- Though Sky-mobi (NASDAQ:MOBI) beat Q4 EPS estimates, revenue of RMB204.7M ($33M) was down from Q3's RMB211.1M and missed guidance of RMB220M-RMB230M. Revenue is expected to rise to RMB210M-RMB215M ($33.5M-$34.3M at current exchange rates) in Q1.
- Q4 smartphone-related revenue totaled $29.3M (88.7% of total revenue), up 179.7% Y/Y but only 1.7% Q/Q. Within the segment, single-player game revenue rose 1.1% Q/Q and 295.8% Y/Y to $22.8M, multiplayer game revenue fell 14% Q/Q and rose 29% Y/Y to $3.5M, and ad revenue rose 35.6% Q/Q and 47.4% Y/Y to $3M. Feature phone revenue continued declining.
- Q/Q margin gains and cost controls drove the EPS beat. Q4 gross margin was 20.4%, up from Q3's 17.5% and down from 23.8% a year ago. Operating expenses totaled $5.3M, down 1.8% Q/Q and up 29.1% Y/Y.
- Average monthly active users (MAUs) for Sky-mobi's Maopao app store/gaming platform rose to 33.7M in Q4 from Q3's 33M. However, average monthly paying users (MPUs) fell for both single-player and multiplayer games, leading average MPUs to fall to 14.1% of average MAUs from 15.1%. ARPUs rose for both single-player and multi-player games.
- Shares had risen 30% since Rosenblatt provided bullish coverage on Feb. 26.
- Q4 results, PR