China Finance Online Co. Limite (JRJC) research, news, and more from GeoInvesting

Company description

Fri, 01 Feb 2008 05:00:00 GMT

China Finance Online Co. Limited specializes in providing online financial and listed company data, information and analytics in China. The company provides individual users with subscription-based service packages that integrate financial and listed company data and information from multiple sources with features and functions such as data and information search, retrieval, delivery, storage and analysis. These features and functions are delivered through proprietary software available by download, through Internet or through mobile handsets. Through its subsidiary, Shenzhen Genius Information Technology Co. Ltd, the Company provides financial information database and analytics to institutional customers including domestic securities and investment firms.

Notable Share Transactions

Wed, 22 Jan 2020 05:00:00 GMT

BEIJING, Jan. 22, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- China Finance Online Co. Limited ("China Finance Online", or the "Company", "we", "us" or "our") (NASDAQ GS: JRJC), a leading web-based financial services company that provides Chinese retail investors with fintech-powered online access to securities trading services, wealth management products, securities investment advisory services, as well as financial database and analytics services to institutional customers today announced that it has received a notification letter from the Nasdaq Listing Qualifications Department (the "Staff") of the Nasdaq Stock Market LLC ("Nasdaq") notifying the Company that it has regained compliance with Listing Rule 5450(a)(1) and the matter is now closed.

According to the letter received from the Staff on January 21, 2020, the closing bid price of the Company's American Depositary Shares has been at $1.00 per share or greater for a minimum of 10 consecutive business days, and the Company has regained compliance with the minimum bid price requirement set forth in Rule 5450(a)(1) for continued listing on the Nasdaq Global Select Market.

Notable Share Transactions

Tue, 07 Jan 2020 14:45:33 GMT

BEIJING, Jan. 7, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- China Finance Online Co. Limited, (NASDAQ GS: JRJC), ("China Finance Online", or the "Company", "we", "us" or "our"), a leading web-based financial services company that provides Chinese retail investors with fintech-powered online access to securities trading services, wealth management products, securities investment advisory services, as well as financial database and analytics services to institutional customers today announced a 10:1 ratio change of the Company's American Depositary Share ("ADS") program from 1 ADS representing 5 ordinary shares of the Company to a new ratio of 1 ADS representing 50 ordinary shares of the Company ("ADS Ratio"). This ratio change is effective as of January 6, 2020 (US time).

To effect this ratio change, ADS holders are required to exchange their existing ADSs for new ADSs on the basis of one (1) ADS for every ten (10) ADSs surrendered. If the aggregate number of ADSs to which a holder is entitled results in a fractional ADS, such fractions will be sold, if possible, and the net proceeds, if any, will be distributed to such holder.

As a result of the change in the ADS Ratio, the ADS trading price is expected to increase proportionally, although the Company can give no assurance that the ADS trading price after the change in the ADS Ratio will be equal to or greater than ten times the ADS trading price before the change. As previously announced on August 1, 2019, the Company received a letter of non-compliance from Nasdaq Listing Qualifications Department of the Nasdaq Stock Market LLC dated July 30, 2019, regarding its ADS trading price. The Company believes that the change in the ADS Ratio will help the Company to maintain compliance with the continued listing requirements of Nasdaq. However, the Company can give no assurance that this goal will be achieved.

Comments & Business Outlook

Fri, 27 Dec 2019 20:25:32 GMT

Third Quarter 2019 Financial Results

Net revenues were $8.1 million, compared with $8.6 million during the third quarter of 2018 and $8.9 million during the second quarter of 2019.
Net loss attributable to China Finance Online was $2.1 million, compared with a net loss of $6.0 million in the third quarter of 2018.

Mr. Zhiwei Zhao, Chairman and CEO of China Finance Online, commented that "During the third quarter of 2019, our bottom-line loss was significantly reduced. The weak Hong Kong markets and the falling investor confidence in the third quarter of 2019 led to a revenue decline in our brokerage business in Hong Kong. With the improvement of our business model and higher operation efficiency, our gross margin was also strengthened from the same period of last year."

"Similar to the transition of brokerage services in the US, Chinese financial institutions are moving away from a trading commission-oriented business model to holistic financial services encompassing wealth management, investor education, and asset allocation advisory. Our dedication to leveraging technologies to empower wealth managers and improve customer loyalty has bought us closer to many financial institutions. This paradigm shift in the financial industry also set the stage for us to change the revenue model from one-off project services to annual retainers. Our Genius Zhisheng has received such standard annual contracts from brokerage firms. Our institutional business is showing good indications."

"After a weak second quarter, the Chinese stock markets continued to soften during the third quarter and the Shanghai Composite Index dropped from 2979 to 2905. However, the traffic to our flagship website, 'JRJ.com.cn,' continued to rise, reaching No. 150 in Alexa's Global Ranking and No. 35 in China, respectively. We remain one of the most trusted financial news hubs with our proprietary content, fact-based journalism, breaking news coverage and analysis on market trends. Growing traffic attracted not only more readers but also more advertisers. As a result, our advertising business is growing rapidly."

"Looking into 2020, we will continue to optimize and upgrade our services and products, and also remain confident to leverage our fintech capabilities to add value to our institutional customers and grow our market share and earning power," Mr. Zhao concluded.

Comments & Business Outlook

Fri, 27 Sep 2019 13:49:09 GMT

Second Quarter 2019 Financial Results

Net revenues were $8.9 million, in which revenues from the financial advisory business grew 82.6% year-over-year, revenues from advertising grew 60.2% year-over-year, and gross margin was 63.1%
Fully diluted loss per American Depository Shares ("ADS") attributable to China Finance Online was $0.13 for the second quarter of 2019, compared with fully diluted loss per ADS of $0.19 for the second quarter of 2018 and fully diluted loss per ADS of $0.12 for the first quarter of 2019.

Mr. Zhiwei Zhao, Chairman and CEO of China Finance Online, commented, "During the second quarter of 2019, the bottom-line loss was further narrowed on a year-over-year basis. The efficiency of our fundamental businesses is improving."

"During the second quarter, the Chinese stock markets suffered a crushing sell-off. However, as of early August, the traffic to our flagship website, JRJ.com.cn, bucked the downward market trend and rose to No. 280 in Alexa's Global Ranking and to No. 44 in China from No. 430 and No. 62, respectively. We remain one of the most trusted financial news hubs with our proprietary content, fact-based journalism, breaking news coverage, analysis on market trends and various product offerings. We made significant inroad in content distribution, as subscribers of JRJ on TouTiao have been over 2 million and followers of JRJ on Baidu have also exceeded 1 million, placing us among the most recognized and popular financial media in China. We believe that the enhanced operational metrics paves the way for operation improvement. To strengthen our market leadership and increase monetization of the traffic, we also explored mobile marketing initiatives and formed strategic partnerships with several leading digital advertising platforms and advertising tech companies in China and abroad. Our recent partnership with one of the largest independent global mobile ad-tech platforms, InMobi, exemplifies our pursuit to connect global advertisers with the vast consumer market opportunities in China."

"We are pleased that our continued investment in our fintech capabilities to empower the wealth management industry has started bearing fruits. Our i-TAMP (Turnkey Asset Management Platform) attracted dozens of new professional financial advisors and wealth managers to register and open their online stores on our platform. We continue to position our platform to be the one-stop destination for wealth management professionals when they need better research, premium analytics and a superior customer management system to support their decision marking and strengthen their client relations. Despite the market weakness in the second quarter, both of our investment advisory and wealth management services posted year-over-year growth. Well received by more and more brokerage firms, banks and asset management companies, our investment and technology DNA continues to position us as the premier trusted partner, especially in the area of investor education."

"Built upon our development of a proprietary intelligent asset allocation system, Lingxi continues to register strong performance. While 92% of Lingxi users achieved positive returns, nearly 100% of the investors who currently hold Lingxi products for over one year received positive returns on their investment. In 2017, 2018 and 2019, Lingxi's returns of 10.92%, 2.96% and 9.44%, respectively, and superior risk management capabilities have drawn serious attention from institutional investors."

"Looking into the future, we will continue to strengthen our fintech capabilities through optimizing and upgrading our services and products, and also turn fintech research findings into scalable revenues. While we are confident about our technology capabilities and emerging market opportunities, we remain focused to further improve the top and bottom lines," Mr. Zhao concluded.

Comments & Business Outlook

Thu, 01 Aug 2019 13:44:35 GMT

BEIJING, Aug. 1, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- China Finance Online Co. Limited ("China Finance Online", or the "Company", "we", "us" or "our") (NASDAQ GS:JRJC), a leading web-based financial services company that provides Chinese retail investors with fintech-powered online access to securities trading services, wealth management products, securities investment advisory services, as well as financial database and analytics services to institutional customers, today announced that it has received a notification letter from the Nasdaq Listing Qualifications Department (the "Staff") of the Nasdaq Stock Market LLC ("Nasdaq") notifying the Company that, for the last 30 consecutive business days, the closing bid price for the Company's American Depositary Shares ("ADR") has closed below a minimum $1.00 per share required for continued listing on The Nasdaq Capital Market pursuant to Nasdaq Listing Rule 5550(a)(2) ("Rule 5550(a)(2)"). The Nasdaq deficiency letter has no immediate effect on the listing of the Company's ADR, and its ADR will continue to trade on The Nasdaq Capital Market under the symbol "JRJC" at this time.

In accordance with Nasdaq Listing Rule 5810(c)(3)(A), the Company has been given 180 calendar days, or until January 27, 2020 to regain compliance with Rule 5550(a)(2). If the Company chooses to implement a reverse stock split, it must complete the split no later than ten business days prior to January 27, 2020 to regain compliance. If at any time before January 27, 2020, the bid price of the Company's ADR closes at $1.00 per share or more for a minimum of 10 consecutive business days (an "Automatic Compliance Event"), the Staff will provide written confirmation that the Company has achieved compliance with Rule 5550(a)(2).

Comments & Business Outlook

Thu, 27 Jun 2019 13:14:01 GMT

First Quarter 2019 Financial Results

Net revenues were $9.9 million, compared with $13.3 million during the first quarter of 2018 and $10.7 million during the fourth quarter of 2018
Net loss attributable to China Finance Online was $2.8 million, compared with a net loss of $5.2 million in the first quarter of 2018

Mr. Zhiwei Zhao, Chairman and CEO of China Finance Online, commented, "During the first quarter of 2019, our bottom-line loss was further narrowed. With the improvement of our business model and operational efficiency, we also grew our gross margin from the same period of last year."

"Our business that leverages fintech to empower wealth management is starting to bear fruits. In late 2018, we introduced iTAMP (Turnkey Asset Management Platform), a one-stop ecosystem that empowers financial advisors and wealth managers to provide investment consultations and advice covering stocks, mutual funds, wealth management, insurance, trusts and other financial products. Since then, we have attracted more and more financial advisors to open their online offices on our platform. In the first quarter of 2019, with the market climate recovery and the improvement of our business model, our investment advisory business posted solid growth. At the same time, our initiative to empower wealth management services has witnessed breakthroughs, with over ten financial institutions including brokerage firms, banks and asset management firms forming partnerships with us. Our fintech capability and 20 years' operation track record in retail customer-oriented services are well received and recognized by these financial institutions."

"Looking into the future, we will continue to not only strengthen our fintech capabilities through optimization and upgrading of our services and products, but also turn fintech research findings into scalable revenues. While maintaining our goal of fully realizing our future growth potentials, we will strive to further improve our operational efficiency," Mr. Zhao concluded.

Comments & Business Outlook

Wed, 24 Apr 2019 13:47:08 GMT

Fourth Quarter 2018 Financial Results

Net revenues were $10.7 million, up from $8.6 million in the third quarter of 2018.

Fully diluted loss per American Depository Shares ("ADS") attributable to China Finance Online was $0.19 for the fourth quarter of 2018, compared with fully diluted loss per ADS of $0.37 for the fourth quarter of 2017 and fully diluted loss per ADS of $0.26 for the third quarter of 2018

Mr. Zhiwei Zhao, Chairman and CEO of China Finance Online, commented, "Our top line further improved from the third quarter while our net loss was narrowed. Through the efforts of controlling cost and improving efficiency, for 2018, our net revenue increased year-over-year and our bottom line losses were reduced by $16.8 million. With the priority of strengthening future growth potential, we will continue to improve efficiency.

While the stock market suffered major losses in China and Hong Kong during the fourth quarter, our equity-brokerage related business maintains a strong growth momentum and our intelligent-finance driven fintech business continued to lock in contracts with leading brokerage firms in China. We are pleased that we have established strategic partnerships with influential financial institutions in China and are developing systems to empower their wealth management services."

"Our other operations have also been making solid progress. Our website "JRJ.com.cn" remains a popular destination for news and analysis on the economy and capital markets, and its unique visitors all year in 2018 rose to 253 million from 236 million in 2017 and 169 million in 2016. The strong growth of traffic to our site was attributable to the improvement of our fact-based journalism, breaking news coverage and proprietary deep dive content," Mr. Zhao concluded.

Joint Venture

Fri, 18 Jan 2019 14:47:50 GMT

BEIJING, Jan. 18, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- China Finance Online Co. Limited ("China Finance Online", or the "Company", "we", "us" or "our") (NASDAQ GS: JRJC), a leading web-based financial services company that provides Chinese retail investors with online access to securities trading services, wealth management products, investment advisory services, as well as financial database and analytics services to institutional customers, announced it has signed a strategic partnership agreement with Founder CIFCO Futures Co., Ltd. ("Founder CIFCO Futures"), a leading futures brokerage firm in China.

Pursuant to the partnership agreement, both parties will collaborate and explore in the development of a more advanced trading system, smart news alerts of the market, a cloud-based research platform and industry forums.

Comments & Business Outlook

Thu, 29 Nov 2018 14:01:01 GMT

Third Quarter 2018 Financial Results

Net revenues were $8.6 million, compared with $12.9 million in the second quarter of 2018.
Fully diluted loss per American Depository Shares ("ADS") attributable to China Finance Online was $0.26 for the third quarter of 2018, compared with fully diluted loss per ADS of $0.37 for the third quarter of 2017. Basic and diluted weighted average numbers of ADSs for the third quarter of 2018 were 22.8 million, compared with basic and diluted weighted average number of ADSs of 22.7 million for the third quarter of 2017. Each ADS represents five ordinary shares of the Company.

Mr. Zhiwei Zhao, Chairman and CEO of China Finance Online, commented, "Under the continuing weak stock market conditions, our third quarter net revenues were lower quarter-over-quarter. Our gross margin improved year-over-year and our bottom line losses continued to narrow on a year-over-year basis. With the priority of maintaining future growth potential, we continue to control cost and improve efficiency."

"China Finance Online's flagship site, JRJ.com.cn, continued to heighten its market influence with its Alexa's Global Ranking and China Ranking reaching No. 383 and No. 56, respectively. In an ongoing environment of sluggish stock market performance, we have been maintaining our dedicated services of providing professional and timely market news and high-quality content, and also striving to explore ways to monetize our news business. At the same time, we are pleased that the value of our overseas wealth management platform, Rifa Financial, is being gradually recognized by the market, attracting a strategic investor to join its shareholder base at a valuation of HK$ 369.0 million based on HK$ 73.8 million (about US$ 9.4 million) in exchange for a 20% equity transfer. Through this partnership, we hope to further unlock the potential of our company's overseas wealth management business," Mr. Zhao continued.

"Lingxi Robo-Advisor weathered the storm of a difficult market and continued to outperform the market indexes and most of its peer Robo-Advisor products in the marketplace. Our newly-formed partnership with China Unicom demonstrated the market recognition of our asset allocation capabilities. We remain confident that we are able to provide vast number of retail investors with the best-in-class wealth management experience. In addition, we have gradually penetrated the Chinese financial institutional market with our core fintech-powered intelligent financial products. In the future, we will continue to develop our fintech capabilities, optimize and upgrade our service and product offerings, open new markets and enable our investor clients to identify investment opportunities and capture value in a changing market environment," Mr. Zhao concluded.

Comments & Business Outlook

Fri, 14 Sep 2018 13:26:46 GMT

Second Quarter 2018 Financial Results

Net revenues grew 34.4% year-over-year to $12.9 million from $9.6 million in the second quarter of 2017.
Net loss attributable to China Finance Online was $4.3 million, compared with a net loss of $8.3 million in the second quarter of 2017 and net loss of $5.2 million in the first quarter of 2018.

Mr. Zhiwei Zhao, Chairman and CEO of China Finance Online, commented, "During the second quarter of 2018, our revenues were up year-over-year while our costs were down, and our bottom line losses continued to narrow. Under the weak market conditions, we continue to reduce cost and improve efficiency."

"The Chinese stock markets suffered a crushing sell-off during the second quarter of 2018 and the Shanghai Index plunged from around 3200 to 2800. However, the traffic to our flagship website, "JRJ.com.cn", bucked this market trend and rose to No. 430 in Alexa's Global Ranking and No. 62 in China. We remain one of the most trusted financial news hubs with our proprietary content, fact-based journalism, breaking news coverage and analysis on market trends."

