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Weibo Reports First Quarter 2021 Unaudited Financial Results

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Weibo Corporation (NASDAQ: WB) reported unaudited financial results for Q1 2021, showcasing a 42% year-over-year increase in net revenues to $458.9 million. Advertising and marketing revenues also rose by 42% to $390.0 million, with VAS revenues up 44% to $68.9 million. Operating income was $108.6 million, reflecting a 24% operating margin. Despite strong revenue growth, net income declined to $49.8 million from $52.1 million year-over-year. Weibo projects Q2 2021 revenues to grow by 25% to 30% year-over-year.

Positive
  • Net revenues increased 42% year-over-year to $458.9 million.
  • Advertising and marketing revenues rose 42% year-over-year to $390.0 million.
  • VAS revenues grew 44% year-over-year to $68.9 million.
  • Operating margin improved to 24% from 18% year-over-year.
  • Non-GAAP diluted EPS increased to $0.57 from $0.30 year-over-year.
Negative
  • Net income decreased to $49.8 million from $52.1 million year-over-year.
  • Monthly active users (MAUs) declined 4% year-over-year to 530 million.
  • Average daily active users (DAUs) fell 5% year-over-year to 230 million.
  • Non-operating loss of $44.7 million compared to an income of $10 million last year.

BEIJING, May 10, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Weibo Corporation ("Weibo" or the "Company") (NASDAQ: WB), a leading social media in China, today announced its unaudited financial results for first quarter ended March 31, 2021.

"We started the year of 2021 with a strong quarter," said Gaofei Wang, CEO of Weibo. "Weibo's user base and engagement continued to grow from prior quarter, leveraging our effective channel investments, enriched video offerings and our strength in social distribution and hot trends. On the monetization front, we are glad to see broad-based year-over-year growth across industries and robust momentum with certain differentiated ad products, demonstrating our competitiveness in fulfilling advertiser's increasing brand plus performance needs." Mr. Wang concluded.

First Quarter 2021 Highlights

  • Net revenues were $458.9 million, an increase of 42% year-over-year or an increase of 31% year-over-year on a constant currency basis [1].
  • Advertising and marketing revenues were $390.0 million, an increase of 42% year-over-year.
  • Value-added service ("VAS") revenues were $68.9 million, an increase of 44% year-over-year.
  • Income from operations was $108.6 million, representing an operating margin of 24%.
  • Non-GAAP income from operations was $137.5 million, representing a non-GAAP operating margin of 30%.
  • Net income attributable to Weibo was $49.8 million and diluted net income per share was $0.22.
  • Non-GAAP net income attributable to Weibo was $130.7 million and non-GAAP diluted net income per share was $0.57.
  • Monthly active users ("MAUs") were 530 million in March 2021, a decrease of 4% year-over-year and an increase of 2% quarter-over-quarter. Mobile MAUs represented 94% of MAUs.
  • Average daily active users ("DAUs") were 230 million in March 2021, a decrease of 5% year-over-year and an increase of 2% quarter-over-quarter.

[1] On a constant currency (non-GAAP) basis, we assume that the exchange rate in the first quarter of 2021 had been the same as it was in the first quarter of 2020, or RMB 6.98=US$1.00.

First Quarter 2021 Financial Results

For the first quarter of 2021, Weibo's total net revenues were $458.9 million, an increase of 42% compared to $323.4 million for the same period last year.

Advertising and marketing revenues for the first quarter of 2021 were $390.0 million, an increase of 42% compared to $275.4 million for the same period last year. Advertising and marketing revenues excluding ad revenues from Alibaba were $356.7 million, an increase of 44% compared to $247.9 million for the same period last year, primarily attributable to broad-based robust growth of ad spend across industries from the trough for the same period last year.

VAS revenues for the first quarter of 2021 were $68.9 million, an increase of 44% year-over-year compared to $48.0 million for the same period last year, mainly attributable to revenues derived from the interactive entertainment company acquired in November 2020.

Costs and expenses for the first quarter of 2021 totaled $350.3 million, an increase of 32% compared to $265.4 million for the same period last year. The increase was primarily due to increased marketing expense and higher personal related cost.

Income from operations for the first quarter of 2021 was $108.6 million, compared to $58.0 million for the same period last year. Operating margin was 24%, compared to 18% last year. Non-GAAP income from operations was $137.5 million, compared to $74.1 million for the same period last year. Non-GAAP operating margin was 30%, compared to 23% last year.

Non-operating loss for the first quarter of 2021 was $44.7million, compared to an income of $10.0 million for the same period last year. Non-operating loss for the first quarter of 2021 mainly included (i) a $58.2 million net loss on sale of and fair value change of investments, which is excluded under non-GAAP measures; and (ii) a $13.5 million net interest and other income. 

Income tax expense were $14.9 million, compared to $15.9 million for the same period last year.

