iQIYI (NASDAQ:IQ) Trading Up 6.7% on Strong Earnings

iQIYI, Inc. (NASDAQ:IQ)’s share price shot up 6.7% during mid-day trading on Wednesday after the company announced better than expected quarterly earnings. The stock traded as high as $2.48 and last traded at $2.47. 17,844,777 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 31% from the average session volume of 25,694,180 shares. The stock had previously closed at $2.31.

The company reported ($0.03) earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.04) by $0.01. The company had revenue of $919.56 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.62 billion. iQIYI had a return on equity of 13.26% and a net margin of 4.69%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on IQ. Benchmark restated a “hold” rating on shares of iQIYI in a research report on Wednesday. HSBC upgraded shares of iQIYI from a “reduce” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $2.15 target price for the company in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Citigroup cut their price target on shares of iQIYI from $3.00 to $2.80 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Hsbc Global Res raised shares of iQIYI from a “moderate sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on iQIYI from $2.50 to $1.80 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $2.91.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On iQIYI

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Krane Funds Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of iQIYI by 82.1% during the fourth quarter. Krane Funds Advisors LLC now owns 21,763,769 shares of the company’s stock valued at $43,745,000 after buying an additional 9,809,187 shares during the period. Woodline Partners LP bought a new position in iQIYI during the 4th quarter worth about $6,818,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position in iQIYI by 41.6% during the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 11,011,033 shares of the company’s stock valued at $22,135,000 after purchasing an additional 3,235,223 shares during the period. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership bought a new stake in shares of iQIYI in the 4th quarter valued at about $6,297,000. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of iQIYI during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $3,914,000. 52.69% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

iQIYI Price Performance

The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $2.13 and a 200-day moving average price of $2.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65, a quick ratio of 0.45 and a current ratio of 0.45. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.38 billion, a PE ratio of 12.43, a P/E/G ratio of 4.10 and a beta of 0.03.

About iQIYI

iQIYI, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, provides online entertainment video services in the People's Republic of China. It offers various products and services, including online video, online games, online literature, animations, and other products. The company operates a platform that provides a collection of internet video content, such as professionally produced content licensed from professional content providers and self-produced content.