Shares of Bilibili Inc. BILI, -3.33% bounced 2.0% in premarket trading Thursday, after the China-based videogame company reported a wider-than-expected loss, as cost of revenue surged, but revenue that rose just above forecasts and announced a $500 million stock buyback program. Net losses widened to RMB2.09 billion ($330.4 million), or RMB5.34 a share, from RMB827.8 million, or RMB2.34 a share, in the year-ago period. Excluding nonrecurring items, the adjusted per-share loss of RMB4.22 was wider then the FactSet loss consensus of RMB4.19. Revenue rose 50.5% to RMB5.78 billion ($914.7 million) to top the FactSet consensus of RMB5.75 billion, while cost of sales increased 61.7% to RMB4.68 billion. Average monthly active users (MAUs) rose 35% to 271.7 million, and average daily active users (DAUs) grew 34% to 72.2 million. For the first quarter, the company expects revenue of between RMB5.3 billion and RMB5.5 billion, compared with the FactSet consensus of RMB5.65 billion. Separately, the company said it has set a new $500 million program to repurchase American depositary receipts, which represents 4.3% of Bilibili’s market capitalization of $11.59 billion as of Wednesday’s close, and said Chief Executive Rui Chen will spend his own money to buy up to $10 million worth of ADS. The stock, which fell 3.3% on Wednesday to close a penny above the Feb. 23 21-month low of $30.15, has plunged 45.1% over the past three months through Wednesday, while the iShares MSCI China ETF MCHI, -0.73% has shed 7.8% and the S&P 500 SPX, +1.86% has slipped 3.4%.
