Huya Q1 profit soars 102%, meets estimates

Huya Inc. (HUYA) reported a 102% jump in earnings for the first quarter of 2019 helped by higher interest and short-term investments income. The bottom line came in line with the analysts’ expectations while the top line exceeded consensus estimates. The company guided second-quarter revenue growth above the Street’s view.

Net income soared 102.1% to $9.5 million. On a per American Depositary Share basis, the results swung to a profit of $0.04 from a loss of $0.79 a year ago. Adjusted earnings advanced 50% to $0.09 per share.

Net revenues climbed by 93.4% year-over-year to $243.1 million, helped by higher live streaming revenues and an increase in advertising and other revenues.

Looking ahead into the second quarter of 2019, Huya expects net revenues to grow by 66.6% to 72.4% year-over-year to a range of RMB1,730 million to RMB1,790 million.

For the first quarter, the company saw a 33.3% growth in average monthly active users (MAUs) driven by major events broadcasted on Huya’s website and mobile apps. Average mobile MAUs rose 29.8% as the company benefited from its mobile strategy with promising results.

Live streaming revenue for the first quarter jumped by 95.8% primarily due to the increases in both the number of paying users on Huya’s platform and average spending per paying user. The total number of paying users increased by 57.4%. This was primarily driven by the company’s mobile strategy, diversification of content offerings and continued efforts in converting active users into paying users.

Advertising and other revenues increased by 55.5% year-over-year. This growth was primarily driven by increased demand from gaming advertisers and further recognition of Huya’s brand name in China’s online advertising market.

Revenue sharing fees and content costs rose by 116.7% due to the increase in virtual item revenue sharing, which was in line with its live streaming revenue growth, and continued spending in e-sports content and content creators in both domestic and overseas markets. Bandwidth costs inched up 8.3% due to a rise in bandwidth usage as a result of the increased user base on Huya’s platform and enhanced live streaming video quality improvement.

During April 2019, Huya completed a registered follow-on public offering of 13.6 million ADS by the company and of 4.8 million ADS by a selling shareholder. The company raised about $314.8 million in net proceeds after deducting underwriting commissions and the offering expenses payable.

Shares of Huya ended Thursday’s regular session down 2.51% at $20.97 on the NYSE. Following the earnings release, the stock inched up over 4% in the after-market session.

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