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Autohome

Founded in 2008 as a media content platform, Autohome is the leading online automobile platform in China, ranking first among automotive service platforms in terms of mobile daily active users, according to QuestMobile. Through its two websites, autohome.com.cn and che168.com, Autohome delivers comprehensive, independent and interactive content and tools to automobile consumers as well as a full suite of services to automakers and dealers. According to iResearch, the company was the largest online automotive advertising and lead generation service provider with 30% market share, in terms of media services and lead generation revenue, in China's online auto platform media advertising market in 2019.

Asia

News

Penny Stocks

Small Cap

Markets

ATHM

CANG

CVNA

UXIN

Key Takeaways:


	Cango’s revenue has fallen sharply in recent quarters, including an 88% drop in the first quarter, as it downplays its self-operated car-trading service to reduce inventory risk
	The company launched its Autocango cross-border car trading platform in March, aiming to tap foreign demand for used Chinese cars




Cango Reduces Risks At Home, Looks Overseas For New Opportunities

Earnings

Equities

Large Cap

American Century ETF Trust Avantis Emerging Markets Small Cap Equity ETF

AVEE

CQQQ

Autohome reports Q1 FY24 revenues of RMB1,609.1M, beating consensus of $220.6M. Adjusted net income of RMB493.9M. CEO highlights user growth and expansion of new businesses. 

China&#39;s Autohome Floors It On Sales, User-Base: Details

Key Takeaways:


	Autostreets is reportedly aiming to raise $100 million or more in a Hong Kong IPO, seeking a rich valuation as China’s leading used-car trader
	Growth of used car sales in China is expected to accelerate in the next five years as Beijing promotes the sector and consumers become more budget conscious




Autostreets In The Driver&#39;s Seat As China Gets Set For Used Car Trading Boom

General

Key Takeaways:


	Cango has launched a new app, AutoCango, to facilitate the export of used Chinese cars to dealers in developing markets
	The company’s revenue plunged 73% in last year’s fourth quarter, but it remains relatively well regarded by investors due to its conservative stance in China’s difficult car market




Facing Winter At Home, Cango Looks Overseas

BIDU

KXIN

Key Takeaways:


	Autohome’s profits rose about 4% last year to 1.88 billion yuan
	The trading platform’s sales of new energy vehicles are soaring, jumping nearly 82% last year


By Fai Pui

Autohome Shifts Into Higher Gear With NEVs And Immersive Tech

Guidance

Movers

Autohome shares surge over 11% after Q4 earnings report, with strong adjusted earnings and cash reserves. Autohome closed out the year with solid growth in total revenues, substantial increase in user traffic and significant progress in the new retail business.

Autohome Gains Over 11% After Q4 Earnings: Here&#39;s The Details

Key Takeaways:


	Autohome is expanding its membership services to include used car dealers, and is also preparing a major expansion of its TTP used car trading platform
	The company has opened 20 experience-oriented “Autohome Space” centers since launching the chain in September last year, including 17 in the last three months


Autohome Looks For New Mileage In Used Cars

Key Takeaways:


	Cango will merge its new and used car platforms onto a single service, in a major tweak to its new business model as a car-trading services provider
	The company forecast its fourth-quarter revenue would drop sharply as it becomes more conservative in the current market where half of dealers are losing money




Cango Shifts Gears With Merger Of Platforms, Focus On Inventory Risk Control

Autohome Inc (NYSE: ATHM) reported Q3 2023 revenues of RMB1.91 billion ($261.2 million), up 3.4% year-on-year, missing the consensus of $261.7 million.

Autohome Rides the New Energy Vehicle Wave, Expands Energy Space Stores, Clocks Mixed Q3

Key Takeaways:


	Cango reported its first quarter of revenue growth in nearly two years and a second consecutive quarterly profit as its new business model as a car trader gained momentum


Cango Zooms In Second Quarter, But Sees Bumpy Road Ahead

Autohome Inc. American Depositary Shares, each representing four class A ordinary shares.

Autohome Inc

<h4>Key Takeaways:</h4>
<ul>
<li>Cango&rsquo;s revenue has fallen sharply in recent quarters, including an 88% drop in the first quarter, as it downplays its self-operated car-trading service to reduce inventory risk</li>
<li>The company launched its Autocango cross-border car trading platform in March, aiming to tap foreign demand for used Chinese cars</li>
</ul>
By Doug Young
As China&rsquo;s auto market slows after years of breakneck growth, car trader&nbsp;Cango Inc.&nbsp;(NYSE: <a class="ticker" href="https://www.benzinga.com/stock/cang#NYSE">CANG</a>) is following many of its peers by looking outward for new opportunities. But such a dramatic shift for the domestically focused company will take time &ndash; a reality that&rsquo;s reflected in its&nbsp;<a href="https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/cango-inc-reports-first-quarter-2024-unaudited-financial-results-302170561.html">latest quarterly report</a>&nbsp;that shows plunging revenue but steady profits as Cango becomes more cautious at home while starting to build a new cross-border car trading platform.
In looking abroad, Cango is following a recent trend that saw China nearly catch or even overtake Japan to become the world&rsquo;s biggest auto exporter last year, depending on which statistics you look at. That surge has been driven in part by China&rsquo;s huge production capacity for new energy vehicles (NEVs), as Beijing prioritizes development of that sector.
China&rsquo;s car exports rose 63.7% last year to 4.1 million vehicles, while domestic sales rose by a much slower 4.1%. China&rsquo;s domestic auto market has been steadily slowing since peaking at 24 million annual vehicle sales in 2017. Domestic sales last year totaled 21.9 million vehicles, down 9% from the peak, as consumers grow increasingly cautious on big-ticket purchases in a slowing national economy.
&ldquo;In the first quarter of 2024, the Chinese automotive industry continued to encounter significant challenges,&rdquo; said Cango CEO Lin Jiayuan. &ldquo;Traditional automakers are under pressure to transform and adapt to the new energy era and emerging new energy vehicle manufacturers are facing intense market competition and severe profitability struggles.&rdquo;
Cango started out as an auto financier but has nearly wound down that business and began shifting to car-trading services more than two years ago. It initially obtained a big part of its car-trading revenue by directly buying and selling cars. But lately it has withdrawn from that business over concerns about falling prices and getting stuck with unsold inventory.
As a result of that shift, the company&rsquo;s revenue plunged 88% in the first quarter to 64.4 million yuan ($8.9 million) from 542.6 million yuan a year earlier. Of the latest total revenue, only 3.4 million yuan came from car-trading services, down from 430 million yuan a year earlier.
&ldquo;We strategically adapted to a changing market by streamlining our self-operated new car business,&rdquo; said Lin. &ldquo;While this segment previously generated significant revenue, it offered lower profit margins. And this proactive shift has led to a decrease in total revenue but our core business has transitioned to facilitation services with much higher gross profit margins due to a leaner cost structure.&rdquo;
In fact, most of the company&rsquo;s revenue in the first quarter came from its non-car-trading businesses, including gains related to its older financing business, as well as from interest income and gains related to the sale of some of its investments.
The bottom line was that Cango earned a net profit of 90 million yuan in the first quarter, in a rare instance of a company reporting a higher profit than its revenue. As it reined in its spending and became more conservative, its cash and short-term investments more than doubled to 3.5 billion yuan at the end of March from 1.6 billion yuan three months earlier.
<h3>Eye On&nbsp;Exports</h3>
Cango is hardly abandoning its domestic car-trading business, which it has been fine tuning over the last year, including the merging of two previous platforms into Cango U-Car, a single platform for both used and new car trading. That platform had 8,459 registered dealers in 251 cities by the end of March, and facilitated 124 used car auctions, including 42 hosted on its own platform.
But for now, at least, the company is shifting its sights to the global used car market, hoping to tap demand from foreigners, most likely in developing nations, for a wide array of used Chinese cars. It passed an important milestone in March with its launch of Autocango, an information platform for such cross-border trading. It followed earlier this month with Autocango 2.0, and the site now features more than 75,000 items and 60,000 car models.
Cango hasn&rsquo;t commented on how it plans to earn money from the new service. Most likely it would collect transaction-related fees in the many steps of the relatively complex process of buying and paying for a used car from China and shipping it to its final destination.
Cango executives said their first goal is to build up traffic on the site and add select supporting services like car testing and delivery. The company is also exploring the potential for creating &ldquo;risk reduction packages&rdquo; that would boost buyer confidence by making sure the entire trading process is transparent and that all its various steps run smoothly.
&ldquo;This platform fills the gap in cross-border used car information services, providing valuable insights to global users, and our goal is to become the go-to gateway for Chinese used cars entering the international market,&rdquo; said Lin.
Investors seem to like Cango&rsquo;s conservative approach in the current environment of economic uncertainty. The company&rsquo;s stock is up around 80% since the start of the year. And while the shares fell 15.5% last week on the day after the latest earnings announcement, they regained most of that over the next three trading days.
The company&rsquo;s rapidly shrinking revenue has actually helped to boost Cango&rsquo;s price-to-sales (P/S) ratio, which passed above the important benchmark of 1 in the first quarter to its current reading of 1.11. That&rsquo;s still behind leading Chinese car trader&nbsp;AutoHome&rsquo;s&nbsp;(NYSE: <a class="ticker" href="https://www.benzinga.com/stock/athm#NYSE">ATHM</a>) P/S of 3.27, and also trails U.S. used car giant&nbsp;Carvana&rsquo;s&nbsp;(NYSE: <a class="ticker" href="https://www.benzinga.com/stock/cvna#NYSE">CVNA</a>) 2.09. But it&rsquo;s well ahead of the 0.05 for the more comparable&nbsp;Uxin&nbsp;(NASDAQ: <a class="ticker" href="https://www.benzinga.com/stock/uxin#NASDAQ">UXIN</a>), which, unlike Cango, continues to use a self-operated car-trading business model.
At the end of the day, Cango has quite a lot of cash that it could use for a variety of purposes. Those could involve more shareholder-focused uses like paying dividends or buying back its shares, both of which the company has previously done. Or it could focus on more strategic uses like accelerating development of its domestic and international car-trading services. Now it just needs to decide which road it will travel.
This article is from an unpaid external contributor. It does not represent Benzinga&#39;s reporting and has not been edited for content or accuracy.

Autohome (NYSE:<a class="ticker" href="https://www.benzinga.com/stock/ATHM#NYSE">ATHM</a>) reported quarterly earnings of $0.56 per share which beat the analyst consensus estimate of $0.49 by 14.29 percent. This is a 1.75 percent decrease over earnings of $0.57 per share from the same period last year. The company reported quarterly sales of $222.85 million which beat the analyst consensus estimate of $220.60 million by 1.02 percent. This is a 0.21 percent decrease over sales of $223.31 million the same period last year.