Mr. Zhao continued, "We continue concentrating on expanding our fintech capabilities as we further develop and optimize our intelligent finance products, which enable investors to identify investment opportunities and discover value stocks. As the Shanghai Index sank to a new three-year low, many value-driven institutional investors began entering into the market. We believe our cloud-based investment research platform, Genius Zhisheng, is well positioned to assist portfolio managers to navigate through the massive industry data and corporate historical financial data to enable them to back-test their investment strategies in a speedy fashion. We have a large number of beta-test programs in place with leading brokerage firms and wealth management advisors."

"As Lingxi Robo-advisor continues to outperform the benchmark index as well as its peer products in the marketplace, our superior track records drew attention from institutions looking for solutions to enrich their services to their clients. YonYou is an Enterprise Service powerhouse with over 4 million clients in China. The Company's recently-formed partnership on corporate intelligent asset allocation with YonYou not only demonstrates YonYou's recognition of our fintech capability, but also opens doors for our cloud-based Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) to penetrate the large corporate wealth management market in China," Mr. Zhao concluded.

Comments & Business Outlook

Tue, 22 May 2018 13:27:39 GMT

First Quarter 2018 Financial ResultsNet revenues grew 53.1% year-over-year to $13.3 million from $8.7 million in the first quarter of 2017.

Fully diluted loss per American Depository Shares ("ADS") attributable to China Finance Online was $0.23 for the first quarter of 2018, compared with fully diluted loss per ADS of $0.51 for the first quarter of 2017 and fully diluted loss per ADS of $0.37 for the fourth quarter of 2017. Basic and diluted weighted average numbers of ADSs for the first quarter of 2018 were 22.8 million, compared with basic and diluted weighted average number of ADSs of 22.7 million for the first quarter of 2017.

Mr. Zhiwei Zhao, Chairman and CEO of China Finance Online, commented, "As we continued to ramp up our cloud-based software sales, our bottom line losses narrowed. After four quarters of streamlining our business units, our efficiency reached a new recent high. With the bulk of our investment in our cloud system and user interface completed, we will continue to improve operational efficiency and leverage our intelligent-finance driven fintech business to drive better economy of scale."

"We will continue to focus on fundamental operational measures to further strength our professional journalism and content quality. We strongly believe that our continued improvement on content will be recognized by more and more readers of financial market news,"

"During the development and extension of our new product for the enterprise market, Genius Zhisheng, a cloud-based one-stop investment research platform for institutional investors, we continued to find new services scenarios. Our products and services draw interest from brokerage firms and wealth management advisors. As more potential users are partaking beta testing, we have started monetizing our products and services for enterprise market gradually," Mr. Zhao concluded.

Comments & Business Outlook

Thu, 19 Apr 2018 13:18:13 GMT

Fourth Quarter 2017 Financial Results

Net revenues were $13.6 million, up from $10.7 million in the third quarter of 2017
Fully diluted loss per American Depository Shares ("ADS") attributable to China Finance Online was $0.37 for the fourth quarter of 2017, compared with fully diluted loss per ADS of $0.57 for the fourth quarter of 2016 and fully diluted loss per ADS of $0.37 for the third quarter of 2017. Basic and diluted weighted average numbers of ADSs for the fourth quarter of 2017 were 22.7 million, compared with basic and diluted weighted average number of ADSs of 22.7 million for the fourth quarter of 2016. Each ADS represents five ordinary shares of the Company.

Mr. Zhiwei Zhao, Chairman and CEO of China Finance Online, commented, "We turned a positive net cash-flow in the fourth quarter, as we are making inroad in optimizing our business units and improving our top line from the third quarter. As we are transitioning away from the commodity brokerage business, our equity brokerage related business maintains a strong growth momentum and our intelligent-finance driven fintech business has drawn interest from leading brokerage firms in China, with whom we have entered into strategic cooperation agreements."

"Our operation has also been making solid progress. Our website "JRJ.com.cn" remains a popular destination for news and analysis on economy and capital markets, with growing brand perception. And its unique visitors all year in 2017 was 236 million, an increase of 40% from 169 million in 2016. The fast-growing traffic was attributable to the improvement of our fact-based journalism, breaking news coverage and proprietary deep dive content."

