Why NetEase (NTES) Shares Are Falling

Benzinga · 10/14 16:49

Shares of U.S.-listed Chinese companies, including gaming and internet giant NetEase Inc (NASDAQ:NTES), fell 3.06% to $85.65 Monday afternoon amid a broader sell-off in Chinese stocks driven by investor dissatisfaction with China’s latest economic stimulus efforts.

What’s Happening: NetEase, a major player in China’s online gaming, e-commerce and entertainment sectors, saw its stock take a hit Monday as investors weighed the potential impacts of China’s uncertain economic trajectory.

The company, which relies heavily on consumer spending and internet activity in China, has been sensitive to the broader macroeconomic environment, particularly as China’s economy grapples with slowing growth and regulatory scrutiny.

While Beijing’s latest stimulus package promised subsidies for low-income households, support for the property market and replenishment of state banks' capital, the absence of clear financial commitments left investors unimpressed.

Market analysts had hoped for more aggressive measures, particularly concrete figures on government spending, to inject confidence back into the Chinese economy.

Prior reports suggested the issuance of 2 trillion yuan ($284.4 billion) in sovereign bonds to alleviate debt and boost consumption, but the lack of confirmation on this front has further fueled uncertainty.

Why This Matters: For NetEase, which depends heavily on a robust domestic market to drive demand for its online games, cloud services, and educational platforms, such ambiguity around the size and timing of the stimulus package could impact the company's future earnings.

Moreover, ongoing geopolitical tensions between China and the U.S., particularly restrictions on access to advanced AI technology, continue to pose significant risks to the broader tech sector, including NetEase. The ability to innovate and stay competitive in areas like cloud computing, artificial intelligence, and gaming could be further hindered by these restrictions.

Adding to investor concerns, China’s regulatory environment has grown increasingly stringent over the past year, with crackdowns on major tech companies for antitrust practices and data security issues.

Is NTES A Good Stock To Buy?

Wall Street analysts view NetEase on the whole as a Buy, given the history of coverage over the past three months. Jiong Shao from Barclays in NetEase is the most bearish, expecting a 21.15% fall in the stock in the coming year.

But looking at how the market as a whole thinks of the stock, you can reference historical price action for views on whether investors feel strongly about the stock one way or another. In the past 3 months, NetEase fell 8.31%, which indicates that opinion soured on the business and how attractive it is to own based on either its stock price, or underlying fundamentals, like revenue, which rose 5.91% over the past year.

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NTES has a 52-week high of $118.89 and a 52-week low of $75.85.