CORRECTION: Autohome Q1 EPADS $0.56 Beats $0.49 Estimate, Sales $222.85M Beat $220.60M Estimate

Autohome&nbsp;Inc&nbsp;(NYSE:<a class="ticker" href="https://www.benzinga.com/stock/ATHM#NYSE">ATHM</a>) reported first-quarter FY24 revenues of RMB1,609.1 million&nbsp;($222.9 million),&nbsp;beating&nbsp;the&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://www.benzinga.com/pressreleases/24/05/n38693257/autohome-inc-announces-unaudited-first-quarter-2024-financial-results" rel="noreferrer noopener">consensus of&nbsp;$220.60 million</a>.
Quarterly media services revenues were RMB327.4 million&nbsp;($45.3 million), compared to RMB361.5 million a year ago.
Leads&nbsp;generation services revenues were RMB726.4 million&nbsp;($100.6 million), compared to RMB680.6 million.
Online marketplace and&nbsp;others&nbsp;revenues were RMB555.2 million&nbsp;($76.9 million)&nbsp;in the&nbsp;first quarter&nbsp;of 2024, compared to RMB491.5 million a year ago.
Adjusted net income was RMB493.9 million&nbsp;($68.4 million), compared to RMB483.5 million in the year-ago period.
China&#8217;s&nbsp;online destination for automobile consumers posted an adjusted earnings per ADS of&nbsp;$0.56, beating the&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://www.benzinga.com/calendars/earnings" rel="noreferrer noopener">consensus of&nbsp;$0.49</a>.
Tao&nbsp;Wu, Chief Executive Officer of Autohome, said,&nbsp;&#8220;For our users, according to QuestMobile, average mobile daily active users grew by 8.1% year-over-year to 69.39 million in March, highlighting&nbsp;the effectiveness of our content-focused strategy on attracting users.&nbsp;For our innovative businesses,&nbsp;Autohome Space&nbsp;is expanding further geographically, with&nbsp;a number of&nbsp;new franchise stores on track to open this year.&#8221;
As of March-end, the company had cash and equivalents of&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://www.benzinga.com/calendars/guidance" rel="noreferrer noopener">RMB23.65 billion&nbsp;($3.27 billion)</a>.&nbsp;
Craig Yan Zeng, Chief Financial&nbsp;Officer,&nbsp;commented,&nbsp;&#8220;Revenues from our data products continued their strong upward growth trajectory, while revenues from new energy vehicle&nbsp;(&#8220;NEV&#8221;)&nbsp;brands remained robust, with a quarterly growth rate that consistently outpaces the broader industry.&nbsp;Our new retail business also bolstered our topline, enhancing our revenue sources.&#8221;
Investors can gain exposure to the stock&nbsp;Invesco China Technology ETF&nbsp;(NYSE:<a class="ticker" href="https://www.benzinga.com/stock/CQQQ#NYSE">CQQQ</a>) and&nbsp;American Century ETF Trust Avantis Emerging Markets Small Cap Equity ETF&nbsp;(NYSE:<a class="ticker" href="https://www.benzinga.com/stock/AVEE#NYSE">AVEE</a>).
Price Action:&nbsp;ATHM shares are up by&nbsp;3.99%&nbsp;at&nbsp;$28.09&nbsp;at the last check Wednesday.

China's Autohome Floors It On Sales, User-Base: Details

<h4>Key Takeaways:</h4>
<ul>
<li>Autostreets is reportedly aiming to raise $100 million or more in a Hong Kong IPO, seeking a rich valuation as China&rsquo;s leading used-car trader</li>
<li>Growth of used car sales in China is expected to accelerate in the next five years as Beijing promotes the sector and consumers become more budget conscious</li>
</ul>
By Doug Young
Autostreets Development Ltd., China&rsquo;s leading provider of used car trading services, doesn&rsquo;t look too exciting as an investment, at least based on its last three years of operating data contained in its&nbsp;<a href="https://www1.hkexnews.hk/app/sehk/2024/106225/documents/sehk24041801935.pdf">Hong Kong listing application</a>&nbsp;filed in February. But a closer read of the application, which passed its listing hearing at the Hong Kong Stock Exchange last week, shows a company that may be the driver&rsquo;s seat for some strong growth in the next few years.
The 10-year-old company has quite a few things going for it and seems to think quite highly of itself in terms of valuation. It counts U.S. used car authority&nbsp;Cox Automotive, owner of the Kelley Blue Book and Autotrader.com brands, as its second largest shareholder with 11% of its stock. The company is China&rsquo;s leading used car trader, with 12.6% of the market for platforms handling such trading in 2022, according to its listing document.
At the same time, the company looks set to benefit from an expected boom in used car buying in China in the years ahead, driven by two factors. One of those is&nbsp;<a href="https://thebambooworks.com/perfect-storm-of-factors-fuels-rise-in-smartphone-recycling/">recent government support</a>&nbsp;for recycling. The other is China&rsquo;s slowing economy, which is likely to prompt increasingly cost-conscious consumers to purchase more used cars over new ones.
Such a boom would contrast sharply with weakness in China&rsquo;s used car market over the last three years due to the country&rsquo;s strict Covid restrictions in 2021 and 2022, followed by more weakness in the first half of 2023 as many people became infected when restrictions were finally lifted. Used car buying suffered more than new cars during the pandemic, since buyers were often prevented from attending offline auctions where many used cars are typically sold.
Third-party data in Autostreets&rsquo; listing document said China&rsquo;s used car market grew just 6.9% annually in the five years from 2019 to 2023, with 14.4 million used vehicles sold last year. But the growth rate is expected to accelerate sharply to 13.7% annually between 2023 to 2028, fueled by the factors we&rsquo;ve mentioned above.
On the policy front, China&rsquo;s State Council, the country&rsquo;s cabinet, in March announced an &ldquo;Action Plan to Promote in Large Scale Equipment Renewal and Trade-in of Consumer Goods,&rdquo; which included support for used-vehicle trading. That was followed a month later by a similar plan from the Commerce Ministry, which set a target of boosting used-car trading by 45% between last year and 2028.
When such specific messaging comes from the central government, local governments often follow on with their own specific action plans. And in this case, Autostreets pointed out that major cities like Shanghai and Jinan, as well as Hunan province, have already announced their own rules to promote used vehicle trading. With that kind of government support, companies like Autostreets look well-positioned for big growth as demand jumps for their services.
<h3>High Valuation</h3>
Autostreets realizes it&rsquo;s in a sweet spot and appears to be hoping for a valuation that looks well beyond those for its national and global peers. The best comparison for the company is China&rsquo;s own&nbsp;Autohome&nbsp;(NYSE: <a class="ticker" href="https://www.benzinga.com/stock/athm#NYSE">ATHM</a>), which currently trades at price-to-earnings (P/E) and price-to-sales (P/S) ratios of 11 and 3, respectively.
Similar valuations for Autostreets would value the company at between $150 million and $200 million, based on its revenue and adjusted profit for 2023. Even a P/E ratio of 22, similar to that for leading U.S. used car trader&nbsp;Carmax&nbsp;(NYSE: <a class="ticker" href="https://www.benzinga.com/stock/kmx#NYSE">KMX</a>), would only value Autostreets at about $325 million. But a report from the authoritative IFR says the company is aiming to raise about $100 million in its IPO, which suggests it is seeking a valuation of $800 million or more.
Other information in the listing document suggests that Autostreets previously explored a potential listing in the U.S. at an unspecified date, and that at that time it was valued at about the $1 billion level.
All that said, we&rsquo;ll return to the company&rsquo;s financials, which, as we noted at the top, certainly don&rsquo;t look like reason for too much excitement. Those numbers all tell roughly the same story, namely that Autostreets experienced a sharp business slowdown in 2022 as Covid restrictions affected its business, and then began to rebound in 2023.
Its revenue fell 31% from 678 million yuan ($94 million) in 2021 to 468 million yuan in 2022, before rebounding by a much smaller 5% to 492 million yuan last year. Autostreets pointed out its growth started accelerating strongly in the second half of last year as life returned to normal after the pandemic, with its vehicle transaction volume up 21% year-on-year in the last six months of 2023.
The company derives all of its revenue from various car trading fees and services, allowing it to maintain relatively high margins while shouldering low risk. Its gross margin was relatively steady over the three-year period, falling from 62.8% in 2021 to 60.9% in 2022, before bouncing back to 63.5% in 2023.
The company is largely a B2B services provider, working mostly with professional car sellers and buyers rather than individual consumers. Growing confidence in its services among those large customers is reflected in the growing amount of revenue the company receives for each car sold, with the figure rising 27% from 1,280 yuan in 2021 to 1,636 yuan last year.
The company has been cash flow positive in each of the last three years, and posted an adjusted profit of 107 million yuan last year, up from 70 million yuan in 2022. One minor red flag is the company&rsquo;s falling &ldquo;transaction success rate,&rdquo; which is defined as the number of used cars that successfully trade as a percentage of all vehicles put up for sale. That success rate fell from 73% in 2021 to just 46% last year, with the company blaming growing numbers of people putting up used vehicles for sale, even as buyers remained conservative.
At the end of the day, Autostreets looks like it&rsquo;s quite well-positioned to profit from a coming boom in China&rsquo;s used car market, even if it may be seeking an optimistically high valuation.
This article is from an unpaid external contributor. It does not represent Benzinga's reporting and has not been edited for content or accuracy.

Autostreets In The Driver's Seat As China Gets Set For Used Car Trading Boom

<h4>Key Takeaways:</h4>
<ul>
<li>Cango has launched a new app, AutoCango, to facilitate the export of used Chinese cars to dealers in developing markets</li>
<li>The company&rsquo;s revenue plunged 73% in last year&rsquo;s fourth quarter, but it remains relatively well regarded by investors due to its conservative stance in China&rsquo;s difficult car market</li>
</ul>
By Doug Young
If you can&rsquo;t stand the heat in China&rsquo;s intensely competitive car market, then you get out of the kitchen.
Of course that&rsquo;s a slight exaggeration, but it&rsquo;s not too far from the latest approach by&nbsp;Cango Inc.(NYSE: <a class="ticker" href="https://www.benzinga.com/stock/cang#NYSE">CANG</a>), a former auto financier now trying to become a leading provider of auto trading services in the world&rsquo;s largest car market. Following a major pivot in its domestic strategy late last year in response to intense competition, Cango disclosed yet another major new turn in its roadmap in its&nbsp;<a href="https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/cango-inc-reports-fourth-quarter-and-full-year-2023-unaudited-financial-results-302085219.html">fourth quarter results</a>&nbsp;released on Monday.
That turn will see Cango try to position itself as a leading facilitator of used Chinese car sales to developing markets. Such a move may sound radical, but it dovetails with a recent boom in Chinese new car exports that has seen the country challenge Japan for the spot as the world&rsquo;s top auto exporter.
The Chinese companies are looking overseas after building up huge capacity that fed the country&rsquo;s huge demand for cars as its economy boomed over the last two decades. But with that economy now braking, intense competition at home has driven many companies to look overseas for new markets. Cango is facing similar problems as the many Chinese auto dealers that are its main revenue source are now losing money.
&ldquo;2023 was a challenging year &hellip; In the automobile sector, intense competition hastened the survival of the fittest, transforming the industry landscape,&rdquo; said Cango CEO Lin Jiayuan. &ldquo;We see significant potential in China&rsquo;s burgeoning used car export market, unlike the fierce competition within the domestic market. China, as the world&rsquo;s largest auto manufacturer and consumer, possesses a vast pool of used cars, a gold mine for exporters.&rdquo;
Lin&rsquo;s unveiling of the export initiative comes just months after Cango made another major shift by merging its two recently launched platforms for new and used car trading into a single platform called U-Car. It called the shift strategic, saying it reflected an increasingly blurring line between new and used car dealers.
Amid all those shifts, investors still seem surprisingly attracted to Cango. Its stock rose 2% after its latest quarterly results announcement. The shares are up around 50% so far this year, giving the company a price-to-sales (P/S) ratio of 0.72. Leading domestic rival&nbsp;Autohome&nbsp;(NYSE: <a class="ticker" href="https://www.benzinga.com/stock/athm#NYSE">ATHM</a>) trades at a higher 3.24, but&nbsp;Uxin&nbsp;(NASDAQ: <a class="ticker" href="https://www.benzinga.com/stock/uxin#NASDAQ">UXIN</a>) is far lower at just 0.04. And even U.S. used car giant&nbsp;CarMax&nbsp;(NYSE: <a class="ticker" href="https://www.benzinga.com/stock/kmx#NYSE">KMX</a>) is lower at 0.48.
The big attraction for investors appears to be Cango&rsquo;s deep financial reserves, which are actually growing as it remains cash flow positive thanks to its conservative stance. The company had 3.3 billion yuan ($459 million) in cash and short-term investments at the end of last year, up from 3.1 billion yuan just three months earlier. By comparison, Uxin had just 64 million yuan in cash at the end of last June.
<h3>Looking Overseas</h3>
Lin revealed that Cango took its first step to tap global markets with its launch earlier this month of AutoCango, which offers information and related services on used Chinese cars to dealers in emerging markets. He said the service already has information on more than 75,000 cars, and is adding another 500 to 1,000 each week.
&ldquo;China has a well-developed logistics network, ensuring efficient and secure delivery of used cars to international buyers,&rdquo; he said. The service&rsquo;s newness means it has yet to facilitate any exports of used Chinese cars. But investors will almost certainly be looking for updates in the company&rsquo;s next quarterly report in around three months&rsquo; time.
China exported more than 5 million cars last year, threatening Japan&rsquo;s longtime position as the world&rsquo;s largest exporter. Two of the country&rsquo;s biggest export destinations were Russia and Mexico, which look like the kinds of developing markets that could also hold potential for the new AutoCango service.
Cango launched the overseas drive as its current domestic business is going nowhere fast. Its revenue plunged 73% to 130.2 million yuan in last year&rsquo;s fourth quarter, which was in line with its forecast given three months earlier. Car trading accounted for the single largest revenue source, down 88% to 53.2 million yuan from 431.1 million yuan a year earlier.
Significantly, its cost of revenue fell to 85.1% of total revenue in the latest quarter from 98.9% a year earlier, CFO Zhang Yongyi said on Cango&rsquo;s earnings call, marking an important improvement as it tries to return to sustained profitability.
While its revenue was down sharply, so were most of its costs, including a 77% decline in sales and marketing expenses and a 31% drop in general and administrative expenses. As a result, its operating loss narrowed sharply to 28.9 million yuan from 211.6 million yuan a year earlier, while its net loss fell to 103.8 million yuan from 558.9 million yuan.
The company said its revenue would continue to drop sharply in the current quarter. It forecast revenue of just 50 million yuan to 100 million yuan for this year&rsquo;s first quarter, which would represent an 86% decline at the midpoint from 542.6 million yuan a year earlier.
As uncertainty loomed large in its home China market, Cango also made another recent adjustment by lowering its focus on directly selling cars, which carries high inventory risk, to the lower-risk business of providing intermediary and other services for car traders.
It said its U-Car app is slowly building up an ecosystem of such traders, and that 38 dealers had set up stores offering new and used cars in the fourth quarter. The app provided service to 3,499 small online car dealers and facilitated 530 used car transactions during the quarter.
At the end of the day, Cango looks a lot like a company preparing for a long and potentially cold winter, at least in its home market, which is undergoing a painful correction with too much capacity after years of explosive growth. In such circumstances, the company is taking care to lower its own risks and maintain a comfortable cash cushion to see it through the difficult times. It&rsquo;s also planting some seeds that could allow it to thrive when things improve, including its latest foray into car exporting.
This article is from an unpaid external contributor. It does not represent Benzinga&#39;s reporting and has not been edited for content or accuracy.