"In 2017, we concentrated on building out our fintech capabilities. With a team of senior software engineers and capital market professionals, we carried out integration of financial engineering, artificial intelligence and big data, and developed intelligent finance products for individual investors and institutions. Our robo-advisory product Lingxi provides retail investors with investment products for global asset allocation, which outperformed most of its peer products in the market with its better return and lower drawdown. We also introduced Genius Zhisheng, a cloud-based one-stop investment research platform for institutional investors. For retail investors, we also introduced technical trading research tools based on Zhisheng algorithm. Based upon our track records in financial media, financial data service and securities advisory services, along with our robust fintech capabilities, we are committed to developing more cloud-based products to drive user engagement," Mr. Zhao concluded.

Joint Venture

Wed, 14 Mar 2018 13:16:50 GMT

BEIJING, March 14, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- China Finance Online Co. Limited ("China Finance Online", or the "Company", "we", "us" or "our") (NASDAQ GS: JRJC), a leading web-based financial services company that provides Chinese retail investors with online access to securities trading services, wealth management products, investment advisory services, as well as financial database and analytics services to institutional customers, today announced its ceremonial signing of a strategic partnership agreement with Orient Securities Co., Ltd. ("Orient Securities") (HK.03958, SH.600958), a Top 10 leading brokerage firm in China according to Securities Association of China.

Pursuant to the strategic partnership agreement, China Finance Online will provide Orient Securities with a cloud-based investor education platform. On March 15, Orient Securities will introduce the online courses followed by a real-time question-and-answer session. The online courses will feature systematic learning materials for basics of investing. In addition, there will be rating program to track test scores. Through a series courses and Q&As, the platform aims to guide retail investors to develop rational wealth management mentality.

Ms. Haining Xu, managing director of Wealth Management at Orient Securities, commented, "Orient Securities strives to lead the wealth management industry with better innovations and an advanced business model. Through the partnership with China Finance Online, we are looking to not only help investors develop rational investment strategies, but also revolutionize the recruitment program for wealth management professionals."

"China Finance Online's capabilities in technology empowerment to brick-and-mortar financial institutions and track record in retail investor user engagement give us confidence that our partnership will create value for investors." Ms. Xu added.

Mr. Zhiwei Zhao, CEO and Chairman of China Finance Online commented, "For many years, most investor education programs in the marketplace failed to address the pain point of most retail investors' needs. Our machine learning program has researched the most common mistakes made by these investors and produced a novel online investor education resource that can be both engaging and inspiring. We look forward to further showcasing our fintech engineering capabilities with big data and artificial intelligence to power the wealth management sector in China."

Comments & Business Outlook

Wed, 15 Nov 2017 14:15:43 GMT

Third Quarter 2017 Financial Results

Net revenues were $10.7 million, up from $9.6 million in the second quarter of 2017.
Fully diluted loss per American Depository Shares ("ADS") attributable to China Finance Online was $0.37 for the third quarter of 2017, compared with fully diluted loss per ADS of $0.16 for the third quarter of 2016 and fully diluted loss per ADS of $0.37 for the second quarter of 2017.

Mr. Zhiwei Zhao, Chairman and CEO of China Finance Online, commented, "We continue to recover on our top line as our intelligent-finance driven fintech business shows solid traction and our brokerage related business maintains strong growth momentum. We are experiencing over 30% sequential increase in our financial information division. At the end of October, our Alexa rating also reached into the top 60 in China and top 500 globally."

"As the Chinese stock market experienced solid growth in 2017, the overall investor confidence has improved substantially. We recently rolled out our cloud-based software products for enterprise users. These products feature proprietary financial engineering with artificial intelligence, big data and cloud computing to enable investment researchers and sophisticated investors to improve investment efficiency and optimize investment decisions and empower professional investment advisors to better serve their clients. These intelligent products have already been well received by large financial institutions. We expect to generate revenue from enterprise software subscription business in the coming quarters. We remain confident that we will turn a positive net cash-flow in the fourth quarter. With our strong fintech capability and state-of-the-art products, we are well positioned to ride the next wave of the bull market in China." Mr. Zhao concluded.

Comments & Business Outlook

Tue, 15 Aug 2017 12:39:20 GMT

Second Quarter 2017 Financial Results

Net revenues were $9.6 million, up from $8.7 million in the first quarter of 2017.
Fully diluted loss per American Depository Shares ("ADS") attributable to China Finance Online was $0.37 for the second quarter of 2017, compared with fully diluted earnings per ADS of $0.50 for the second quarter of 2016 and fully diluted loss per ADS of $0.51 for the first quarter of 2017.

