99.1 — Press Release regarding Financial Results for Second Quarter Ended June 30, 2022 issued by Weibo Corporation on September 1, 2022

 

 

 

 

SIGNATURES

 

Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the registrant has duly caused this report to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned, thereunto duly authorized.

 

  WEIBO CORPORATION
   
   
Date: September 1, 2022 By: /s/ Fei Cao
    Fei Cao
    Chief Financial Officer

 

 

 

 

Exhibit 99.1

 

Weibo Reports Second Quarter 2022 Unaudited Financial Results

 

BEIJING, China – September 1, 2022 – Weibo Corporation (“Weibo” or the “Company”) (NASDAQ: WB and HKEX: 9898), a leading social media in China, today announced its unaudited financial results for the second quarter ended June 30, 2022.

 

“We navigated through the challenges from COVID-19 resurgence in the second quarter,” said Gaofei Wang, CEO of Weibo. “Our user community and engagement continued with healthy trend despite cutback in channel investment, leveraging our unique positioning and competitive advantage in the social media sector. On monetization, although broad-based headwinds weighed on advertising demand in the near term, we are encouraged to see resilient performance of certain sectors and the gradual pick-up of the overall advertising business after the pandemic. Weibo also delivered a non-GAAP operating margin of 32% in the second quarter, which further improved from the first quarter of 2022, as we executed against our efficiency initiatives to optimize costs and expenses. Looking ahead, we remain confident in our differentiated value proposition and long-term monetization opportunities.”

 

Second Quarter 2022 Highlights

 

·Net revenues were $450.2 million, a decrease of 22% year-over-year or a decrease of 19% year-over-year on a constant currency basis [1].

 

·Advertising and marketing revenues were $385.6 million, a decrease of 23% year-over-year.

 

·Value-added services (“VAS”) revenues were $64.6 million, a decrease of 10% year-over-year.

 

·Income from operations was $93.9 million, representing an operating margin of 21%.

 

·Net income attributable to Weibo’s shareholders was $28.3 million and diluted net income per share was $0.12.

 

·Non-GAAP income from operations was $145.3 million, representing a non-GAAP operating margin of 32%.

 

·Non-GAAP net income attributable to Weibo’s shareholders was $109.7 million and non-GAAP diluted net income per share was $0.46.

 

·Monthly active users (“MAUs”) were 582 million in June 2022, a net addition of approximately 16 million users on a year-over-year basis. Mobile MAUs represented 95% of MAUs.

 

·Average daily active users (“DAUs”) were 252 million in June 2022, a net addition of approximately 7 million users on a year-over-year basis.

 

[1] On a constant currency (non-GAAP) basis, we assume that the exchange rate in the second quarter of 2022 had been the same as it was in the second quarter of 2021, or RMB6.45=US$1.00.

 

 

 

 

Second Quarter 2022 Financial Results

 

For the second quarter of 2022, Weibo’s total net revenues were $450.2 million, a decrease of 22% compared to $574.5 million for the same period last year.

 

Advertising and marketing revenues for the second quarter of 2022 were $385.6 million, a decrease of 23% compared to $502.3 million for the same period last year. Advertising and marketing revenues excluding ad revenues from Alibaba were $361.8 million, a decrease of 22% compared to $462.4 million for the same period last year. The decrease was primarily resulted from challenges from COVID-19 resurgence and restriction and lockdown in major areas of China, as well as macro uncertainties which have a broad-based negative impact on the advertising industry in China.

 

VAS revenues for the second quarter of 2022 were $64.6 million, a decrease of 10% year-over-year compared to $72.1 million for the same period last year. The decrease of VAS revenues was mainly due to less revenue contribution from membership service and game-related services.

 

Costs and expenses for the second quarter of 2022 totaled $356.2 million, a decrease of 7% compared to $381.2 million for the same period last year. The decrease was primarily resulted from a 25% year-over-year decrease of sales and marketing expenses, due to our disciplined channel investments.

 

Income from operations for the second quarter of 2022 was $93.9 million, compared to $193.2 million for the same period last year. Operating margin was 21%, compared to 34% last year. Non-GAAP income from operations was $145.3 million, compared to $223.2 million for the same period last year. Non-GAAP operating margin was 32%, compared to 39% last year.

 

Non-operating loss for the second quarter of 2022 was $47.4 million, compared to a loss of $65.3 million for the same period last year. Non-operating loss for the second quarter of 2022 mainly included (i) a $21.7 million net interest and other loss; (ii) an $18.7 million net loss from fair value change of investments, which was excluded under non-GAAP measures; (iii) a $7.0 million investment related impairment, which was excluded under non-GAAP measures.

 

Income tax expenses were $17.5 million, compared to $46.9 million for the same period last year.

 

 

 

 

Net income attributable to Weibo’s shareholders for the second quarter of 2022 was $28.3 million, compared to $81.0 million for the same period last year. Diluted net income per share attributable to Weibo’s shareholders for the second quarter of 2022 was $0.12, compared to $0.35 for the same period last year. Non-GAAP net income attributable to Weibo’s shareholders for the second quarter of 2022 was $109.7 million, compared to $182.8 million for the same period last year. Non-GAAP diluted net income per share attributable to Weibo’s shareholders for the second quarter of 2022 was $0.46, compared to $0.79 for the same period last year.

 

As of June 30, 2022, Weibo’s cash, cash equivalents and short-term investments totaled $3.0 billion. For the second quarter of 2022, cash provided by operating activities was $83.0 million, capital expenditures totaled $14.8 million, and depreciation and amortization expenses amounted to $14.1 million.

 

Environmental, Social and Governance (“ESG”)

 

Weibo released its first annual ESG report in August 2022, which details Weibo’s initiatives and performance in the respect of environmental, social and governance, with focuses on the concerns of stakeholders (http://ir.weibo.com/esg).

 

Conference Call

 

Weibo's management team will host a conference call from 7:00 AM to 8:00 AM Eastern Time on September 1, 2022 (or 7:00 PM – 8:00 PM Beijing Time on September 1, 2022) to present an overview of the Company's financial performance and business operations.

 

Participants who wish to dial in to the teleconference must register through the below public participant link. Dial in and instruction will be in the confirmation email upon registering.

 

Participants Registration Link:

https://register.vevent.com/register/BIafafec22bbd342a7aa40d105c47d0e6b

 

This call will be webcast live and the replay will be available for 12 months. Both will be available through the Company's corporate website at http://ir.weibo.com.

 

Non-GAAP Financial Measures

 

This release contains the following non-GAAP financial measures: non-GAAP income from operations, non-GAAP net income attributable to Weibo’s shareholders, non-GAAP diluted net income per share attributable to Weibo’s shareholders 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 resulting from business acquisitions, non-cash compensation cost to non-controlling interest shareholders, impairment of intangible assets, net results of impairment on, gain/loss 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, income tax expense related to the amortization and impairment of intangible assets resulting from business acquisitions and fair value change of investments (other non-GAAP to GAAP reconciling items have no tax effect), and amortization of convertible debt and senior notes 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 announcements, circulars or other publications made on the website of The Stock Exchange of Hong Kong Limited (the “Hong Kong Stock Exchange”), 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; the continued impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the Company’s operations and on general economic conditions; risks associated with weak or uncertain global economic conditions and their impact on the level of expenditures on advertising; risks associated with unrest, terrorist threats and the war in Ukraine and the associated global effects; 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 and the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. 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 of U.S. dollars, except per share data)

 

   Three months ended   Six months ended 
   June 30,   March 31,   June 30, 
   2022   2021   2022   2022   2021 
Net revenues:                         
Advertising and marketing  $385,559   $502,338   $427,121   $812,680   $892,349 
Value-added services   64,593    72,128    57,501    122,094    141,013 
Net revenues   450,152    574,466    484,622    934,774    1,033,362 
                          
Costs and expenses:                         
Cost of revenues (1)   95,314    92,548    104,801    200,115    172,318 
Sales and marketing (1)   115,512    154,393    125,311    240,823    298,368 
Product development (1)   106,403    101,419    112,434    218,837    197,985 
General and administrative (1)   28,809    32,869    39,227    68,036    62,850 
Impairment of intangible assets   10,176    -    -    10,176    - 
Total costs and expenses   356,214    381,229    381,773    737,987    731,521 
Income from operations   93,938    193,237    102,849    196,787    301,841 
                          
