On Tuesday, Citi reaffirmed its Buy rating for Tencent Music Entertainment Group (NYSE:TME) stock, with a steady price target of $18.00. The company's second-quarter financials showed total revenues of 7.16 billion yuan, a slight decrease of 1.7% year-over-year but surpassing Citi's projections by 2.4%.
This performance was primarily fueled by a significant 27.7% rise in online music services revenues, which reached 5.42 billion yuan, slightly above estimates.
Tencent Music's subscription revenue climbed by 29.4% year-over-year to 3.74 billion yuan, accounting for more than half of the total revenues and aligning closely with expectations. Despite this growth, social entertainment revenues experienced a sharp decline of 42.8% year-over-year, totaling 1.74 billion yuan.
This drop was attributed to the company's implementation of service enhancement and risk control measures, yet the figures still exceeded Citi's forecast by 1.4%.
The company's adjusted net profit stood at 1.99 billion yuan, marking a substantial increase of 25.7% compared to the same period last year. This profit exceeded both Citi's and the consensus estimates by 8.6% and 7.1%, respectively. The higher-than-anticipated net profit was mainly due to revenues meeting targets, improved gross profit margins, and lower sales and marketing and general and administrative expenses than expected.
In other recent news, Tencent Music Entertainment Group reported its second-quarter earnings, which did not meet analyst expectations. The music streaming giant posted adjusted earnings per American Depositary Share (ADS) of RMB1.07 ($0.15), falling short of the analyst consensus of RMB1.10. However, revenue slightly surpassed estimates, amounting to RMB7.16 billion ($985 million) compared to predicted RMB7.15 billion.
Despite a 1.7% year-over-year decline in total revenue, online music services revenue saw a significant surge of 27.7% to RMB5.42 billion ($746 million), driven by a 29.4% increase in music subscription revenue to RMB3.74 billion ($515 million). The number of paying users for online music also rose by 17.7% to 117.0 million.
On the downside, social entertainment services and other revenues fell by 42.8% to RMB1.74 billion ($239 million). This decrease was attributed to adjustments to live-streaming features and stricter compliance procedures implemented last year.
Despite the earnings shortfall, Tencent Music's gross margin expanded from 34.3% to 42.0% due to the robust growth in higher-margin music subscriptions and advertising services. The company closed the quarter with RMB35.03 billion ($4.82 billion) in cash and short-term investments.
InvestingPro Insights
Following Citi's reaffirmation of a Buy rating for Tencent Music Entertainment Group (NYSE:TME), with a steady price target of $18.00, the InvestingPro data and tips offer additional insights into the company's financial health and stock performance. TME's market capitalization stands at $20.77 billion, reflecting its significant presence in the entertainment industry. Despite a slight revenue decrease in the last twelve months as of Q1 2024, the company's gross profit margin remains strong at 37.25%, indicating efficient cost management.
InvestingPro Tips highlight that TME holds more cash than debt, suggesting a solid financial foundation, and analysts have revised their earnings upwards for the upcoming period, signaling potential growth. Additionally, the stock has experienced a large price uptick over the last six months, with a year-to-date price total return of 47.01%, underscoring its recent market performance. However, it is trading at a high P/E ratio of 28.16 relative to near-term earnings growth, which investors should consider when evaluating the stock's value proposition.
For readers seeking a deeper analysis, there are 11 additional InvestingPro Tips available, which can provide further guidance on TME's investment potential. These insights can be found on the InvestingPro platform, which offers comprehensive data and expert analysis to help investors make informed decisions.
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