Sohu Jumps To A Fresh 2-Year High On Earnings

Shares of Chinese Web Portal Sohu.com (SOHU) are up sharply, and on eight times its normal volume thanks to a solid Q3 and sound outlook for the rest of the year. The Beijing-based company beat Wall Street third-quarter estimates and guided its Q4 higher this morning, prompting its shares, which have gained nearly 50% of their value in the last 60 sessions, to rise 10 percent to $75.29 after advancing to $76.57 earlier, the highest 52-wk price in two years.

Sohu said its Q3 net income increased to $38.7 million, or $1.01 a share, from $34.4 million, or $0.88 y/y. Total revenue for the reported quarter came in 20% higher, on a y/y-basis, to $164.1 million, well above analysts’ estimates of $156.7 million, yielding a p/sh profit of $1.16, vs $0.90 expected.

For the rest of the year, Sohu said it expects non-GAAP earnings of $1.10-$1.15 a share vs $0.95 average estimate, on revenue of $163-$168 million.

From a technical perspective, the shares of SOHU have underperformed the broader S&P 500 Index (SPX) by 17.42% during the last 52 weeks. The stock however, has been moving largely higher over the past four months, after finding support at $40.00. The ticker displayed a relatively narrow range throughout the last three weeks along the $60-level, an area from which it broke out today as it added more than 16 percent to its pps. It remains to be seen if SOHU will establish a floorboard in the $75 area.

Sohu.com is currently above its 50-day moving average of $55.36 and above its 200-day moving average of $50.39. Look for these parameters to climb to confirm the co.’s upward momo.

Shares of SOHU are currently trading at a trailing P/E of 24, a forward multiple of 18.13 and a price/earnings to growth ratio of 2.40.

Shares of Sohu, operator of China’s fourth most-visited website, rose $10.27, or 15.62%, at last check to $76.05. The stock’s volume has swelled to 5.9 million more than eight times the daily average of 754K.

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