Non-operating loss:                         
Impairment on, gain/loss on sale of and fair value change of investments, net   (25,676)   (76,814)   (177,950)   (203,626)   (135,014)
Interest and other income (loss), net   (21,721)   11,474    14,416    (7,305)   24,978 
    (47,397)   (65,340)   (163,534)   (210,931)   (110,036)
                          
Income (loss) before income tax expenses   46,541    127,897    (60,685)   (14,144)   191,805 
Income tax expenses   (17,502)   (46,910)   (11,716)   (29,218)   (61,855)
                          
Net income (loss)   29,039    80,987    (72,401)   (43,362)   129,950 
Less: Net income (loss) attributable to non-controlling interests   739    (41)   (4,877)   (4,138)   (898)
Net income (loss) attributable to Weibo's shareholders  $28,300   $81,028   $(67,524)  $(39,224)  $130,848 
                          
Basic net income (loss) per share attributable to Weibo's shareholders  $0.12   $0.36   $(0.29)  $(0.17)  $0.57 
Diluted net income (loss) per share attributable to Weibo's shareholders  $0.12   $0.35   $(0.29)  $(0.17)  $0.57 
                          
Shares used in computing basic net income (loss) per share attributable to Weibo's shareholders   235,521    228,099    235,206    235,364    227,936 
Shares used in computing diluted net income (loss) per share attributable to Weibo's shareholders   237,025    229,555    235,206    235,364    229,429 
                          
(1) Stock-based compensation in each category:                         
Cost of revenues  $2,716   $1,827   $2,337   $5,053   $3,240 
Sales and marketing   5,502    3,298    4,615    10,117    5,549 
Product development   16,760    10,137    13,336    30,096    18,213 
General and administrative   6,483    5,206    6,763    13,246    9,219 

 

 

 

 

WEIBO CORPORATION

UNAUDITED CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED BALANCE SHEETS

(In thousands of U.S. dollars)

 

   June 30,   December 31, 
   2022   2021 
Assets
Current assets:          
Cash and cash equivalents  $2,336,454   $2,423,703 
Short-term investments   680,675    711,062 
Accounts receivable, net   519,029    723,089 
Prepaid expenses and other current assets   481,738    450,726 
Amount due from SINA(1)   492,330    494,200 
Current assets subtotal   4,510,226    4,802,780 
           
Property and equipment, net   61,185    68,396 
Goodwill and intangible assets, net   260,975    297,335 
Long-term investments   1,102,548    1,207,651 
Other non-current assets   1,268,566    1,143,360 
Total assets  $7,203,500   $7,519,522 
           
Liabilities, Redeemable Non-controlling Interests and Shareholders’ Equity 
Liabilities:          
Current liabilities:          
Accounts payable  $175,754   $197,643 
Accrued expenses and other current liabilities   756,960    828,952 
Deferred revenues   91,397    91,136 
Income tax payable   78,052    144,747 
Convertible debt   898,612    896,541 
Current liabilities subtotal   2,000,775    2,159,019 
           
Long-term liabilities:          
Unsecured senior notes   1,539,566    1,538,415 
Other long-term liabilities   130,561    134,068 
Total liabilities   3,670,902    3,831,502 
           
Redeemable non-controlling interests   69,496    66,622 
           
Shareholders’ equity :          
Weibo shareholders’ equity   3,441,610    3,593,821 
Non-controlling interests   21,492    27,577 
Total shareholders’ equity   3,463,102    3,621,398 
Total liabilities, redeemable non-controlling interests and shareholders’ equity  $7,203,500   $7,519,522 

 

(1) Included short-term loans to and interest receivable from SINA of $465.4 million as of June 30, 2022 and $479.6 million as of December 31, 2021.