Net income attributable to Weibo for the first quarter of 2021 was $49.8 million, compared to $52.1 million for the same period last year. Diluted net income per share attributable to Weibo for the first quarter of 2021 was $0.22, at similar level for the same period last year. Non-GAAP net income attributable to Weibo for the first quarter of 2021 was $130.7 million, compared to $67.4 million for the same period last year. Non-GAAP diluted net income per share attributable to Weibo for the first quarter of 2021 was $0.57, compared to $0.30 for the same period last year.

As of March 31, 2021, Weibo's cash, cash equivalents and short-term investments totaled $3.41 billion. For the first quarter of 2021, cash provided by operating activities was $244.3 million, capital expenditures totaled $6.0 million, and depreciation and amortization expenses amounted to $12.4 million.

Appointment of Independent Director

The Company announced that its board of directors has appointed Mr. Yan Wang as an independent director of the Company. Mr. Wang served as a director of SINA Corporation, the parent of the Company from May 2003 to March 2021 and also held various executive roles in SINA since its inception. The appointment is effective immediately.

Business Outlook

For the second quarter of 2021, Weibo estimates its net revenues to increase by 25% to 30% year-over-year on a constant currency basis. This forecast reflects Weibo's current and preliminary view, which is subject to change.

Conference Call

Weibo's management team will host a conference call from 7:00 AM to 8:00 AM Eastern Time on May 10, 2021 (or 7:00 PM8:00 PM Beijing Time on May 10, 2021) to present an overview of the Company's financial performance and business operations.

Please register in advance of the conference call using the link provided below. Upon registering, you will be provided with dial-in numbers, passcode and unique registrant ID by email. To join the conference, please use the conference access information provided in the email received at the point of registering.

PRE-REGISTER LINK: http://apac.directeventreg.com/registration/event/2687308

Additionally, a live webcast of the call will be available through the Company's corporate website at http://ir.weibo.com.

A telephone replay will be available from 22:00 PM China Standard Time on May 10, 2021 to 20:59 PM China Standard Time on May 17, 2021. To access the recording, please use the following dial-in information listed below:

United States:            

+1 855 452 5696

Hong Kong:               

800 963 117

Mainland China: 

400 602 2065

International:    

+61 2 8199 0299

Replay PIN:     

2687308

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, non-cash compensation cost to non-controlling interest shareholders, 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, provision for income tax primarily related to the amortization of intangible assets and fair value change of investments, and amortization of convertible debt and unsecured senior notes issuance cost. Adjusted EBITDA excludes interest income, net, income tax expenses (benefit), 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 of U.S. dollars, except per share data)






















Three months ended





March 31,


December 31,





2021


2020


2020


Net revenues:








     Advertising and marketing


$         390,011


$         275,422


$         453,477


     Value-added service


68,885


47,967


59,933



Net revenues


458,896


323,389


513,410











Costs and expenses:








     Cost of revenues (1)


79,770


74,110


87,288


     Sales and marketing (1)


143,975


99,102


139,136


     Product development(1)


96,566


74,409


90,229


     General and administrative(1)


29,981


17,753


15,113



Total costs and expenses


350,292


265,374


331,766


Income from operations


108,604


58,015


181,644











Non-operating income (loss):








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


(58,200)


(2,938)


(185,371)


    Interest and other income , net


13,504


12,905


9,531





(44,696)


9,967


(175,840)











Income before income tax expenses


63,908


67,982


5,804


     Benefit (provision) of income taxes


(14,945)


(15,883)


25,314











Net income


48,963


52,099


31,118


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


(857)


(9)


2,076


Net income attributable to Weibo's shareholders


$           49,820


$           52,108


$           29,042




















Basic net income per share attributable to Weibo's shareholders

$                0.22


$                0.23


$                0.13


Diluted net income per share attributable to Weibo's shareholders

$                0.22


$                0.23


$                0.13











Shares used in computing basic net income 








    per share attributable to Weibo's shareholders


227,771


226,392


227,495


Shares used in computing diluted net income 








    per share attributable to Weibo's shareholders


229,302


227,029


228,489











(1) Stock-based compensation in each category:









Cost of revenues


$               1,413


$               1,347


$               1,475



Sales and marketing


2,251


2,216


3,097



Product development


8,076


6,909


10,203



General and administrative


4,013


4,822


4,545


 

 

WEIBO CORPORATION

UNAUDITED CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED BALANCE SHEETS

(In thousands of U.S. dollars)















March 31,


December 31,







2021


2020











Assets


Current assets:









Cash and cash equivalents


$           2,292,740


$           1,814,844





Short-term investments


1,118,452


1,682,048





Accounts receivable, net


511,327


492,010





Prepaid expenses and other current assets


382,912


296,757





Amount due from SINA(1)


