Qihoo 360 Q1 Profit Surges - Update

(RTTNews) - Qihoo 360 Technology Co. Ltd. (QIHU), a China-based provider of Internet and mobile security products, Tuesday reported a surge in profit for the first quarter driven mainly by a more-than two-fold increase in revenues amid strong margins.

Moving ahead, the company detailed a strong revenue outlook for the second quarter. Shares of the company gained over five percent in the after-hours trade, following the news.

Commenting on the results, Chief Executive Hongyi Zhou said, "We are pleased to report another quarter of strong growth and solid operational metrics. While we maintained our leadership position in key PC-related product categories, we continued to make significant progress in the ever more-important mobile Internet market."

Beijing, China-based Qihoo's first-quarter profit rose to $49.1 million or $0.25 per share from $5.6 million or $0.03 per share last year.

Excluding items, adjusted earnings for the quarter rose to $0.54 per share from $0.14 per share last year. On average, 12 analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected earnings of $0.34 per share for the quarter. Analysts' estimates typically exclude special items.

Revenues for the first quarter surged to $265.1 million from $109.9 million last year. Analysts estimated revenues of $228.2 million for the quarter.

Total monthly active users of Qihoo 360's PC-based products and services rose to 479 million from 457 million last year. Average daily unique visitors to the 360 Personal Start-up Page and its sub-pages were 122 million, up from 94 million last year.

Online advertising revenues surged 120.9 percent to $140.0 million, while internet value-added service revenues, which are mainly derived from game platform operations, rose 172.2 percent to $124.8 million.

Operating margin improved to 14.9 percent from 6.2 percent last year.

Looking forward to the second quarter, the company expects revenues between $300 million and $305 million. Analysts currently estimate revenues of $270.18 million for the quarter.

QIHU closed Tuesday's trading at $89.98, up $0.90 or 1.01%, on the NYSE. The stock further gained $5.01 or 5.57%, in after-hours trade.