Tag Archives: Youku Tudou

Latest financial and Business news from youku tudou INC
Stock analysis for Youku Tudou Inc (YOKU:New York) including stock news, corporate company news, key statistics, fundamentals and company profile

INTERNET: Xunlei Ties With Baidu, 58.com Works on ChinaHR

Bottom line: Baidu could buy a small stake in Xunlei but is unlikely to acquire the company outright as part of their new alliance, while 58.com’s plan to rebuild its newly acquired job site should have good chances of success.

58.com goes to work on ChinaHR

I’ve been predicting a marriage for a while for online video orphan Xunlei (Nasdaq: XNET), even as it remains stubbornly single despite its lack of scale to survive as an independent company. First it appeared the company might get bought by smartphone sensation Xiaomi after the pair boosted their strategic tie-up in May, but then nothing more happened. Now the gossip mills are likely to start turning again, following the latest announcement of a major partnership between Xunlei and Baidu’s (Nasdaq: BIDU) iQiyi online video service.

58.com

Meantime in another Internet news bit, the top executive at leading online classified ad site 58.com (NYSE: WUBA) is saying he will need 2 years to turn around the underperforming online job site ChinaHR, which he acquired earlier this year. His assessment comes after the site laid off nearly all of its staff as part of the deal that saw 58.com buy ChinaHR from its Irish owner. Read Full Post…

MEDIA: Exaggeration Claims Teach LeTV Lesson of Gravity

Bottom line: LeTV’s shares are probably overvalued despite a recent sell-off, but the company still looks like a good long-term bet despite allegations that it may overstate some of its sales and financial data.

LeTV shares hit turbulence

Online video superstar LeTV (Shenzhen: 300104) is quickly learning the lessons of gravity, as its formerly surging shares have suddenly shifted into reverse amid claims of unusual accounting and a big share sale by its CEO. Anyone who has owned the stock over the last 52 weeks is still doing quite nicely, with the shares more than double from a year ago at their current price level.

But anyone who bought LeTV shares amid a wave of euphoria that began in April might be doing less well. That wave saw the shares more than double in just a month’s time, making the company the undisputed leader in China’s online video space, well ahead of former leader Youku Tudou (NYSE: YOKU). But since reaching a peak in May the shares have lost about a third of their value, and it’s quite possible we could see quite a bit of downside ahead for this overinflated stock. Read Full Post…

MEDIA: SMG Challenges LeTV, Xiaomi with MTC Buy

Bottom line: Oriental Pearl’s new purchase of a stake in a set-top box and TV maker is part of a broader series of recent moves that could help position it to emerge as a viable rival to China’s private online video companies.

SMG buys into TV maker MTC

State-run broadcaster Shanghai Media Group (SMG) is wasting no time telling the world who it sees as its main rivals, with word that the company is buying a major stake in a TV and set-top box maker after completing an overhaul of its own digital TV assets. Anyone who follows the industry will know that the high-flying LeTV (Shenzhen: 300104) appears to be the major target of this new SMG tie-up, which is seeing the company’s newly launched Oriental Pearl (Shanghai: 600637) digital video unit purchase a major stake in a Shenzhen-listed company called MTC (Shenzhen: 002429) for 2.2 billion yuan ($350 million). Read Full Post…

MEDIA: SMG, Hunan TV Reach Out For Relevance

Bottom line: China’s traditional broadcasters need to move quickly to forge new, meaningful partnerships with private companies outside the media space, or risk being overtaken by new media rivals.

Mango TV ties with China Mobile

Two of China’s leading regional broadcasters have been in the headlines these last 2 weeks, as they scramble to transform themselves to compete with a new generation of web-based private companies that are rapidly stealing their viewers and advertising dollars. Both stories involve new tie-ups with industry outsiders, reflecting the need to bring in new expertise to help these state-run broadcasters leverage digital and web-based technologies that will dominate the media landscape of the future.

The first big story came 2 weeks ago, when Shanghai Media Group (SMG) signed a landmark deal with e-commerce titan Alibaba (NYSE: BABA) to develop a financial news and information service that could someday take on the likes of global giants like Bloomberg and Reuters (NYSE: TRT). The second came last week, when media reported that Hunan Satellite TV had raised 1 billion yuan ($162 million) in the first private funding round for its fledgling paid video service Mango TV. Read Full Post…

MEDIA: LeTV, iQiyi, Youku Snared In Crackdown — Again

Bottom line: Beijing’s latest online video clean-up is part of its drive to guide a bigger transition from a traditional TV to an Internet-based broadcasting landscape, with more similar moves likely over the next 1-2 years.

Beijing cracks down on cartoons

It’s been at least a month or two since Beijing’s latest crackdown on unhealthy Internet content, so it should come as no surprise that the morality police have launched yet another campaign, this time targeting cartoons. The latest dragnet has snared video superstar LeTV (Shenzhen: 300104), Baidu-backed (Nasdaq: BIDU) iQiyi and most other top industry players, who are among 29 companies being investigated in this latest web clampdown.

China’s broader Internet clean-up campaign is now actually entering its second year, and dates back to April last year when leading web portal Sina (Nasdaq: SINA) had its video license revoked for hosting pornographic content. (previous post) Since then, nearly ever major video site has been investigated and punished at one point or another, and social networking sites (SNS) like Tencent (HKEx: 700) WeChat have also embarked on clean-ups of controversial content. Read Full Post…

MEDIA: CCTV Takes Aim At LeTV, JD.com

Bottom line: CCTV’s new attacks on LeTV and JD.com reflect its growing assertiveness to counter the rise of new media, and could become more frequent in the months and years ahead.

CCTV takes aim at LeTV, JD.com

The rapid rise of new media is posing a serious challenge to China’s traditional media, which is perhaps partly behind a couple of headlines that have state-run broadcasting giant CCTV leveling separate attacks against online video high-flyer LeTV and e-commerce giant JD.com (Nasdaq: JD). The first case has seen CCTV sue LeTV for copyright infringement related to its popular Lunar New Year’s eve TV program. The second has CCTV airing an investigative report accusing JD.com of offering refurbished iPhones over its site that used unauthorized components, causing some to break down. Read Full Post…

INTERNET: Online Real Estate, Video Struggle For Profits

Bottom line: Online real estate stocks could resume their rebound if their latest forecasts are accurate, while Youku Tudou shares are holding steady despite widening losses on hopes for a merger deal with iQiyi.

Online real estate stocks drop on weak earnings

This week marks the height of earnings season for US-listed Chinese stocks, prompting me to look at a quartet of struggling companies in the real estate and online video spaces that have just reported results. The former category has seen the trio of SouFun (NYSE: SFUN), E-House (NYSE: EJ) and Leju (NYSE: LEJU) all release their earnings over the last 2 days, revealing gloomy results as an ongoing correction shows no signs of easing in China’s real estate market. Meantime, former online video leader Youku Tudou’s (NYSE: YOKU) latest results also look weak, showing the company’s losses ballooned as it continues to search for an elusive model for long-term profitability. Read Full Post…

News Digest: May 21, 2015

The following press releases and media reports about Chinese companies were carried on May 21. To view a full article or story, click on the link next to the headline.
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  • Microsoft (Nasdaq: MSFT) Xbox One Gets $100 Price Drop in China to Boost Sales (English article)
  • Disney (NYSE: DIS) Opens Its First And Largest Store In The World In Shanghai (Businesswire)
  • Yingli (NYSE: YGE) Responds To Media Coverage Of Its Ability As a Going Concern (PRNewswire)
  • Youku Tudou (NYSE: YOKU) Announces Q1 Unaudited Financial Results (PRNewswire)
  • Solar Maker Hanergy (HKEx: 566) Plunges, Losing Nearly $19 Bln in 24 Minutes (English article)
  • Latest calendar for Q1 earnings reports (Earnings calendar)

INTERNET: Vipshop Stock Under Attack, iQiyi In Merger Denial

Bottom line: Shares of Youku Tudou and Vipshop are likely to remain stable over the next few weeks, as the former moves towards a rumored merger with iQiyi and the latter fends off a short seller attack.

Vipshop likely to fend off short seller attack

Two stories with big implications for individual company stocks are in the news as we begin the new week, led by a denial from Baidu-backed (Nasdaq: BIDU) online video site iQiyi that it’s in talks for a merger with large rival Youku Tudou (NYSE: YOKU). The other big news has high-flying discount e-commerce site Vipshop (NYSE: VIPS) coming under a short-seller attack, prompting it to issue not one but two separate statements denying the allegations. The week ahead could be bumpy for both of these stocks, which is why I’m weighing in with my own view of what may be happening behind the scenes. Read Full Post…

MEDIA: Youku, iQiyi Marriage Rumors Excite

Bottom line: A merger between Youku Tudou and iQiyi looks like a strong possibility because it would greatly benefit both companies, creating a clear market leader to rival LeTV and traditional broadcasters.

Youku Tudou in merger talks with iQiyi?

Rumors that former online video leader Youku Tudou (NYSE: YOKU) is in talks to merge with rival iQiyi have reignited interest in the former’s beleaguered stock, as investors get excited about another landmark deal in the space. Youku Tudou’s shares soared 17 percent in the latest trading session, and have now nearly doubled since the beginning of April.

The sourcing is quite vague on the reported talks for a merger with iQiyi, which is owned by online search leader Baidu (Nasdaq: BIDU). But I would give the reports a strong chance of being true, as this kind of a move seems consistent with past behavior of Youku Tudou’s CEO Victor Koo, who is highly practical and thus would seriously consider selling his company if such a move made financial sense. Read Full Post…

News Digest: May 15, 2015

The following press releases and media reports about Chinese companies were carried on May 15. To view a full article or story, click on the link next to the headline.
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  • Lenovo (HKEx: 992) To Spin Off Smart TV Unit As JV With Alibaba (NYSE: BABA) (English article)
  • Youku Tudou (NYSE: YOKU) In Merger Talks With iQiyi – Market Talk (Chinese article)
  • Xiaomi Smartphone Sales Rise 36 Pct To 15 Mln Units In Q1 (Chinese article)
  • Sina (Nasdaq: SINA) Reports Q1 2015 Financial Results (PRNewswire)
  • Alibaba (NYSE: BABA) Invests In Parcel Delivery Firm YTO Express (Chinese article)
  • Latest calendar for Q1 earnings reports (Earnings calendar)