Friday, April 25, 2008

Analyst take on Q1 08 - Merrill Lynch

Costs under control; maintain Buy with PO of US$412
EPS of US$0.6 was inline with consensus estimate on
better-than-expected revenue (5% above consensus),
controlled G&A and R&D expenses, but lower non-op
income. Japan-website cost about US$4m, again
in-check. We remain positive on the search trends
in China but don’t expect new initiatives such as
the Japanese website, mobile search and online games,
to contribute materially before 2010. Maintain Buy
with DCF-based PO slightly up to US$412 (from
US$410). Risks are major services issues, regulation
on Internet and competition.

Source: paid research

No comments: