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Weibo stock dropped almost 17% in early trading on Thursday as the Chinese social-media company missed revenue expectations.

The Twitter -like microblogging platform was held back by weaker advertising and marketing revenue as competition intensified and the Chinese economy continued to drag.

The back story. Weibo stock (ticker: WB) had fallen 9.6% year to date as of Wednesday’s close, while Chinese internet company Sina (SINA)—which has a majority stake in Weibo—dropped 22.7% over the same period.

The companies heavily rely on advertising as a source of revenue, but increased competition and a weaker Chinese economy have slowed growth. They have spent less on marketing as a result of tougher economic conditions. In the second quarter, Weibo beat expectations, led by revenues from Yizhibo—the live-streaming business it acquired last year.

What’s new. The social-media company’s third-quarter profit fell 11.5% to $146.2 million, and total net revenue increased 2% year over year to $467.8 million. The revenue rise missed Weibo’s own expectations of a 6% jump and also narrowly missed Wall Street estimates.

Weibo had expected a 6% increase in revenue, and the revenue rise also narrowly missed Wall Street estimates.

Income from advertising and marketing rose 1% to $412.5 million, while value-added-services revenue jumped 9% to $50.9 million due to revenues from Yizhibo.

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Weibo added 51 million monthly active users over the quarter, taking the total number to 497 million. Rival Tencent Holdings ’ (700.Hong Kong) WeChat has more than one billion monthly active users.

“Despite market competition and macro headwinds, we continued to tap into customers’ social ad wallet with differentiated ad products,” Webo CEO Gaofei Wang said.

Looking ahead. Weibo remains a leader in the Chinese social media space but faces competition for advertising money from a range of other platforms, such as mobile apps and live streaming. The Chinese economic slowdown is also holding the company back. The company said it now expects fourth-quarter revenue growth of 0-3%, against estimates of 3.8%.

Weibo stock was down 16.9%, at $43.82, in recent trading. Sina stock was down 17.4%, at $34.26%, despite better-than-expected results. The S&P 500 was flat.

Email: callum.keown@dowjones.com