Weibo Corp (ADR) (WB) Stock Is Headed for the Big Leagues

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Weibo Corp (ADR) (NASDAQ:WB) is basically the Chinese version of Twitter Inc (NYSE:TWTR). But that’s not a bad thing for WB and Weibo stock.

Weibo Corp (ADR) (WB) Stock Is Headed for the Big Leagues What I mean by this is you may have heard in recent weeks no one seems to want to buy TWTR — Walt Disney Co (NYSE: DIS) and Salesforce.com, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) are the latest companies to back out on the potential acquisition.

Both were concerned about the amount of trolling that goes on when someone says something someone else disagrees with. Followers may not be who you want and for a family-oriented company like DIS, that would not be good. Nor would it be good for CRM, since its entire reason to exist is to treat customers well and professionally. TWTR is too wide open.

Now the company may have one suitor left that is more agnostic about content, Japan’s SoftBank Group Corp (OTCMKTS:SFTBF). Twitter is a very popular service in Japan, so there may be a possibility the deal makes some sense.

What’s Going on With Weibo Stock?

The problem for Twitter is that the more potential suitors that walk away, the lower the price of the stock goes, and the less chance that things will end well for the original micro-blogging platform.

But the problems at TWTR do not translate to Weibo stock. As a matter of fact, WB’s market cap has almost surpassed Twitter’s. Weibo stock is on its way up. And as The Economist notes, WB went public in 2014, with a market cap of $3.4 billion. The day of the Weibo IPO, TWTR had a $26.8 billion market cap.

WB now has nearly as many Chinese users — 282 million monthly users — as Twitter has in its global empire, and where TWTR is losing about $100 million a quarter, Weibo is still racking up serious growth.

In early August, WB reported for fiscal year Q2 2016, and the numbers need no introduction. Advertising and marketing revenue was up 45% year-over-year. Daily active users were up 36%; monthly active users were up 33%. And 89% of users are using mobile devices.

Net income was up 516% year over year, from 2 cents a share to 12 cents a share. Net revenue was up 36% and non-GAAP net income was up 225%.

Weibo stock and the company is growing dynamically.

And given its current dominance in the Chinese market, I wouldn’t be surprised if instead of SoftBank, WB might make a bid for TWTR when the price is right. That would be a huge boost to its long-term expansion and give it a foothold around the globe.

Weibo stock is up 234% in the last 12 months and this is not the end of the run; it’s just the beginning. WB dominates the Chinese market, so it is safe from any competition in that market. And given the fact that the Chinese government is supportive of local technology firms, Weibo has a very strong partner in its ability to grow in this nation of 1.35 billion.

In the long-term, growth will subside, but for now, WB is a stock with strong upside momentum and a strong market presence, with plenty of potential.

Louis Navellier is a renowned growth investor. He is the editor of five investing newsletters: Blue Chip Growth, Emerging Growth, Ultimate Growth, Family Trust and Platinum Growth. His most popular service, Blue Chip Growth, has a track record of beating the market 3:1 over the last 14 years. He uses a combination of quantitative and fundamental analysis to identify market-beating stocks. Mr. Navellier has made his proven formula accessible to investors via his free, online stock rating tool, PortfolioGrader.com. Louis Navellier may hold some of the aforementioned securities in one or more of his newsletters.

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