Renren Results: A Mixed Bag for Everyone 人人网业绩：苦乐参半

By newsdoug on June 21, 2011

Leading Chinese social networking site Renren (NYSE: RENN) has just released its first-ever quarterly results since going public, and its inaugural report looks like a truly mixed bag — not great news if it was hoping the numbers might halt its recent stock market slide. After soaring on their trading debut back in early May, Renren’s shares have tanked in recent weeks amid a broader sell-off of China shares, and now trade at just over half of their IPO price. Probably the biggest good news in the earnings report is that Renren seems to suddenly be hitting its stride in terms of advertising revenue, which doubled from the previous year to $8 million, accounting for 40 percent of total revenue. (results announcement) Growth in that area is likely a major factor behind the company’s forecast that second-quarter revenue will grow about 40 percent sequentially to $29-$30 million from the first quarter. On a more downbeat note, the company’s user growth was relatively underwhelming, which is always an alarming sign for a company that’s still supposed to be in its high growth phase. In addition, the company continued to report a net loss, albeit much smaller than a year ago. And in a curious note, it said it slipped into the loss column on an adjusted profit basis (which usually excludes costs related to stock option plans) from a profit a year ago. Investors seem decidedly underwhelmed by the mixed bag of news, bidding Renren stock down slightly in after-hours trading following an 8 percent gain during regular hours before the results were announced. Given its big recent sell-off and mixed financials, this could be an interesting time for a potential foreign investor to swoop in and pick up a stake in Renren at a relative bargain price.

Bottom line: Renren’s mixed results are unlikely to excite investors and halt its recent stock slide, and could even spur an outside investor to swoop in and buy a strategic stake at a bargain price.

中国知名社交网站人人<RENN.N>刚公布上市後的首份季度财报，看起来真是苦乐参半—想要停止股票下跌趋势的话，这份财报倒不是个好消息。人人网5月初上市後股价飙升，但近几周在股市低迷的大环境下股票表现不佳，如今只有发行价的一半。可能财报上最大的好消息就是，人人网广告收入突然大幅增加，和去年相比增加了一倍，达到800万美元，相当於总收入的40%。广告收入的增加，可能是公司对下一季度收入预测做出增长40%、达到2,900-3,000万美元的判断的主要原因。但令人沮丧的一个消息是：公司的用户数增长却相对乏力，这对於这家投资人眼中仍处於高速增长期的公司来说，是很值得警惕的一个迹象。另外，公司仍有净亏损，虽然比去年亏损幅度要小。财报公布之前的正常交易时段，股价还有8%的回升，但投资者可能对这份苦乐参半的财报感到乏味，预测人人网盘後交易时段股价将略跌。考虑到最近股价下跌和财报喜忧参半的情况，可能对於海外投资者来说，可以考虑以比较优惠的价格买进人人网的股份。

一句话：人人网喜忧参半的财报不会让投资者感到兴奋，也不会阻止目前股票下跌的局势，甚至可能吸引外部投资者进入，以优惠价格持有人人股份。