Weibo posts huge jump in profit for third quarter

Sina's microblogging platform said profit in the third quarter jumped 63 percent to US$165 million, thanks to booming advertising income and new social formats such as live-streaming. 

Revenue in the three months ended September was up 44 percent to $460.2 million, with advertising and marketing revenue climbing 48 percent from a year earlier to US$409.3 million. 

Value-added services brought in US$50.9 million, still a relatively small contributor to overall income. 

Weibo has also acquired live streaming service provider YI Live Broadcasting to strengthen its content offering and enhance user engagement, but the deal would mean relatively little revenue contribution in the short term as product integration will take one or two quarters.  

"We will continue to focus on optimizing the user product experience and to feature Weibo's unique advantages in content creation, consumption and user social interaction, which will help enhance Weibo's monetization potential in the long term,” commented Weibo Chief Executive Officer Wang Gaofei. 

It estimates net revenue to be between US$480 million and US$490 million in the fourth quarter, representing around 35 percent to 38 percent annual growth.

BOCOM International wrote in a research note today that revenue growth is generally in line with expectation, but future growth will probably come under pressure with budget cuts in large-ticket-size consumer sectors as a result of uncertainty over the macroeconomic situation.