<h4>Key Takeaways:</h4>
<ul>
<li>Autohome&rsquo;s profits rose about 4% last year to 1.88 billion yuan</li>
<li>The trading platform&rsquo;s sales of new energy vehicles are soaring, jumping nearly 82% last year</li>
</ul>
By Fai Pui
China&rsquo;s accelerating car market has put online trader&nbsp;Autohome Inc.&nbsp;(NYSE: <a class="ticker" href="https://www.benzinga.com/stock/athm#NYSE">ATHM</a>) on the road to a post-Covid recovery, with some bumps along the way.
Government measures to boost auto consumption, backed by promotions from manufacturers, powered a 5.6% rise in Chinese passenger car sales last year to 21.7 million units, according to vehicle industry statistics. The jump was nearly triple the 1.9% rise in 2022, making China the world&rsquo;s biggest auto market.
Rising car ownership has added fuel to Autohome&rsquo;s business as an auto trading portal, with sales increasingly driven by new energy vehicles (NEVs). The company logged a fifth straight quarter of revenue growth at the end of 2023, although the rise was modest. Its latest&nbsp;<a href="https://www1.hkexnews.hk/listedco/listconews/sehk/2024/0206/2024020601450.pdf">results</a>&nbsp;show revenue reached 1.91 billion yuan ($269 million) in the fourth quarter, a year-on-year increase of 1%, although net profit fell 25.6% to 432 million yuan.
But for the whole year, the picture looked brighter. Autohome&rsquo;s revenues rose 3.5% to 7.18 billion yuan last year and net profit also increased about 4% to 1.88 billion yuan. The car trading platform reported an adjusted net profit of 2.16 billion yuan for the full year, on a par with the 2.17 billion yuan in 2022, while the adjusted net profit margin remained high at 30.1%.
The figures came as a pleasant surprise for investors. Autohome&rsquo;s stock price on the Hong Kong market jumped 8.3% to HK$52 on the day after the earnings.
Autohome connects car buyers and sellers through its online platform and operates physical showrooms where customers can sample different brands in high-tech simulations. Its three main business segments are media services, lead generation and online marketing.
Revenues from media services fell about 18% to 500 million yuan in the fourth quarter and retreated 4.7% to 1.87 billion yuan for the full year. However, the other divisions put in a more robust performance. Revenues from lead generation advanced 6.9% to around 840 million yuan in the fourth quarter, while the full year saw a rise of 1.8% to 3.11 billion yuan. Online marketing and other services produced the strongest results, with revenues jumping 14.8% to 570 million yuan for the quarter and increasing 14.6% to 2.2 billion yuan for the full year.
Revenues may be rising, but so are costs. Autohome&rsquo;s sales and marketing expenses in the fourth quarter rose by 8.5% to 730 million yuan from the same period a year earlier, while general and administrative expenses soared 52.6% to 157 million yuan. Meanwhile, research and development expenses rose 13.7% to 356 million yuan. Overall, operating expenses for the quarter leapt 14.2% to a whopping 1.24 billion yuan and increased 2.4% to 4.9 billion yuan for the full year.
And the company&rsquo;s positive earnings performance owes a lot to its investment strategy. Last year, Autohome&rsquo;s returns from interest and investments rose a hefty 47.1% to 831 million yuan. Earnings from holdings in associate companies, described in the results as equity method investments, swung from a loss of nearly 50 million yuan to a profit of 29.13 million yuan. Interest and investment income together accounted for nearly 44% of the company&rsquo;s 1.88 billion yuan profit last year.
Despite its post-pandemic challenges, the car trader has been betting heavily on growth in electric cars and the market for second-hand vehicles. It has ramped up marketing efforts under growing competitive pressure from NEV manufacturers who are shifting towards a direct sales model, potentially squeezing out intermediaries such as Autohome. In response, the company has been investing in tools to help customers check car prices and conditions, as well as opening more offline showrooms to gain greater traction in the NEV market.
By the end of last year, Autohome had rolled out 20 of its so-called Energy Spaces in cities across China, with the latest in Beijing&rsquo;s automobile museum, using holographic technology to help buyers browse suitable cars in an immersive setting. By entering their preferred budget, brand and model, they can find a matching car from factories, dealerships or second-hand platforms without having to visit various stores.
<h3>Tech Tie-Up&nbsp;With Baidu</h3>
The launch of the Autohome Energy Spaces boosted the company&rsquo;s revenues from NEV car sales by 81.6% last year, drawing more brands into the system. The centers offer 3D holographs of more than 70 models from mainstream car brands. Autohome plans to extend the network to 50 Chinese cities this year, doubling to 100 cities the following year and broadening out to include overseas markets, helping Chinese car companies to build a global presence.
Market watchers expect the high-tech Autohome centers could fuel the company&rsquo;s advance into third- and fourth-tier Chinese cities, helping to introduce buyers there to a range of NEVs.
The experience centers could also rev up the used car business, giving customers data and information about second-hand vehicles as well as new cars. Autohome, which holds a 51% stake in the car trading platform Tiantian Paiche, has predicted that its experiential showrooms will help to develop the relatively untapped market for used cars in China&rsquo;s smaller cities.
Relying on technology for its space centers, the company has been splurging on R&amp;D while collaborating with leaders such as&nbsp;Baidu&nbsp;(NASDAQ: <a class="ticker" href="https://www.benzinga.com/stock/bidu#NASDAQ">BIDU</a>) in the fields of artificial intelligence and big data. In early February, Autohome announced a deal with Baidu to develop and apply innovation across a range of areas from content creation to marketing, customer service and business decision-making, using Baidu&rsquo;s Qianfan intelligent platform.
Autohome, as one of the few vehicle trading platforms to turn a profit, enjoys a price-to-sales (P/S) ratio of 3.16 times, way above the 0.56 times and 0.14 times for domestic peers&nbsp;Cango&nbsp;(NYSE: <a class="ticker" href="https://www.benzinga.com/stock/cang#NYSE">CANG</a>) and&nbsp;Kaixin Auto&nbsp;(NASDAQ: <a class="ticker" href="https://www.benzinga.com/stock/kxin#NASDAQ">KXIN</a>), and the 0.54 times for U.S. online car dealer&nbsp;Carvana&nbsp;(NYSE: <a class="ticker" href="https://www.benzinga.com/stock/cvna#NYSE">CVNA</a>). Autohome&rsquo;s hefty premium implies that investors are confident the company is on a profitable track.
This article is from an unpaid external contributor. It does not represent Benzinga's reporting and has not been edited for content or accuracy.

WIIM

Autohome shares are trading higher after the company reported better-than-expected Q4 results.

Autohome&nbsp;(NYSE:<a class="ticker" href="https://www.benzinga.com/stock/ATHM#NYSE">ATHM</a>) shares are<a target="_blank" href="https://www.benzinga.com/movers" rel="noreferrer noopener">&nbsp;trading higher on Tuesday</a>.
The company reported fourth 2023 revenues of RMB1.911 billion ($269.2 million), up 1% year-on-year,&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://www.benzinga.com/pressreleases/24/02/n36948973/autohome-inc-announces-unaudited-fourth-quarter-and-full-year-2023-financial-results" rel="noreferrer noopener">beating the consensus of $265.60 million.</a>
China&#8217;s online destination for automobile consumers&nbsp;posted an adjusted earnings per ADS of $0.58, beating the&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://www.benzinga.com/calendars/earnings" rel="noreferrer noopener">consensus of $0.57</a>.
Adjusted net income was RMB502.8 million ($70.8 million), compared to RMB668.5 million in the year-ago period.
Quarterly media services revenues were RMB500.5 million ($70.5 million), compared to RMB610.2 million a year ago.
Fourth quarter leads generation services&nbsp;revenues were RMB841.5 million ($118.5 million), compared to RMB786.8 million.
Online marketplace and others revenues were RMB569.5 million ($80.2 million) in the fourth quarter of 2023, compared to RMB496.2 million a year ago.
As of December 31, 2023, the company repurchased 6.73 million American depositary shares for a total cost of approximately $200 million.
As of December 31, 2023, the company had cash and cash equivalents and short-term investments&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://www.benzinga.com/calendars/guidance" rel="noreferrer noopener">of RMB23.55 billion ($3.32 billion).&nbsp;</a>
Price Action:&nbsp;ATHM shares are up by 11.6% at $26.84 on the last check Tuesday.