 

 

 

WEIBO CORPORATION

UNAUDITED RECONCILIATION OF NON-GAAP TO GAAP RESULTS

(In thousands of U.S. dollars, except per share data)

 

   Three months ended   Six months ended 
   June 30,   March 31,   June 30, 
   2022   2021   2022   2022   2021 
Income from operations  $93,938   $193,237   $102,849   $196,787   $301,841 
Add: Stock-based compensation   31,461    20,468    27,051    58,512    36,221 
Amortization of intangible assets resulting from business acquisitions   4,895    4,876    5,751    10,646    9,395 
Non-cash compensation cost to non-controlling interest shareholders   4,824    4,649    6,074    10,898    13,280 
Impairment of intangible assets   10,176    -    -    10,176    - 
Non-GAAP income from operations  $145,294   $223,230   $141,725   $287,019   $360,737 
                          
Net income (loss) attributable to Weibo's shareholders  $28,300   $81,028   $(67,524)  $(39,224)  $130,848 
Add: Stock-based compensation   31,461    20,468    27,051    58,512    36,221 
Amortization of intangible assets resulting from business acquisitions   4,895    4,876    5,751    10,646    9,395 
Non-cash compensation cost to non-controlling interest shareholders   4,824    4,649    6,074    10,898    13,280 
Impairment of intangible assets   10,176    -    -    10,176    - 
Net results of impairment on, gain/loss on sale of and fair value change of investments   25,676    76,814    177,950    203,626    135,014 
Non-GAAP to GAAP reconciling items on the share of equity method investments   8,571    (8,091)   (2,654)   5,917    (9,166)
Non-GAAP to GAAP reconciling items for the income/loss attributable to non-controlling interests   (278)   (198)   (4,631)   (4,909)   161 
Tax effects on non-GAAP adjustments(1)   (5,541)   1,648    (10,771)   (16,312)   (5,500)
Amortization of convertible debt and unsecured senior notes issuance cost   1,611    1,611    1,611    3,222    3,223 
Non-GAAP net income attributable to Weibo's shareholders  $109,695   $182,805   $132,857   $242,552   $313,476 
                          
Non-GAAP diluted net income per share attributable to Weibo's shareholders  $0.46*   $0.79*   $0.56*   $1.02*   $1.35* 
                          
Shares used in computing GAAP diluted net income (loss) per share attributable to Weibo's shareholders   237,025    229,555    235,206    235,364    229,429 
Add:   The number of shares for dilution resulted from convertible debt(2)   6,753    6,753    6,753    6,753    6,753 
The number of shares for dilution resulted from unvested restricted share units(2)   -    -    447    976    - 
Shares used in computing non-GAAP diluted net income per share attributable to Weibo's shareholders   243,778    236,308    242,406    243,093    236,182 
                          
Adjusted EBITDA:                         
Net income (loss) attributable to Weibo's shareholders  $28,300   $81,028   $(67,524)  $(39,224)  $130,848 
Non-GAAP adjustments   81,395    101,777    200,381    281,776    182,628 
Non-GAAP net income attributable to Weibo's shareholders   109,695    182,805    132,857    242,552    313,476 
Interest income,net   (8,443)   (3,848)   (10,986)   (19,429)   (7,787)
Income tax expenses   23,043    45,262    22,487    45,530    67,355 
Depreciation expenses   8,616    8,204    8,730    17,346    16,113 
Adjusted EBITDA  $132,911   $232,423   $153,088   $285,999   $389,157 

 

(1)To exclude the income tax expenses primarily related to amortization and impairment of intangible assets resulting from business acquisitions and fair value change of investments. The Company considered the tax implication arising from the reconciliation items. Part of these items were recorded in entities established in tax free jurisdictions and there were no relevant tax implications. For impairment on investments, valuation allowances were made for those differences as the Company does not expect they can be realized in the foreseeable future.

 

(2)To adjust the number of shares for dilution resulted from convertible debt and unvested restricted share units which were anti-dilutive under GAAP measures.

 

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

 

 

 

 

WEIBO CORPORATION

UNAUDITED ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

(In thousands of U.S. dollars)

 

   Three months ended   Six months ended 
   June 30,   March 31,   June 30, 
   2022   2021   2022   2022   2021 
Net revenues                         
Advertising and marketing                         
Non-Ali advertisers  $361,831   $462,372   $401,196   $763,027   $819,083 
Alibaba - as an advertiser   23,728    39,966    25,925    49,653    73,266 
Subtotal   385,559    502,338    427,121    812,680    892,349 
                          
Value-added services   64,593    72,128    57,501    122,094    141,013 
   $450,152   $574,466   $484,622   $934,774   $1,033,362