Chinese Social Networking Company Momo Jumps After Q1 Results

Shares of Momo (MOMO), a mobile-based social networking platform in the People's Republic of China, are moving higher in afternoon trading after the company reported first-quarter earnings way ahead of analyst estimates. The company reported quarterly earnings per share of 69c, compared to estimates of 50c, on revenue of $ 435M, up 64% vs. a year earlier and above estimates of $396.28M. Momo said it anticipates Q2 revenue $470M-$485M, against a consensus of $429.34M.

CEO COMMENTARY: "Our community continued to grow in size and engagements despite the negative seasonality, thanks to the product and marketing initiatives we have been taking in recent quarters," commented Momo CEO Yan Tang. "We closed the acquisition of Tantan in May and together will be moving forward as a dominant player in China's open social territory. Tantan has made remarkable progress in user growth and monetization since the beginning of 2018. We believe Tantan has a great deal of potential to be unlocked and will be adding tremendous value to our ecosystem in the future."

PRICE TARGET RAISED BY ANALYST: Standpoint Research raised its price target for Momo to $54 from $48.

PRICE ACTION: Shares of Momo are up 15% to $44.76 per share in afternoon trading.

PEER ALSO HIGHER: Shares of Chinese internet peer YY (YY) are also higher.