Autohome Gains Over 11% After Q4 Earnings: Here's The Details

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QGEN

Earnings Scheduled For February 6, 2024

Autohome (NYSE:<a class="ticker" href="https://www.benzinga.com/stock/ATHM#NYSE">ATHM</a>) reported its Q4 earnings results on Tuesday, February 6, 2024 at 05:30 AM.
Here's what investors need to know about the announcement.
<h3>Earnings</h3>
Autohome beat estimated earnings by 1.75%, reporting an EPS of $0.58 versus an estimate of $0.57.
Revenue was down $5.28 million from the same period last year.
<h3>Past Earnings Performance</h3>
Last quarter the company beat on EPS by $0.07 which was followed by a 0.52% increase in the share price the next day.
Here's a look at Autohome's past performance:

<table>
<thead>
<tr>
<th>Quarter</th>
<th>Q3 2023</th>
<th>Q2 2023</th>
<th>Q1 2023</th>
<th>Q4 2022</th>
</tr>
</thead>
<tbody>
<tr>
<td>EPS Estimate</td>
<td>0.60</td>
<td>0.57</td>
<td>0.50</td>
<td>0.71</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>EPS Actual</td>
<td>0.67</td>
<td>0.64</td>
<td>0.57</td>
<td>0.78</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Revenue Estimate</td>
<td>261.70M</td>
<td>249.51M</td>
<td>216.27M</td>
<td>280.05M</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Revenue Actual</td>
<td>261.24M</td>
<td>252.79M</td>
<td>223.31M</td>
<td>274.50M</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>

To track all earnings releases for Autohome <a href="https://www.benzinga.com/quote/ATHM/earnings">visit their earnings calendar here.</a> 
This article was generated by Benzinga's automated content engine and reviewed by an editor.

Autohome: Q4 Earnings Insights

Autohome (NYSE:<a class="ticker" href="https://www.benzinga.com/stock/ATHM#NYSE">ATHM</a>) reported adjusted quarterly earnings of $0.58 per share which beat the analyst consensus estimate of $0.57 by 1.75 percent. This is a 25.64 percent decrease over earnings of $0.78 per share from the same period last year. The company reported quarterly sales of $269.20 million which beat the analyst consensus estimate of $265.60 million by 1.36 percent. This is a 1.93 percent decrease over sales of $274.50 million the same period last year.

Autohome Q4 Adj. EPS $0.58 Beats $0.57 Estimate, Sales $269.20M Beat $265.60M Estimate

Autohome (NYSE:<a class="ticker" href="https://www.benzinga.com/stock/ATHM#NYSE">ATHM</a>) is set to give its latest quarterly earnings report on Tuesday, 2024-02-06. Here's what investors need to know before the announcement.
Analysts estimate that Autohome will report an earnings per share (EPS) of $0.57. 
Autohome bulls will hope to hear the company announce they've not only beaten that estimate, but also to provide positive guidance, or forecasted growth, for the next quarter.
New investors should note that it is sometimes not an earnings beat or miss that most affects the price of a stock, but the guidance (or forecast).
<h3>Historical Earnings Performance</h3>
Last quarter the company beat EPS by $0.07, which was followed by a 0.52% increase in the share price the next day.
Here's a look at Autohome's past performance and the resulting price change:

<table>
<thead>
<tr>
<th>Quarter</th>
<th>Q3 2023</th>
<th>Q2 2023</th>
<th>Q1 2023</th>
<th>Q4 2022</th>
</tr>
</thead>
<tbody>
<tr>
<td>EPS Estimate</td>
<td>0.60</td>
<td>0.57</td>
<td>0.50</td>
<td>0.71</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>EPS Actual</td>
<td>0.67</td>
<td>0.64</td>
<td>0.57</td>
<td>0.78</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Price Change %</td>
<td>0.52%</td>
<td>5.46%</td>
<td>3.17%</td>
<td>-3.85%</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>

<img src="https://www.benzinga.com/files/images/story/2024/1707163272_0.png" alt="eps graph" />
<h3>Stock Performance</h3>
Shares of Autohome were trading at $24.04 as of February 02. Over the last 52-week period, shares are down 33.03%. Given that these returns are generally negative, long-term shareholders are likely a little upset going into this earnings release. 
<a href="https://www.benzinga.com/quote/ATHM/earnings">To track all earnings releases for Autohome visit their earnings calendar on our site.</a>
This article was generated by Benzinga's automated content engine and reviewed by an editor.

Preview: Autohome's Earnings

<h4>Key Takeaways:</h4>
<ul>
<li>Autohome is expanding its membership services to include used car dealers, and is also preparing a major expansion of its TTP used car trading platform</li>
<li>The company has opened 20 experience-oriented &ldquo;Autohome Space&rdquo; centers since launching the chain in September last year, including 17 in the last three months</li>
</ul>
By Doug Young
In a recently developed market like China where everything is new, car services veteran&nbsp;Autohome Inc.&nbsp;(NYSE: <a class="ticker" href="https://www.benzinga.com/stock/athm#NYSE">ATHM</a>) is playing the contrarian with a big new bet on used car trading. Such a bet may have once raised eyebrows, in a land where new homes, new cars and new gadgets were in strong demand for years from a growing middle class happy to spend its newfound wealth on the latest and greatest items.
But as China&rsquo;s economy slows after three decades of breakneck growth, many are considering the once unthinkable option of buying used items like cars, smartphones and existing homes rather than new ones. To accommodate that shifting demand, specialists like Autohome are springing up to act as middlemen for such trading, providing a professional level of reassurance for buyers who may be wary of ending up with duds.
Autohome is one of China&rsquo;s oldest car services companies, and shot to fame 10 years ago with its listing on the New York Stock Exchange. Its shares once traded as much as nearly seven times their IPO price as China zoomed past the U.S. to become the world&rsquo;s largest auto market. Despite the market slowing in the last three years, they&rsquo;re still more than 60% ahead of their IPO price.
And with a price-to-sales (P/S) ratio of 3.4 times, the company still trades at a premium to domestic peers like&nbsp;Cango&nbsp;(NYSE: <a class="ticker" href="https://www.benzinga.com/stock/cang#NYSE">CANG</a>) and&nbsp;Kaixin&nbsp;(NASDAQ: <a class="ticker" href="https://www.benzinga.com/stock/kxin#NASDAQ">KXIN</a>), which both have ratios of less than 0.5, and U.S. giant&nbsp;Carvana&nbsp;(NYSE: <a class="ticker" href="https://www.benzinga.com/stock/cvna#NYSE">CVNA</a>), with a ratio of 0.8.
The big premium owes in no small part to Autohome&rsquo;s profitability, with the company reporting a profit every year since its listing 10 years ago. But its growth has slowed considerably in recent years as China&rsquo;s new car market starts to mature. Overall car sales in the market rose just 3% year-on-year in the first 10 months of this year.
But the picture is quite different for used cars. Autohome expects its revenue from used car trading services to rise by the end of this year, even as analysts polled by Yahoo Finance expect the company&rsquo;s overall revenue for 2023 to be roughly the same as 2022.
&ldquo;This year we have made preparations in this part of the business,&rdquo; Autohome CFO Zeng Yan, who also uses the English name Craig, told Bamboo Works in an interview, referring to Autohome&rsquo;s upcoming big push into used car trading.
The company estimates that new car sales in China will total about 22 million this year, while used cars are expected to reach about 80% of that level with between 17 million and 18 million units sold. By comparison, used car sales typically far outnumber new cars in more developed markets, with the former often outselling the latter by two to three times.
As China&rsquo;s market matures, Autohome expects the ratio to soon approach 50-50, providing a big business opportunity to partner with the nation&rsquo;s more than 300,000 used car dealers &ndash; roughly 10 times the number of new car dealers.
<h3>Used Car Dealer&nbsp;Memberships</h3>
While used car dealerships are far more numerous than new car ones, Zeng pointed out that the former earn far less than the latter due to their smaller sizes. Still, Autohome sees big potential for signing up those dealers for membership services on its platform.
Autohome currently gets about 30% of its total revenue, which analysts expect to reach about $1 billion this year, from membership fees paid by the more than 22,000 new car dealers that use its platform. The company recently began marketing a new category of memberships for used car dealers, and will start signing up members next year.
&ldquo;In the next three to five years, we plan to have 40% to 50% of the country&rsquo;s 300,000 used car dealers signed with us,&rdquo; said Autohome senior vice president Yang Song. He noted that membership prices will be much lower for used car dealers, around 10% the price for new car dealers. But he said the company hopes that used car dealer memberships can ultimately contribute a similar level of revenue to what new car dealer memberships now bring in.
The other piece of Autohome&rsquo;s used car drive is TTP, a used car auction platform established in 2015. TTP is 51% owned by Autohome, and operates a network of stores in 30 Chinese cities. It passed a major milestone this year when it became profitable for the first time, as it generated about $100 million in revenue, up about 15% from 2022. Unlike auto dealers that own their cars, TTP makes its money purely from commissions and therefore avoids any inventory risk &ndash; an important factor amid all the recent uncertainty in China&rsquo;s auto market.
Autohome is planning a major expansion for the service by opening new outlets inside its new chain of experience-oriented &ldquo;Autohome Space&rdquo; centers. That chain uses a franchise model, and launched last year by providing services like holograms that allow customers to see cars in 3D, as well as test driving services for new and used cars.
The company opened three such Autohome Spaces within the first year of launching its maiden store in Shanghai. It has sharply accelerated new openings for the chain in the last three months with the addition of 17 more since October. &ldquo;We needed to make sure such a business model is workable,&rdquo; said Zeng. &ldquo;In the fourth quarter we dramatically accelerated the expansion.&rdquo;
He added the original Autohome Space in Shanghai now sells more than 400 cars each month, and the existing 20 stores are selling about 3,000 cars combined per month. Some 34 car brands are currently working with Autohome on the project, which is expected to generate about 100 million yuan in sales this year. Of that total, 30% will go to Autohome as owner of the brand, while the remaining 70% goes to franchisees.
This article is from an external contributor. It does not represent Benzinga's reporting and has not been edited for content or accuracy.

The total yearly cash dividend is expected to be no less than&nbsp;RMB1.5 billion&nbsp;with the exact amount to be determined by the Board based on the Company&#39;s then financial performance, cash position, and applicable foreign exchange laws and regulations in&nbsp;China, among other factors.

Dividends

Autohome Board Intends To Declare Cash Dividend Semi-Annually From 2024 To 2026

Autohome Inc. (NYSE:<a class="ticker" href="https://www.benzinga.com/stock/ATHM#NYSE">ATHM</a>, HKEX: 2518)))) ("Autohome" or the "Company"), the leading online destination for automobile consumers in China, today announced that Mr. Quan Long has stepped down from his position as the chief executive officer of the Company (the "Chief Executive Officer") due to his other personal commitments, effective immediately. Mr. Long will remain in his position as the chairman of the board of directors of the Company (the "Board"). Dr. Jing Xiao has also resigned from his position as a director and a member of the Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee of the Board due to his other personal commitments, effective immediately.
The Company is pleased to announce that Mr. Tao Wu has been appointed as an executive director of the Company and the Chief Executive Officer, and Ms. Keke Ding, a current director and member of the Compensation Committee of the Board, has been appointed as a member of the Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee of the Board, both effective immediately.
Mr. Tao Wu has over 28 years of experience in the property and casualty insurance and automobile services industries. Mr. Wu currently serves as a director of Ping An Property &amp; Casualty Insurance Company of China, Ltd. ("Ping An P&amp;C"). Before joining Autohome, he served&nbsp;as an executive director and a vice general&nbsp;manager of Ping An P&amp;C. Mr. Wu joined Ping An P&amp;C in September 2001, and held a series of leadership roles there, including operating director, general manager of the Guangdong Branch, general manager of the Auto, Accident &amp; Health Insurance Claims Department, vice general manager of the Fujian Branch and vice general manager of the Xiamen Branch. Mr. Wu also served as a vice president of Autohome from July 2016 to November 2020. Mr. Wu received his bachelor's degree in automotive engineering from Tsinghua University in July 1995.
Mr. Quan Long, the chairman of the Board, stated, "We are delighted to welcome Mr. Tao Wu back to the team as our executive director and Chief Executive Officer. Mr. Wu previously spent over four years in a management role at Autohome and during that time he played a crucial role in leading the development of our core businesses. We believe that his leadership and extensive industry experience will be a great asset to our future development. The Board looks forward to working with him closely as we enter the exciting next phase of our growth story."
Mr. Long continued, "On behalf of the Board, I would like to express our sincere gratitude to Dr. Xiao for his dedication and his contributions to the Company. We wish him continued success in all of his future endeavors. I would also like to welcome Ms. Ding to her new role where I am confident her experience and perspectives will prove valuable to the Board."

Management

Autohome Tao Wu Appointed As Executive Director Of The Company And CEO; Succeeds Quan Long Effective Immediately; Long To Remain In Position As Chairman Of Board Of Directors

<h4>Key Takeaways:</h4>
<ul>
<li>Cango will merge its new and used car platforms onto a single service, in a major tweak to its new business model as a car-trading services provider</li>
<li>The company forecast its fourth-quarter revenue would drop sharply as it becomes more conservative in the current market where half of dealers are losing money</li>
</ul>
By Doug Young
Just when it looked set to cruise with its new business model,&nbsp;Cango Inc.&nbsp;(NYSE: <a class="ticker" href="https://www.benzinga.com/stock/cang#NYSE">CANG</a>) has announced an abrupt shift of gears with its latest&nbsp;<a href="https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/cango-inc-reports-third-quarter-2023-unaudited-financial-results-301997900.html">third-quarter results</a>. The car trader will merge its recently launched new and used trading car platforms into a single entity, a move that it says reflects recent trends in China&rsquo;s auto market.
At the same time, Cango also announced it will scale back one of its other recent major initiatives to focus on direct car trading. Instead, it will also encourage other traders to set up shops on its platform. That shift looks aimed at easing Cango&rsquo;s risk of building up too much inventory as China&rsquo;s car market becomes increasingly saturated and plagued by price wars after years of big growth.
With so many uncertainties in the background, Cango slipped back into revenue contraction in the third quarter after reporting its first growth in nearly two years during the previous quarter, according to its latest results released on Monday. It forecast even bigger revenue contraction in the fourth quarter, which has typically been a slow period for the company.
Despite putting on the brakes, Cango&rsquo;s relatively conservative approach helped to keep it cash flow positive during the latest quarter, giving it more than 3 billion yuan ($421 million) in reserves that it can start to spend more aggressively when the market shows signs of improvement.
CEO Lin Jiayuan pointed out that previously released data from the China Automobile Dealers Association shows that 50% of Chinese auto dealers lost money in the first half of this year, the highest level in recent years. Their losses came on the back of a bloody price war as dealers struggle to attract buyers in the sluggish market.
&ldquo;Car dealers&rsquo; profitability has been badly affected by pricing wars, and they have shifted toward purchasing vehicles on-demand to ease inventory buildup and operational pressure,&rdquo; he said on the company&rsquo;s earnings call. &ldquo;In fact, not only car dealers have been impacted &ndash; everyone along the automotive value chain has experienced unprecedented pressure, including Cango.&rdquo;
China&rsquo;s car market has been moving in fits and starts this year, trying to regain its earlier momentum from years of breakneck growth that propelled it past the U.S. to become the world&rsquo;s largest marketplace. After a relatively strong start to the year with China&rsquo;s end of Covid restrictions, the market quickly lost momentum in the middle of 2023 as consumers reined in their spending over worries about the slowing economy.
Growth returned to positive territory in August and September, though sales from the year-ago period were already quite weak due to China&rsquo;s strict pandemic controls at the time. And as Cango&rsquo;s Lin pointed out, much of the third-quarter sales growth for the broader car market was undermined by the fact that many dealers were selling at a loss to clear out inventory.
Lin previous flagged inventory buildup in the slowing market as a risk that Cango is trying to minimize. At the same time, he noted that many dealers have also been buying less cars recently to lower similar risk. Those factors combined to yield a 24% year-on-year decline in Cango&rsquo;s car-trading transactions to 264 million yuan in the third quarter. The weakness pulled down the company&rsquo;s overall revenue by 15% year-on-year to $354 million, slightly beating its guidance given out three months earlier.
<h3>Under Construction</h3>
Cango has spent most of the past two years overhauling itself as it moves away from its original business as a car financing specialist and into the more lightly regulated area of car trading services. Reflecting that, the outstanding balance from its older car financing business dropped sharply to just 13 billion yuan at the end of September, down by nearly 60% from a year earlier.
The company&rsquo;s move into car-trading services is focused on China&rsquo;s smaller cities where dealers are typically smaller and have less resources than their big-city peers. It rolled out two platforms, Haoche for new cars and U-Car for used cars, over the last year and a half as part of that change, offering both car-trading as well as supporting services like insurance. But in a sudden shift, the company has decided to combine the two into a single marketplace.
&ldquo;New car dealers are starting to engage in used car retail, while used car dealers are now attempting to sell new cars as well,&rdquo; said Lin. &ldquo;As such, we have decided to merge Cango Haoche&rsquo;s services into our Cango U-car platform to cater to the rapidly disappearing boundary between new car and used car sales channels.&rdquo;
As part of its shift, Cango will also move from its previous focus on directly buying and selling cars to a &ldquo;multi-store&rdquo; approach that encourages more third parties to set up stores on its platform. That move looks at least partly aimed at reducing the inventory risk for Cango that we previously mentioned. The company also announced it is studying the possibility of expanding into overseas markets.
As it makes those adjustments, Cango forecast its revenue would drop to between 100 million yuan and 150 million yuan in the fourth quarter, which would represent a steep 74% decline from the 487 million yuan it reported a year earlier at the midpoint.
Shareholders took the shift largely in stride, with Cango&rsquo;s shares rising 0.9% on Tuesday after the results came out. Their relative lack of concern could owe to the fact that Cango is still cash flow positive thanks to its conservative approach. It reported a 49.1 million yuan net loss for the quarter, reversing profits in the two previous periods. But the loss was largely due to a non-cash goodwill impairment.
Its cautious approach allowed Cango to build up its financial reserves, which totaled 666 million yuan in cash and 2.43 billion yuan in short-term investments at the end up September, both up by more than 10% from three months earlier.
Cango&rsquo;s shares currently trade at a price-to-sales (P/S) ratio of 0.51, which is well behind the 3.34 for much larger rival&nbsp;Autohome&nbsp;(NYSE: <a class="ticker" href="https://www.benzinga.com/stock/athm#NYSE">ATHM</a>) but ahead of the 0.18 and 0.40 for more similar-sized peers&nbsp;Uxin&nbsp;(NASDAQ: <a class="ticker" href="https://www.benzinga.com/stock/uxin#NASDAQ">UXIN</a>) and&nbsp;Kaixin Auto&nbsp;(NASDAQ: <a class="ticker" href="https://www.benzinga.com/stock/kxin#NASDAQ">KXIN</a>), respectively.
At the end of the day, Cango&rsquo;s conservative approach may have earned it a premium to its similar-sized peers. But if it wants to chase the likes of Autohome, it will need to show it can effectively use its sizable cash resources to quickly build up its new business once the Chinese auto market finally starts to improve.

Autohome Inc&nbsp;(NYSE: <a class="ticker" href="https://www.benzinga.com/stock/athm#NYSE">ATHM</a>) reported Q3 2023 revenues of RMB1.91 billion ($261.2 million), up 3.4% year-on-year, missing the consensus of $261.7 million.
China&#39;s online destination for automobile consumers&nbsp;posted an adjusted earnings per ADS of RMB4.92 ($0.67) beating the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.benzinga.com/calendars/earnings" target="_blank">consensus of $0.60</a>.
The top line benefitted from solid growth in its online marketplace and other&nbsp;<a href="https://ir.autohome.com.cn/news-releases/news-release-details/autohome-inc-announces-unaudited-2023-third-quarter-financial" target="_blank">businesses</a>.
According to QuestMobile, mobile DAUs in September increased 39.3% Y/Y to 69.01 million.
Leads generation services revenues stood at RMB830.1 million ($113.8 million), Online Marketplace and others&nbsp;revenues came in at RMB599.1 million ($82.1 million), and Media revenues were RMB476.9 million ($65.4 million) in the quarter.
Autohome held RMB23.43 billion ($3.21 billion) in cash and equivalents. Net cash provided by operating activities was RMB425.0 million ($58.3 million).
Chair and CEO Quan Long stated, &quot;This marks our fifth straight quarter of top and bottom-line growth on a year-over-year basis while consistently maintaining a high net profit margin.&quot;
CFO Craig Yan Zeng disclosed tapping new energy vehicles (&quot;NEVs&quot;) opportunities by integrating its used car business into Autohome Energy Space stores. These stores now also offer consumers the chance to trade in their cars and apply the proceeds towards purchasing a new one, leveraging the vehicle disposal capacity of TTP Car Inc. The company&#39;s 13 Autohome Energy Space stores are now under construction in different cities across China.&nbsp;
The&nbsp;<a href="https://www.benzinga.com/calendars/guidance" target="_blank">Q4 consensus for</a>&nbsp;revenue is $267.81 million, and EPS is $0.62.
The stock has lost 18.4% YTD.
ATHM Price Action:&nbsp;Autohome shares are up by 1.25% at $26.56 on the last chek Thursday.

Autohome (NYSE:<a class="ticker" href="https://www.benzinga.com/stock/ATHM#NYSE">ATHM</a>) reported quarterly adjusted earnings of $0.67 per share which beat the analyst consensus estimate of $0.60 by 11.67 percent. This is a 1.52 percent increase over earnings of $0.66 per share from the same period last year. The company reported quarterly sales of $261.20 million which missed the analyst consensus estimate of $261.70 million by 0.19 percent. This is a 0.80 percent increase over sales of $259.13 million the same period last year.

Autohome Q3 Adj EPS $0.67 Beats $0.60 Estimate, Sales $261.20M Miss $261.70M Estimate

<h4>Key Takeaways:</h4>
<ul>
<li>Cango reported its first quarter of revenue growth in nearly two years and a second consecutive quarterly profit as its new business model as a car trader gained momentum</li>
<li>The company forecast a slowdown in the third quarter, and said it will be cautious to avoid building up excess inventory as an early-year rebound in China&rsquo;s car market loses steam</li>
</ul>
By Doug Young
The story of&nbsp;Cango Inc.&nbsp;(NYSE: <a class="ticker" href="https://www.benzinga.com/stock/cang#NYSE">CANG</a>) looks a bit like a car that&rsquo;s restarting after a major overhaul these days, roaring ahead one moment only to sputter the next. The company, which has transformed from a car financier to operator of a car trading platform, was in clear &ldquo;roaring&rdquo; mode in the second quarter, posting turbo-charged revenue growth &ndash; its first in nearly two years &ndash; as its new business model gained traction.
But the company&rsquo;s&nbsp;<a href="https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/cango-inc-reports-second-quarter-2023-unaudited-financial-results-301908082.html">latest financial report</a>&nbsp;also contained some sputtering signs. Most notably, it predicted a major business slowdown in the third quarter, amid broader signs that China&rsquo;s post-Covid rebound in the first half of the year could be running out of fuel.
Ramping up a new business in such uncertain times may be partly responsible for Cango&rsquo;s uneven performance these days, as it tries to avoid any speed bumps that an economic slowdown could put in its path. CEO Lin Jiayuan is trying to walk a fine line to keep the company&rsquo;s transformation moving forward while avoiding potential problems like building up too much inventory too quickly, which could strain its finances should the market suddenly slow.
&ldquo;Our focus in the next stage of the new car trading business will be on avoiding potential vehicle inventory risk, and we will control our transaction scales more carefully,&rdquo; Lin said on the company&rsquo;s second-quarter earnings call.
The cautious attitude may be justified in the current climate. But it may also disappoint some who were hoping for a quick ramp-up of Cango&rsquo;s new platform, whose final major piece launched at the start of this year with the debut of its U-Car app for used car trading. The other major piece is Cango&rsquo;s Haoche app, which has signed up 11,066 car dealerships since its launch in the middle of last year. U-Car had engaged 6,900 dealers in 255 cities in the half-year since its launch.
Cango&rsquo;s shares rose 10.4% after the release of its latest results last Thursday. But then the stock gave most of that back the next day, again reflecting the start-stop sentiment that investors feel towards this company. Cango certainly has the financial resources to execute its plans, with about 2.6 billion yuan ($359 million) in cash and short-term investments in its vault at the end of June.
Cango&rsquo;s relatively cautious stance has earned it a price-to-sales (P/S) ratio of 0.8, which looks quite respectable for a company of its size in this relatively low-margin business. The far larger and more established&nbsp;Autohome&nbsp;(NYSE: <a class="ticker" href="https://www.benzinga.com/stock/athm#NYSE">ATHM</a>) trades at a much higher ratio of 3.7, but the more financially challenged&nbsp;Uxin&nbsp;(NASDAQ: <a class="ticker" href="https://www.benzinga.com/stock/uxin#NASDAQ">UXIN</a>) and&nbsp;Kaixin Auto&nbsp;(NASDAQ: <a class="ticker" href="https://www.benzinga.com/stock/kxin#NASDAQ">KXIN</a>) trade much lower ratios of 0.22 and 0.48, respectively.
Cango is hoping to carve out a niche by emphasizing its services for traders in smaller Chinese markets where dealers and buyers often lack such resources. To that end, it added a number of new services to its platform in the second quarter, including a car loan program on the Haoche platform, and a cross-regional delivery service. The company has also assembled a team of about 100 experts who will begin to provide users with basic vehicle inspection and other services.
<h3>Revenue Boom</h3>
With its two major apps now operating and a growing stable of supporting services, Cango&rsquo;s business moved into high gear in the second quarter. Its revenue more than doubled to 675.4 million yuan for the period from 289.2 million yuan in the year-ago quarter, marking its first year-on-year revenue gain in nearly two years. Much of the revenue came from the 5,893 cars sold over the Haoche platform, up 52% from the first quarter. The newer U-Car app facilitated a more modest 651 car sales during the quarter.
Car-trading transactions accounted for 83.3% of the company&rsquo;s revenue during the quarter, rapidly taking over as the main breadwinner from its car financing services that are gradually being phased out.
The company reported a second consecutive quarterly net profit of 36.2 million yuan as it continued to control operating costs, ending a period of losses extending back to the end of 2021. But it slipped back into the red on an operating basis after posting an operating profit in the first quarter.
The strong performance, led by the company&rsquo;s fourth sequential quarterly revenue rise, was tempered by far more cautious guidance for the third quarter. Cango said it expects to report revenue for the quarter of 300 million yuan to 350 million yuan, down about 22% year-on-year at the midpoint and about half of the level in the second quarter. It did not elaborate on reasons for the expected slowdown.
But China&rsquo;s broader car market has been having its own ups-and-downs this year, starting off 2023 with a bang after Beijing lifted most of the nation&rsquo;s strict Covid controls at the end of last year. Since then things have slowed considerably, and passenger car sales actually contracted year-on-year in June and July, according to the China Passenger Car Association.
Lin said the brief sales boom at the start of the year may have been fueled at least partly by pent-up demand, since many dealerships were closed and people were forced to stay housebound at the height of last year&rsquo;s Covid controls. He added that consumer confidence was also &ldquo;relatively weak&rdquo; in the first half of the year, despite the sales uptick. Accordingly, he wasn&rsquo;t optimistic on the outlook for the rest of the year, despite some government efforts to stimulate the market.
&ldquo;As the stimulus policies are being implemented, we do see an effect on the car sales and also on the car market as a whole. However (the recent slowdown) indicates that the higher-than-expected delivery figures (in the first part of the year) were actually mainly due to order backlogs in the previous periods,&rdquo; Lin said. He added that sales were relatively strong in the second half of last year, meaning such figures could be hard to beat this year in the current slowing market. &ldquo;So, the auto market overall sales volume may decline actually in the second half of the year,&rdquo; he said.

<h4>Key Takeaways:</h4>
<ul>
<li>Autohome recorded a second consecutive quarter of profit growth in its latest reporting period, as its revenue increased by 6%</li>
<li>The company&rsquo;s revenue growth, driven by its platform connecting car buyers and sellers, reflects a slow and bumpy recovery in China&rsquo;s sluggish auto market</li>
</ul>
By Warren Yang
Online car trader&nbsp;Autohome Inc.&nbsp;(NYSE: <a class="ticker" href="https://www.benzinga.com/stock/athm#NYSE">ATHM</a>) is slowly leaving behind a dark period for the company as several years of pandemic-induced slowness recede into its rear-view mirror. But growing economic uncertainty in China means more speed bumps could lie ahead, even as the company stands to benefit from Beijing&rsquo;s efforts to juice up the economy by stimulating car sales.
Autohome&rsquo;s revenue increased about 6% to 1.8 billion yuan ($252.8 million) in the second quarter from a year earlier, marking its fourth consecutive quarterly sales growth, according to the company&rsquo;s&nbsp;<a href="https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/autohome-inc-announces-unaudited-2023-second-quarter-and-interim-financial-results-301887184.html#:~:text=Net%20Income%20attributable%20to%20Autohome,)%2C%20compared%20to%20RMB423.4">latest quarterly results</a>&nbsp;released last Thursday. The internet auto trader managed to keep its operating expenses nearly unchanged, driving a larger 16% year-on-year gain in its net profit for the April-June period, its second consecutive quarter of profit growth.
The company&rsquo;s latest revenue growth was driven by its platform services that connect car buyers and sellers. Revenue from this business increased more than 20%, dwarfing essentially flat growth for its marketing services for automakers, and a small single-digit increase for services that let car dealers create their own online shops.
The results could signal the start of a recovery for China&rsquo;s auto market, which has slumped for the last few years following two decades of explosive growth. Total car sales in the country increased almost 10% year-on-year in the first half, including 4.8% growth in June, according to data from the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers (CAAM). But its worth noting that year-ago sales were particularly weak, especially in the months of April and May when the entire city of Shanghai was under lockdown to control the spread of the Covid Omicron variant.
China&rsquo;s auto market still remains on shaky footing as consumers aren&rsquo;t quite ready to open their wallets en masse. CAAM data shows that passenger vehicle sales increased 8.8% year-on-year in the first six months of this year and 2.1% in June, lagging increases in overall sales for all vehicle types. Worse, passenger vehicle sales tracked by another industry body, the China Passenger Car Association (CPCA), actually fell 2.9% in June from a year earlier and grew just 2.5% in the first half.
Data from the two organizations differs because the CAAM counts a shipment to a dealer as a sale, whereas the CPCA figures only include actual retail sales to consumers. The fact that retail sales are behind wholesale deliveries suggests that inventories are building up, and the auto market is far from out of the woods following a sharp post-Covid rebound to start the year.
In the face of such conflicting signals, policymakers are rolling up their sleeves once more to pump more fuel into car sales and other industries considered critical for China&rsquo;s economic rebound. To that end, they unveiled a wide range of measures last week, including encouraging local governments to increase annual car purchasing quotas, promoting sales of used cars and reducing costs for purchases and use of new energy vehicles (NEVs).
<h3>NEV Boom</h3>
It remains to be seen how much of a boost these steps will actually give to auto sales due to recent signs of growing consumer caution. That said, Autohome stands to benefit from any new measures to boost used car and NEV sales, which have both been bright spots for the company lately.
Autohome&rsquo;s revenue from NEV sales jumped 60% year-on-year in the second quarter, said CFO Craig Zeng on the company&rsquo;s conference call to discuss its second-quarter earnings.
That&rsquo;s far ahead of growth in industrywide NEV retail sales, which increased 37% year-on-year in the first half and 25% in June. While Autohome didn&rsquo;t provide directly comparable figures for either of those two periods, it seems safe to guess that growth in the company&rsquo;s NEV-related revenue is outpacing the broader market.
Autohome is going all out to capitalize on a boom that saw NEV sales double last year in China, making it the world&rsquo;s largest market for clean energy cars. In a grand display of the company&rsquo;s effort last month, it hosted a &ldquo;Future City NEV Technology Festival&rdquo; and rolled out China&rsquo;s first mobile exhibition truck featuring a large-scale holographic screen to promote NEV purchases in underserved rural areas.
In used cars trading, Autohome&rsquo;s share of transactions grew about 2 percentage points year-on-year to nearly a quarter of the market in the April-June period.
&ldquo;We believe that there are structural opportunities in this market, especially in these two areas,&rdquo; said Autohome CEO Long Quan on the company&rsquo;s earnings conference call. &ldquo;The first would be NEVs. The second would be used cars.&rdquo;
This isn&rsquo;t the first time China has introduced measures to drive up NEV sales as the government tries to build a low-carbon economy. Policymakers have also tried to convince consumers, who traditionally preferred new vehicles, to consider used cars, which reduce waste through reuse of second-hand products.
Government efforts to boost both product types include a tax exemption for electric cars, which has been extended to the end of this year, and a reduction in levies for used car purchases.
But such government programs can inflate demand only so much when many potential buyers&rsquo; finances are still wobbly. To make matters worse, some policy measures have backfired. Earlier this year, a price war sparked by&nbsp;Tesla&nbsp;(NASDAQ: <a class="ticker" href="https://www.benzinga.com/stock/tsla#NASDAQ">TSLA</a>) was exacerbated after local governments started offering subsidies for purchases of NEVs made by homegrown brands. That dampened used car sales as some new vehicles became cheaper.
All this means that things are far from back to normal in China&rsquo;s auto market, even though the pandemic is squarely in the past. But Autohome may be able to ride out any future downturns if it can position itself to benefit from government policies supporting NEVs and used cars, allowing its revenue and profits to continue growing.
Investors seem to recognize that. The company&rsquo;s stock initially rose nearly 7% in the two trading days after the results announcement, though they later gave back much of that. Still, the stock trades at a relatively strong price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio that exceeds 14. Its price-to-sale (P/S) ratio is also decent at about 4, higher than the 0.77 for smaller auto-trading rival&nbsp;Cango&nbsp;(NYSE: <a class="ticker" href="https://www.benzinga.com/stock/cang#NYSE">CANG</a>).

TSLA

Autohome Shifts Into Brighter Lane Of Shaky China Auto Market With NEV, Used Car Focus

Autohome Q1 2024 Earnings Preview

Autohome Non-GAAP EPADS of $0.56 beats by $0.07, revenue of $222.9M beats by $5.7M

<a href="https://investorplace.com">InvestorPlace - Stock Market News, Stock Advice &amp; Trading Tips</a>
Autohome (NYSE:<a href="https://investorplace.com/stock-quotes/athm-stock-quote/">ATHM</a>) just reported results for the first quarter of 2024.<ul><li>Autohome reported earnings per share of 56 cents. This was above the analyst estimate for EPS of 49 cents.</li><li>The company reported revenue of $222.85 million.</li><li>This was 1.02% better than the analyst estimate for revenue of $220.60 million.</li></ul><div>InvestorPlace Earnings is a project that leverages data from <a href="https://www.tradesmith.com">TradeSmith</a> to automate coverage of quarterly earnings reports. InvestorPlace Earnings distills key takeaways including earnings per share and revenue, as well as how a company stacks up to analyst estimates. These articles are published without human intervention, allowing us to inform our readers of the latest figures as quickly as possible. To report any concerns or inaccuracies, please contact us at <a href="mailto:editor@investorplace.com">editor@investorplace.com</a>.</div><h3>More From InvestorPlace</h3>
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	The post <a href="https://investorplace.com/earning-results/2024/05/athm-stock-earnings-autohome-for-q1-of-2024/">ATHM Stock Earnings: Autohome Beats EPS, Beats Revenue for Q1 2024</a> appeared first on <a href="https://investorplace.com">InvestorPlace</a>.

