'Chinese Netflix' iQiyi passes 100 million subscribers, but stock plunges more than 10%

iQiyi Inc. , a streaming platform in China commonly compared with Netflix Inc. in the U.S., passed the 100-million-subscriber milestone in an earnings report released Monday, but shares fell more than 10% in late trading as financial results came in a bit lighter than expected. iQiyi reported a fiscal first-quarter net loss of 2.3 billion renminbi ($339 million), or RMB3.22 a share, on sales of RMB7.1 billion, roughly $1 billion in U.S. currency. Analysts on average expected the company to report a loss of 3.17 renminbi on revenue of RMB7.16 billion. Total number of subscribers was 100.5 million, up nearly 50% from 67.1 million a year ago with 98.9% paying for the service. The company also undershot analysts' expectations with its second-quarter forecast, guiding for revenue of 7.21 billion to 7.63 billion renminbi, while the average analyst forecast was for 7.98 billion renminbi, according to FactSet. U.S. ADS's for iQiyi closed with a 5.9% gain at $18.08, but fell lower than $16 in after-hours trading following the report. Read More...