505,976


548,900





      Current assets subtotal


4,811,407


4,834,559












Property and equipment, net


59,899


60,632



Goodwill and intangible assets, net


205,405


208,688



Long-term investments


1,206,307


1,179,466



Other non-current assets


213,641


51,772



Total assets


$           6,496,659


$           6,335,117











Liabilities, Redeemable Non-controlling Interests and Shareholders' Equity 


Liabilities:








Current liabilities:









Accounts payable


$               152,332


$               149,509





Accrued expenses and other current liabilities


633,142


562,333





Deferred revenues


148,055


143,684





Income tax payable


122,454


102,844





     Current liabilities subtotal


1,055,983


958,370













Long-term liabilities:









Convertible debt


893,435


892,399





Unsecured senior notes


1,536,688


1,536,112





Other long-term liabilities


58,767


61,906





     Total liabilities


3,544,873


3,448,787












Redeemable non-controlling interests


64,197


57,714












Shareholders' equity :








Weibo shareholders' equity 


2,870,359


2,812,425




Non-controlling interests


17,230


16,191





Total shareholders' equity 


2,887,589


2,828,616












Total liabilities, redeemable non-controlling interests and
shareholders' equity


$           6,496,659


$           6,335,117












(1) Included short-term loans to and interest receivable from SINA of $522.5 million as of  March 31, 2021
and $547.9 million as of December 31, 2020.

 

 

WEIBO CORPORATION

UNAUDITED RECONCILIATION OF NON-GAAP TO GAAP RESULTS

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


















Three months ended






March 31,



December 31,






2021


2020


2020















Income from operations

$

108,604


$

58,015


$

181,644


  Add:

Stock-based compensation



15,753



15,294



19,320



Amortization of intangible assets



4,519



828



3,174



Non-cash compensation cost to non-controlling interest shareholders



8,631



-



-


Non-GAAP income from operations

$

137,507


$

74,137


$

204,138















Net income attributable to Weibo's shareholders

$

49,820


$

52,108


$

29,042


  Add:

Stock-based compensation



15,753



15,294



19,320



Amortization of intangible assets



4,519



828



3,174



Non-cash compensation cost to non-controlling interest shareholders



8,631



-



-



Net results of impairment on, gain/loss on sale of and fair value change of investments



58,200



2,938



185,371



Non-GAAP to GAAP reconciling items on the share of equity method investments 



(1,075)



(5,285)



(6,399)



Non-GAAP to GAAP reconciling items for the income/loss attributable to non-controlling interests

359



3



(562)



Tax effects on non-GAAP adjustments(1)



(7,148)



172



(18,889)



Amortization of convertible debt and unsecured senior notes issuance cost



1,612



1,369



1,611


Non-GAAP net income attributable to Weibo's shareholders

$

130,671


$

67,427


$

212,668















Non-GAAP diluted net income per share attributable to Weibo's shareholders

$

0.57

*

$

0.30


$

0.92

*














Shares used in computing GAAP diluted net income per share attributable to Weibo's shareholders


229,302



227,029



228,489


  Add:

The number of shares for dilution resulted from convertible debt(2)



6,753



-



6,753


Shares used in computing non-GAAP diluted net income per share attributable to
Weibo's shareholders



236,055



227,029



235,242















Adjusted EBITDA:












Non-GAAP net income attributable to Weibo's shareholders


$

130,671


$

67,427


$

212,668




Interest income,net



(3,939)



(13,349)



(4,021)




Income tax expenses (benefits)



22,093



15,711



(6,425)




Depreciation expenses



7,909



5,974



7,511



Adjusted EBITDA


$

156,734


$

75,763


$

209,733




























(1)  To exclude the provision for income tax primarily related to amortization of intangible assets and fair value change of investments.





       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 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 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




March 31,


December 31,




2021


2020


2020










Net revenues








Advertising and marketing








     Non-Ali advertisers

$      356,711


$      247,855


$      393,945



     Alibaba - as an advertiser

33,300


27,567


59,532



         Subtotal

390,011


275,422


453,477











Value-added service

68,885


47,967


59,933




$      458,896


$      323,389


$      513,410


 

 

Cision View original content:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/weibo-reports-first-quarter-2021-unaudited-financial-results-301287361.html

SOURCE Weibo Corporation

FAQ

What were Weibo's Q1 2021 financial results?

Weibo reported net revenues of $458.9 million, a 42% increase year-over-year, with net income of $49.8 million.

How did Weibo's advertising revenue perform in Q1 2021?

Advertising and marketing revenues increased by 42% to $390.0 million in Q1 2021.

What is Weibo's outlook for Q2 2021?

Weibo estimates its net revenues to increase by 25% to 30% year-over-year for Q2 2021.

What were Weibo's user engagement metrics in Q1 2021?

Monthly active users decreased by 4% year-over-year, totaling 530 million, while daily active users fell by 5% to 230 million.

What was Weibo's diluted net income per share for Q1 2021?

Diluted net income per share was $0.22, consistent with the prior year.

Weibo Corporation

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