SINA Increases Sales but Misses Estimates on Earnings

Seth Jayson, The Motley Fool
Updated

SINA (NAS: SINA) reported earnings on Feb. 27. Here are the numbers you need to know.

The 10-second takeaway
For the quarter ended Dec. 31 (Q4), SINA met expectations on revenue and missed estimates on earnings per share.

Compared to the prior-year quarter, revenue expanded significantly and GAAP earnings per share increased.

Gross margin dropped, operating margin shrank, and net margin grew.

Revenue details
SINA recorded revenue of $133.4 million. The 20 analysts polled by S&P Capital IQ foresaw sales of $132.1 million on the same basis. GAAP reported sales were 21% higher than the prior-year quarter's $110.0 million.

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Source: S&P Capital IQ. Quarterly periods. Dollar amounts in millions. Non-GAAP figures may vary to maintain comparability with estimates.

EPS details
Non-GAAP EPS came in at $0.21. The 16 earnings estimates compiled by S&P Capital IQ forecast $0.22 per share on the same basis. GAAP EPS were $0.14 for Q4 against -$1.62 per share for the prior-year quarter.

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Source: S&P Capital IQ. Quarterly periods. Non-GAAP figures may vary to maintain comparability with estimates.

Margin details
For the quarter, gross margin was 54.5%, 330 basis points worse than the prior-year quarter. Operating margin was 4.5%, 2,010 basis points worse than the prior-year quarter. Net margin was 7.0%, 9,790 basis points better than the prior-year quarter.

Looking ahead
Next quarter's average estimate for revenue is $103.2 million. On the bottom line, the average EPS estimate is $0.15.

Next year's average estimate for revenue is $553.5 million. The average EPS estimate is $0.83.

Investor sentiment
The stock has a three-star rating (out of five) at Motley Fool CAPS, with 1,121 members out of 1,229 rating the stock outperform, and 108 members rating it underperform. Among 350 CAPS All-Star picks (recommendations by the highest-ranked CAPS members), 325 give SINA a green thumbs-up, and 25 give it a red thumbs-down.

Of Wall Street recommendations tracked by S&P Capital IQ, the average opinion on SINA is outperform, with an average price target of $109.02.

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At the time thisarticle was published Seth Jayson had no position in any company mentioned here at the time of publication. You can view his stock holdings here. He is co-advisor ofMotley Fool Hidden Gems, which provides new small-cap ideas every month, backed by a real-money portfolio. Motley Fool newsletter services have recommended buying shares of SINA. Try any of our Foolish newsletter services free for 30 days. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

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