ATHM Stock Earnings: Autohome Beats EPS, Beats Revenue for Q1 2024

Autohome, Inc. (ATHM) Q1 2024 Earnings Call Transcript

Analysts have been eager to weigh in on the Communication Services sector with new ratings on Twilio (TWLO – Research Report), AutoHome (ATHM – Res...

Analysts Have Conflicting Sentiments on These Communication Services Companies: Twilio (TWLO), AutoHome (ATHM) and Match Group (MTCH)

Autohome: Focus On Vehicle Subsidies And Dividend Outlook (Rating Upgrade)

As the world's second-largest economy struggles with a slump in consumer confidence, analysts believe that achieving the growth target set this year could be challenging. Amid this uncertainty, it could be ideal to invest in robust China stocks Ping An Insurance (PNGAY), Youdao (DAO), and Autohome (ATHM) for potential gains. Read more… In 2024, Beijing aims to bolster confidence and dispel international doubts regarding China's economic prospects by setting a <a href="https://www.scmp.com/economy/economic-indicators/article/3258640/china-gdp-what-needed-achieve-very-challenging-5-economic-growth-goal-2024">growth target of 5%</a>. However, achieving this target poses considerable hurdles without pent-up demand and from traditional industries skeptical of transitioning toward a more advanced economy.
Given this backdrop, investing in the shares of three fundamentally sound Chinese stocks, Ping An Insurance (Group) Company of China, Ltd. (<a href="https://stocknews.com/stock/PNGAY/">PNGAY</a>), Youdao, Inc. (<a href="https://stocknews.com/stock/DAO/">DAO</a>), and Autohome Inc. (<a href="https://stocknews.com/stock/ATHM/">ATHM</a>) could help weather the market uncertainties.
During the recent Labor Day holiday, China experienced a surge in tourism, <a href="https://edition.cnn.com/2024/05/06/economy/china-labor-day-tourism-surge-frugal-intl-hnk/index.html">with 295 million trips</a> made within the mainland, marking a 28% increase compared to 2019. However, despite the rise in travel, there was a noticeable decline in spending, indicating sluggish consumption in the Chinese economy.
The tourism revenue for this year's Labor Day reached 166.89 billion yuan ($23.06 billion), only 13.5% higher than the 2019 level. Notably, tourists spent less money per trip than five years ago, dropping average spending by 6% to ¥565.73 ($78.18).
Further, analysts believe the country must roll out proactive fiscal policies and a ‘flexible and appropriate' monetary policy while also fixing the ailing property market to support the growth momentum. Despite these obstacles, some international organizations and investment banks have <a href="https://www.scmp.com/business/china-business/article/3260058/goldman-sachs-says-china-stocks-may-rise-40-market-reforms-ubs-goes-overweight-mainland-hong-kong">raised their economic growth</a> forecasts, indicating cautious optimism.
In April, China saw consumer prices rise for the third consecutive month, indicating an uptick in domestic demand. The Consumer Price Index (CPI) <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2024/05/11/chinas-consumer-prices-rise-for-3rd-month-factory-deflation-persists.html">increased by 0.1%</a> compared to the previous month, surpassing expectations of a 0.1% decline and reversing the 1% drop observed in March.
Conversely, producer prices continued to decline, with the producer price index dropping by 2.5% year-on-year in April, although this decline eased from the previous month's 2.8% slide. This prolonged stretch of declines highlights ongoing challenges in certain sectors of the economy.
In response, China's central bank announced plans to adopt flexible, precise, and effective monetary policies to support a moderate recovery in consumer prices and consolidate economic growth.
That said, let us now dig deeper into the fundamentals of the featured <a href="https://stocknews.com/category/china/">China</a> stocks, beginning with number three:
Stock #3: Ping An Insurance (Group) Company of China, Ltd. (<a href="https://stocknews.com/stock/PNGAY/">PNGAY</a>)
Based in Shenzhen, PNGAY provides financial products and services for insurance, banking, asset management, and technology businesses in China. It operates in Life and Health Insurance; property and Casualty Insurance; Banking; Trust; Other Asset Management; and Technology segments.
Earlier this year, PNGAY was recognized by the leading brand valuation consultancy Brand Finance as China's Most Valuable Insurance Brand, marking its eighth consecutive year holding this prestigious title.
According to Brand Finance's Global 500 Report for 2024, PNGAY boasts a brand value of $44.36 billion, securing the 31st position among the world's most valuable brands. Additionally, it ranked second among insurance brands and sixth among global financial enterprises.
In terms of forward EV/Sales, PNGAY is trading at 2.81x, 9.1% lower than the industry average of 3.09x. Also, the stock's forward Price/Sales multiple of 0.79 is 69.4% lower than the industry average of 2.59.
For the three-month period, which ended on March 31, 2024, PNGAY's total revenue amounted to RMB275.89 billion ($38.13 billion), while its insurance revenue grew 2.8% from the prior-year period to RMB136.85 billion ($18.91 billion). The company's profit for the period amounted to RMB45.05 billion ($6.23 billion). In addition, its attributable <a href="https://www.investopedia.com/terms/e/eps.asp">EPS</a> came in at RMB2.03.
PNGAY's cash and cash equivalents at the end of the period stood at RMB544.10 billion ($75.19 billion), up 3.3% year-over-year.
Street expects PNGAY's revenue for the third quarter (ending September 2024) to grow 8.7% year-over-year to $25.54 billion. Also, for the fiscal year 2025, the company's revenue is expected to increase marginally year-over-year to reach $136.54 billion. Also, the company topped the revenue estimates in three of the trailing four quarters.
Shares of PNGAY have surged 37.2% over the past month and 17.4% year-to-date to close the last trading session at $10.59.
PNGAY's strong fundamentals are reflected in its <a href="https://stocknews.com/powr-ratings/">POWR Ratings</a>. The stock has an overall rating of B, which translates to a Buy in our proprietary rating system. The POWR Ratings are calculated by considering 118 different factors, each weighted to an optimal degree.
PNGAY has a B grade for Value, Momentum, and Sentiment. Among 39 stocks in the <a href="https://stocknews.com/category/china/">China</a> industry, it is ranked #9.
In addition to the POWR Ratings we've stated above, we also have PNGAY ratings for Growth, Stability, and Quality. Get all PNGAY ratings <a href="https://stocknews.com/stock/PNGAY/">here</a>.
Stock #2: Youdao, Inc. (<a href="https://stocknews.com/stock/DAO/">DAO</a>)
Based in Hangzhou, DAO is an internet technology company offering online services in the fields of content, community, communication, and commerce in China. The company operates through three segments: Learning Services; Smart Devices; and Online Marketing Services. It provides online knowledge tools, learning services, STEAM courses, and smart devices.
DAO's trailing-12-month gross profit margin of 51.35% is 39.8% higher than the industry average of 36.73%. Further, the stock's trailing-12-month asset turnover ratio of 2.73x is considerably higher than the industry average of 0.99x.
In terms of forward Price/Sales, DAO is trading at 0.54x, 38.8% lower than the industry average of 0.88x. Also, the stock's forward EV/Sales multiple of 0.73 is 40.4% lower than the industry average of 1.22.
During the fourth quarter that ended December 31, 2023, DAO's total net revenues increased marginally year-over-year to $208.53 million, of which its online marketing services revenue grew 96.9% year-over-year to $66.78 million. Its gross profit for the quarter came in at $104.06 million.
Additionally, non-GAAP net income from continuing operations attributable to ordinary shareholders of the company increased 122.6% from the prior year's quarter to $9.76 million.
Street expects DAO's revenue for the first quarter (ended March 31, 2024) to grow 11.3% year-over-year to $182.92 million. Also, for the fiscal year 2024, the company's revenue is expected to increase 13.4% year-over-year to $850.09 million. Also, the company topped the revenue estimates in three of the trailing four quarters.
Over the past five days, DAO's stock has gained 6.6% to close the last trading session at $3.86.
DAO's POWR Ratings reflect its bright prospects. The stock has an overall B rating, translating to a Buy in our proprietary rating system.
It has an A grade for Sentiment and a B for Growth and Value. DAO is ranked #6 among 39 stocks within the same industry. To check other ratings of DAO for Momentum, Stability, and Quality, <a href="https://stocknews.com/stock/DAO/">click here</a>.
Stock #1: Autohome Inc. (<a href="https://stocknews.com/stock/ATHM/">ATHM</a>)
Headquartered in Beijing, ATHM offers an online destination for automobile consumers in the People's Republic of China. It delivers interactive content and tools to automobile consumers through its websites, autohome.com.cn, che168.com, and ttpai.cn on PCs, mobile devices, mobile applications, and mini apps.
ATHM's trailing-12-month gross profit margin of 82.40% is 66.8% higher than the industry average of 49.39%. Its 15.85% trailing-12-month EBIT margin is higher than the 8.37% industry average by 89.3%. Further, the stock's trailing-12-month net income margin of 26.48% is considerably higher than the industry average of 2.51%.
In terms of forward EV/Sales, ATHM is trading at 0.42x, 77.2% lower than the industry average of 1.83x. Furthermore, the stock's forward EV/EBITDA and EV/EBIT multiples of 2.35 and 2.55 are 69.2% and 83% lower than the 7.62 and 15.01 industry averages, respectively.
During the first quarter that ended March 31, 2024, ATHM's total net revenues increased 4.9% year-over-year to RMB 1.61 billion ($222.50 million), of which its online marketplace and others revenue rose 12.9% year-over-year to RMB 555.21 million ($76.73 million). Its gross profit grew 9.6% from the year-ago value to RMB 1.31 billion ($181.04 million)
Furthermore, adjusted net income attributable to Autohome and non-GAAP EPS came in at RMB 493.93 million ($68.26 million) and RMB 1.02 for the quarter, representing an increase of 2.2% and 4.1% year-over-year, respectively.
Analysts expect ATHM's revenue and EPS for the fiscal year (ending December 2025) to increase 4.1% and 3.6% year-over-year to $1.08 billion and $2.42, respectively. Furthermore, the company has surpassed the consensus revenue estimates in all four trailing quarters, which is impressive.
ATHM's stock has gained 15.9% over the past three months to close the last trading session at $29.94.
ATHM's bright prospects are reflected in its POWR Ratings. The stock has an overall rating of B, which translates to a Buy in our proprietary rating system.
It also has a B grade for Value, Sentiment, and Quality. Within the same industry, it is ranked #5. To see the other ratings of ATHM for Growth, Momentum, and Stability, <a href="https://stocknews.com/stock/ATHM/">click here</a>.
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PNGAY shares . Year-to-date, PNGAY has gained 17.41%, versus a 9.93% rise in the benchmark S&amp;P 500 index during the same period.
<hr><div style="clear:both;"></div> <h2>About the Author: Shweta Kumari</h2> <img src='https:/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/Shweta-Kumari_Image-2.jpg' style="float:left; padding:5px;width:125px;">Shweta's profound interest in financial research and quantitative analysis led her to pursue a career as an investment analyst. She uses her knowledge to help retail investors make educated investment decisions.<a href="https://stocknews.com/authors/?author=shweta-kumari">More...</a>The post <a href=https://stocknews.com/news/pngay-athm-dao-3-china-stocks-to-buy-weathering-market-volatility/>3 China Stocks to Buy Weathering Market Volatility</a> appeared first on <a href=https://stocknews.com/>StockNews.com</a>

3 China Stocks to Buy Weathering Market Volatility

Autohome declares $0.57 dividend

Warning: ATHM is at high risk of cutting its dividend

<a href="https://investorplace.com">InvestorPlace - Stock Market News, Stock Advice &amp; Trading Tips</a>
The combination of strong buy ratings and 5% yields make certain <a href="https://investorplace.com/stock-types/dividend-stocks/">dividend stocks</a> particularly attractive. &ldquo;Strong buy&rdquo; ratings indicate that the analysts covering a given equity believe in that equity. They have done the research required to make an informed opinion. The fact that they are highly positive about said equity, is a strong sign for investors.



