Chinese Internet portal SINA Corporation (NASDAQ: SINA) reported a sharp rise in its second-quarter earnings and revenue, sending the company’s shares sharply higher in trading on Thursday. However, the company cautioned that its rapidly growing Weibo microblog service is not likely to generate significant operating profit for the year.
For the quarter ended June 30, 2012, the Shanghai-based company reported a profit of $33.2 million, or $0.49 per share, compared to $10 million reported for the same period in the previous year. Revenue for the quarter jumped 10.5% to $131.6 million.
SINA’s second-quarter revenue were negatively impacted by a relatively soft Chinese advertising market, the company’s CEO, Charles Chao said in a conference call. Chao said that advertising revenue growth was expected to accelerate in the current quarter.
SINA’s online advertising revenue for the second quarter of 2012 was $103.1 million, compared to $91.8 million reported for the same period in the previous year.
Gross margin for the second quarter of 2012 was 53%, compared to 57% reported for the same period in the previous year. Advertising gross margin for the quarter also came in at 53%, compared to 59% reported for the same period in the previous year.
Chao said that SINA’s investment in Weibo.com is showing continued traffic momentum, which helps strengthen SINA’s brand, media influence and high-end user reach as well as positions the company to grow its market share in online advertising.
Looking ahead to the third quarter, SINA expects non-GAAP revenue to come in between $145 million and $148 million. Advertising revenue for the quarter is expected to come in between $120 million and $122 million. Non-GAAP non-advertising revenue for the quarter is expected to be between $25 million and $26 million.
SINA shares rose to an intra-day high of $58.20 on Thursday as investors digested the company’s latest quarterly results. At last check, the stock was trading 12.02% higher at $57.02 on above average volume of 12.57 million.
Year-to-date, SINA shares gained 9.67%, compared to a gain of 17.66% for the NASDAQ.
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