Barclays upgrades Bilibili stock target, rating held on strong ad growth

Published 15/11/2024, 13:40
Barclays upgrades Bilibili stock target, rating held on strong ad growth

On Friday, Barclays (LON:BARC) maintained an Overweight rating on Bilibili (NASDAQ: BILI) shares and raised the price target to $24.00 from $19.00. The adjustment follows Bilibili's third-quarter results, which surpassed expectations, with revenues exceeding estimates by 2% and operating income outperforming forecasts by over 40%. The company's advertising segment was highlighted as the standout performer, showing a 28% year-over-year increase.

Bilibili's advertising revenue has consistently grown by over 20% year-over-year each quarter for the past two years, outpacing the broader market and internet peers, despite overall macroeconomic and advertising industry headwinds.

The firm's advertising load remains relatively low at just over 6%, compared to the 10-15% typical of its competitors. The company's strategic focus on high-quality content creation and optimizing user experience has been noted as a key factor in its success.

The company's financial health is also on an upward trajectory, with Bilibili turning a profit for the first time. The firm's management is optimistic about the future, projecting continued margin improvements with achievable operating margins in the range of 10-15%.

This positive outlook is underpinned by strong user engagement metrics, including daily active users (DAU), monthly active users (MAU), and time spent on the platform, all of which have seen significant year-over-year growth.

In addition to the encouraging financial results, Bilibili announced a share repurchase program valued at up to $200 million over the next 24 months. This move demonstrates the company's confidence in its financial stability and commitment to delivering value to its shareholders.

In other recent news, Bilibili Inc (NASDAQ:BILI)., a prominent online entertainment platform, reported its first quarterly adjusted net profit of RMB 236 million in the third quarter of 2024. The company experienced a significant 26% year-over-year increase in total revenue, reaching RMB 7.3 billion, driven largely by an 84% rise in gaming revenue. Advertising revenue also saw a substantial growth of 28%, contributing to the company's financial success.

Bilibili's community engagement metrics also saw a surge, with daily active users reaching 107 million and monthly active users hitting 348 million. In a move to return value to shareholders, the company announced a $200 million share repurchase program. Moreover, Bilibili's commitment to environmental, social, and governance excellence was recognized with an MSCI ESG rating upgrade to 'A'.

Despite uncertainties in advertising budgets across various sectors, management expressed optimism about the company's future. They plan to focus on community growth and commercialization strategies in gaming and advertising. These recent developments highlight Bilibili's strong financial performance and its strategic focus on enhancing user engagement and shareholder value.

InvestingPro Insights

Bilibili's recent performance aligns with several key insights from InvestingPro. The company's strong return over the last three months, with a 38.83% price total return, reflects the market's positive reaction to its improving financial metrics. This is particularly noteworthy given that the stock has experienced high price volatility, as indicated by InvestingPro Tips.

The company's revenue growth of 25.85% in Q3 2024 supports Barclays' observation of Bilibili's strong performance, especially in advertising. However, it is important to note that despite this growth, Bilibili is not yet profitable over the last twelve months, with a negative operating income of $395.45 million. This underscores the significance of the company's first-time profit mentioned in the article and the management's projection of future margin improvements.

InvestingPro Tips also highlight that Bilibili holds more cash than debt on its balance sheet, which could provide flexibility for initiatives like the announced share repurchase program. For investors seeking more comprehensive analysis, InvestingPro offers 7 additional tips for Bilibili, providing a deeper understanding of the company's financial position and market performance.

This article was generated with the support of AI and reviewed by an editor. For more information see our T&C.

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