Likewise, dividends yielding 5% or more are also attractive. One way to understand a 5% dividend yield is to state that it adds an extra 5% return to your investment each year. That&rsquo;s a massive advantage which too often goes overlooked. Dividends can be used as a source of income or as a reinvestment vehicle. Over time, those 5% plus returns can dramatically boost the value of a given investor&rsquo;s portfolio.



Investors will want to look out for a few potential pitfalls when investing in such stocks. Dividend history is of paramount importance. Pay particular attention to past reductions and the ability to pay dividends uninterrupted moving forward. More generally, seek companies that appear to be on a positive trajectory fundamentally.



<h2>British American Tobacco (BTI)</h2>



<div><img width="300" height="169" src="https://investorplace.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/bti-stock-1-300x169.jpg" alt="British American Tobacco logo on a building"><div>Source: DutchMen / Shutterstock.com</div></div>British American Tobacco (NYSE:<a href="https://investorplace.com/stock-quotes/bti-stock-quote/">BTI</a>) is a stock that should logically raise multiple red flags to any rational investor. The biggest red flag of which is the simple fact that cigarette smoking rates continue to decline.



So, British American Tobacco should be expected to worsen in the coming years, right? Well no, not exactly. From a basic Financial fundamental perspective British American Tobacco actually appears to be in a pretty good place. Revenues are not strong but are expected instead to be mediocre over the next several years.



Overall revenues are expected to slightly contract in 2024 and then grow between 3% and 4% in 2025 and 2026. The important thing to note for income investors is that <a href="https://stockanalysis.com/stocks/bti/forecast/">earnings per share are expected to improve rapidly in each of those three years</a>.&nbsp;&nbsp;



That&rsquo;s part of the reason that BTI stock is well regarded by analysts. It&rsquo;s also the reason investors should believe that the company will continue to have the ability to pay its dividend. By the way, that&rsquo;s a dividend currently yielding 9.5%. It looks like now is a good time to jump in, grab strong dividend income, and hopefully ride share prices higher for returns otherwise.



<h2>Philip Morris International (PM)</h2>



<div><img width="300" height="169" src="https://investorplace.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/pm1600-300x169.jpg" alt="An image of a cigarette and an e-cigarette side-by-side on a wood surface."><div>Source: vfhnb12 / Shutterstock.com</div></div>Philip Morris International (NYSE:<a href="https://investorplace.com/stock-quotes/pm-stock-quote/">PM</a>) stock is very similarly positioned with British American tobacco. Broad, industry-wide headwinds have forced tobacco companies to reduce their reliance on cigarette revenues and find other ways to make money from smoking.



The 10,000 foot view shows that Philip Morris International is doing particularly well from that perspective. I&rsquo;d argue that Philip Morris International is the better pic of the two tobacco stocks discussed in this article. The reason I say that relates to top-line and bottom-line performance.



The company is experiencing rapid revenue growth in 2024 that is expected to continue for the next several years. Meanwhile, bottom line performance is equally impressive. It is entirely possible that Philip Morris International experiences <a href="https://stockanalysis.com/stocks/pm/forecast/">double-digit earnings growth in each of the next three years</a>.&nbsp;



While the current strong performance is certainly a positive, it also takes some of the potential upside out of PM stock&rsquo;s target price. That&rsquo;s why Philip Morris International&rsquo;s dividend yields a bit over 5% at the moment while British American Tobacco&rsquo;s dividend yields nearly 10%. It&rsquo;s a great indication of the relative risk in investing in each respective stock.



<h2>Realty Income (O)</h2>



<div><img width="300" height="169" src="https://investorplace.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/realty1600-300x169.jpg" alt="realty income logo highlighted by a magnifying glass on a web browser"><div>Source: Shutterstock</div></div>Realty Income (NYSE:<a href="https://investorplace.com/stock-quotes/o-stock-quote/">O</a>) stock represents a real estate investment trust (REIT) in the retail sector. The company owns well over 15,000 real estate properties under long-term lease agreements with commercial tenants.&nbsp;



Let&rsquo;s begin with a broad view of Realty Income&rsquo;s strengths and then drill down to a more recent analysis. Investors are essentially looking at <a href="https://stockanalysis.com/stocks/o/forecast/">strong revenue and earnings growth throughout the next three years</a> for Realty Income.



That broad view suggests the company will continue to pay its monthly dividend uninterrupted with near certainty.&nbsp;



Dividends are not paid directly from earnings at REITs. Instead we have to look at funds from operations (FFO) in order to determine the health of a REIT dividend. Realty Income continues to <a href="https://www.realtyincome.com/sites/realty-income/files/2024-05/O-03.31.24-10Q.pdf">more than fund its dividend distributions through FFO</a>.&nbsp;



The company also recently <a href="https://www.realtyincome.com/investors/press-releases/realty-income-raises-2024-earnings-and-investment-guidance">increased its guidance</a> in that regard, again making it that much more attractive. For the more, I think one of the more overlooked strengths of Realty Income is the fact that it provides a monthly dividend which itself provides for an accelerated reinvestment schedule.



<h2>Kimco Realty (KIM)&nbsp;</h2>



<div><img width="300" height="169" src="https://investorplace.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/kim1600-300x169.jpg" alt="The Kimco Realty (KIM) logo displayed on a smartphone screen."><div>Source: rafapress / Shutterstock.com</div></div>Kimco Realty (NYSE:<a href="https://investorplace.com/stock-quotes/kim-stock-quote/">KIM</a>) operates grocery-anchored shopping centers and other mix to use assets. The stock is another REIT meaning it is subject to the unique constraints of that business model. Those unique constraints primarily manifest in the analysis of the dividend, so let&rsquo;s start there.



Generally speaking, dividends are paid from earnings. For most stocks, if the dividend requires less than 55% of earnings it is considered to be healthy. REITs are different: By law they must pay at least 90% of earnings to shareholders. In practice, they often pay much more, many times well in excess of 100%. In the case of Kimco Realty that figure <a href="https://www.gurufocus.com/stock/KIM/dividend">is 186%</a>.



So, how do we ascertain the health of a REIT dividend? The answer is funds from operations. Funds from operations in excess of distributions indicate that a given rate can pay its dividends. Kimco Realty has given guidance that it expects<a href="https://www.globenewswire.com/news-release/2024/05/02/2874055/27734/en/Kimco-Realty-Announces-First-Quarter-2024-Results.html"> funds from operations in 2024 to land between $1.56 and $1.60</a>. The company is <a href="https://www.gurufocus.com/stock/KIM/dividend">likely to pay $0.96 in dividends</a> this year.



Buy KIM shares for the high dividend but also because they&rsquo;re <a href="https://stockanalysis.com/stocks/kim/forecast/">expected to appreciate in price</a> by roughly 20%.



<h2>Autohome (ATHM)</h2>



<div><img width="300" height="169" src="https://investorplace.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/autonomous-smart-car-driving-300x169.png" alt="An image of an autonomous smart car driving, sensing other vehicles in the road"><div>Source: Andrey Suslov/Shutterstock</div></div>Autohome (NYSE:<a href="https://investorplace.com/stock-quotes/athm-stock-quote/">ATHM</a>) stock represents an online platform for buying automobiles in China. The company primarily operates in the communications sector but also directly sells some automobiles through its platform. The bulk of its business is advertising and subscription revenues that facilitate the buying and selling of used automobiles in the nation.&nbsp;



Autohome doesn&rsquo;t have a lot of coverage. In fact, it only has a single analyst covering its equity. take that for what you will but with a $27 share price there&rsquo;s a lot of upside given that the lone analyst <a href="https://stockanalysis.com/stocks/athm/forecast/">rates it at $46</a>.



I can see some reasoning to believe that may be the case. Autohome&rsquo;s P/E ratio is currently 12.85. Meanwhile, the company&rsquo;s <a href="https://www.gurufocus.com/term/pettm/ATHM">median P/E ratio has been above 21</a> over the past decade. Current low levels are likely a reflection of broader fears surrounding the Chinese economy and their effects on perceptions around automobile purchases.



The benefit of buying in now, aside from the excitement of chasing that upside, is a dividend yielding 6.3%. That dividend payment was easily paid out from first quarter earnings.&nbsp;



<h2>Alliance Bernstein (AB)</h2>



<div><img width="300" height="169" src="https://investorplace.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/alliancebernstein-ab1600-300x169.png" alt="AllianceBernstein (AB) company logo icon on website, Illustrative Editorial"><div>Source: Postmodern Studio / Shutterstock.com</div></div>AllianceBernstein (NYSE:<a href="https://investorplace.com/stock-quotes/ab-stock-quote/">AB</a>) is likely to be a good stock over the next few years. The company is expected to experience double-digit top line and bottom line growth through 2026 which is why analysts believe it has such strong upside.



The good thing to note here is that at $33.30 currently, AllianceBernstein&rsquo;s shares remain below the <a href="https://stockanalysis.com/stocks/ab/forecast/">low target price of $36.50</a>. Some analysts believe they could rise as high as $51.



AllianceBernstein&rsquo;s current dividend yields 8.7% as share prices have pushed yields higher. The company will continue to have high payout ratios in the 90% range into the foreseeable future.&nbsp;



A clear picture should be emerging here: AllianceBernstein stock is on the riskier side but offers the short-term benefit of high dividends and the expectation of rising share prices moving forward. Therefore, it&rsquo;s probably not appropriate for all portfolios but if yours is more risk-forward AllianceBernstein certainly makes sense.



<h2>Clearway Energy (CWEN)</h2>



<div><img width="300" height="169" src="https://investorplace.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/cwen-stock-1-300x169.jpg" alt="the clearway energy (CWEN) logo on a web browser under a magnifying glass"><div>Source: Pavel Kapysh / Shutterstock.com</div></div>Clearway Energy (NYSE:<a href="https://investorplace.com/stock-quotes/cwen-stock-quote/">CWEN</a>) looks like one of the stronger well rated stocks with 5% dividends to consider.



The company operates more than 6,000 megawatts of installed renewable energy projects. renewable energy is again coming to the fore, this time in relation to artificial intelligence.&nbsp;



One of the biggest opportunities in AI at the moment is within the data center space. It is the area into which the most capital is being directed at the moment. As an example, the vast majority of Nvidia&rsquo;s revenues are attributable to data center spending.&nbsp;



In turn, those data centers require massive amounts of energy. Data center operators have also committed to reducing carbon emissions which means they are likely to be powered by renewable energy to a greater degree moving forward.



Anyway, that&rsquo;s arguably the strongest catalyst for Clearway Energy at the moment.It offers a dividend yielding more than 6% and share prices are currently just below $26 with plenty of <a href="https://stockanalysis.com/stocks/cwen/forecast/">upside </a>remaining.



On the date of publication, Alex Sirois did not have (either directly or indirectly) any positions in the securities mentioned in this article. The opinions expressed in this article are those of the writer, subject to the InvestorPlace.com <a href="https://investorplace.com/corporate/investorplace-publishing-guidelines/">Publishing Guidelines</a>.
<div>Alex Sirois is a freelance contributor to InvestorPlace whose personal stock investing style is focused on long-term, buy-and-hold, wealth-building stock picks. Having worked in several industries from e-commerce to translation to education and utilizing his MBA from George Washington University, he brings a diverse set of skills through which he filters his writing.</div><h3>More From InvestorPlace</h3>
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The post <a href="https://investorplace.com/2024/06/strong-buy-ratings-and-5-dividends-7-stocks-that-will-boost-your-portfolio/">Strong Buy Ratings and 5% Dividends: 7 Stocks That Will Boost Your Portfolio</a> appeared first on <a href="https://investorplace.com">InvestorPlace</a>.

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Government Trades

Autohome Inc

top performing ATHM trades