Qihoo 360 Technology Q2 Profit Rises - Update

(RTTNews) - Qihoo 360 Technology Co. Ltd. (QIHU), a China-based provider of Internet and mobile security products, Sunday reported an increase in profit for the second quarter driven mainly a surge in revenues. Moving forward, the company detailed a strong revenue outlook for the third quarter.

Beijing, China-based Qihoo's second-quarter profit rose to $39.1 million or $0.20 per share from $33.0 million or $0.17 per share last year. Earnings per ADS for the quarter were $0.30, up from $0.26 last year.

Excluding items, adjusted earnings for the quarter were $0.50 per ADS, up from $0.40 per ADS last year. On average, 12 analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected earnings of $0.46 per ADS for the quarter. Analysts' estimates typically exclude special items.

Revenues for the second quarter surged to $317.9 million from $151.7 million last year. Analysts had a consensus revenue estimate of $309.38 million for the quarter.

The company credited the strong revenue growth to better performance in both online advertising and Internet value-added services, driven by continued ramp in search and mobile monetization, as well as strong user traffic growth and monetization.

Total monthly active users of Qihoo 360's PC-based products and services rose to 496 million in June 2014 from 461 million last year. Average daily unique visitors to the 360 Personal Start-up Page and its sub-pages were 128 million, compared to 114 million last year.

Online advertising revenues surged 89 percent to $171.3 million, while internet value-added service revenues, which are mainly derived from game platform operations, rose 140. percent to $146.2 million.

Operating margin dropped to 13.8 percent from 24.1 percent last year.

Looking forward to the third quarter, the company expects revenues of $360 million to $365 million. Analysts currently estimate revenues of $357.39 million for the quarter.

QIHU closed Friday's trading at $101.75, up $0.12 or 0.12%, on the NYSE. The stock further gained $1.15, or 1.13% in after-hours trade.