Weibo revenue nearly doubles amid greater ad spending

Microblogging site Weibo reported strong profit in the second quarter, nearly doubling from a year ago thanks to climbing ad income. 

Net income under non-GAAP rules jumped 95 percent from the same period last year to US$112.6 million, and revenue climbed 76 percent, according to a stock exchange filing yesterday. 

Advertising revenue grew 79 percent to US$303 million, driven by increased ad spending from larges advertisers who saw better returns on their investments on the social platform.

“Our focus on growing user scale, deepening collaboration with the top IP content providers, media, celebrities and key opinion leaders on content, plus strengthening platform effect and social impact will further help entice more advertisers to increase their ad spending on Weibo,” chief executive officer Wang Gaofei said.

The social platform said 19 million new monthly active users joined during the first quarter, now totaling 411 million, as many as 93 percent of whom visited the site on mobile devices. 

Weibo is expecting revenue of between US$420 million and US$430 million in the second quarter, against analysts’ estimates of US$417.1 million. 

BOCOM International said in a research note today that it’s optimistic about the growth of Weibo’s monetization given the increasing adoption of video advertising and the potential to increase advertising prices.