Mr. Zhiwei Zhao, Chairman and CEO of China Finance Online, commented, "We posted sequential improvement in the second quarter. Our intelligent-finance driven fintech business is gaining traction as accredited retail investors began to subscribe our mobile application based analytical tools to guide their quantitative trading investment strategies. In addition, we are in beta test of our cloud-based investment research software product for enterprise users, namely large financial institutions. We remain confident that we will turn a positive net cash-flow in the fourth quarter of 2017. As the Chinese stock market continues to mature, we are committed to providing state-of-the-art tools with cloud computing capability and robust database to power our users in their investment decisions."

Comments & Business Outlook

Thu, 15 Jun 2017 13:06:12 GMT

First Quarter 2017 Financial Results

Net revenues were $8.7 million, compared with $30.7 million during the first quarter of 2016 and $19.2 million during the fourth quarter of 2016. During the first quarter of 2017,
Fully diluted loss per American Depository Shares ("ADS") attributable to China Finance Online was $0.51 for the first quarter of 2017, compared with fully diluted earnings per ADS of $0.08 for the first quarter of 2016 and fully diluted loss per ADS of $0.57 for the fourth quarter of 2016.

Mr. Zhiwei Zhao, Chairman and CEO of China Finance Online, commented, "In the recent period, increased regulatory enforcement pressured a number of commodities exchanges to significantly reduce their commodity trading and eventually led to complete suspension of opening new trades on several commodities exchanges during the second quarter. These dynamics and its ripple effect negatively impacted our commodity brokerage business. However, for our overall business, we believe that the worst is now behind us and we expect to turn a positive net cash-flow in the fourth quarter, as our dedication to develop our intelligent-finance driven fintech business starts to bear fruits and our cost control measures will take effect. We are determined to become the one-stop investment and wealth management gateway for Chinese investors by providing our best-in-class fintech products to meet Chinese investors' growing needs."

CFO Trail

Mon, 15 May 2017 13:46:33 GMT

BEIJING, May 15, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- China Finance Online Co. Limited ("China Finance Online", or the "Company", "we", "us" or "our") (NASDAQ GS: JRJC), a leading web-based financial services company that provides Chinese retail investors with online access to securities and commodities trading services, wealth management products, investment advisory services, as well as financial database and analytics services to institutional customers, today announces that Mr. Jun "Jeff" Wang has resigned as the company's Chief Financial Officer for personal reasons, effective May 16, 2017.

The Company has started conducting a search for a new Chief Financial Officer. Mr. Wang will remain as a director of China Financial Online.

Mr. Zhiwei Zhao, Chairman and CEO of China Finance Online, commented, "Over the past 11 years, Jeff has been instrumental to our business expansion, strategic planning and transition towards new business model. We thank him for his invaluable contributions to China Finance Online and wish him all the best in his future endeavors."

Comments & Business Outlook

Mon, 01 May 2017 14:25:20 GMT

Fourth Quarter 2016 Financial Results

Net revenues were $19.2 million, down 42.8% year-over-year, but up 12.7% quarter-over-quarter.
Fully diluted loss per American Depository Shares ("ADS") attributable to China Finance Online was $0.57 for the fourth quarter of 2016, compared with fully diluted earnings per ADS of $0.40 for the fourth quarter of 2015 and fully diluted loss per ADS of $0.16 for the third quarter of 2016.

Mr. Zhiwei Zhao, Chairman and CEO of China Finance Online, commented, "In response to the global geo-political uncertainties and fluctuations, we continue to provide diversified investment and wealth management products and services to achieve more balanced revenue mix. In addition, we are adding gold trading into our offerings to attract more investors with an appetite for less volatile investments. All these efforts bode with our pursuit of becoming one-stop investment gateway for Chinese retail investors."

"Yinglibao's operations ended the year on a high note as the purchase of various wealth management products rose to RMB4.0 billion in the fourth quarter of 2016, representing a significant growth from RMB2.5 billion in the third quarter, RMB 1.2 billion in the second quarter and RMB 352 million in the first quarter, respectively. iTougu continued to engage millions of active users during the fourth quarter of 2016 as, in a market of many uncertainties, investors were proactively seeking advice from thousands of financial advisors registered on our platform. We also introduced more tools on our proprietary Robo-Advisory program to assist financial advisors to better research market data, analyze corporate financials, identify undervalued opportunities and test-drive their investment strategies. While the synergy of human advisors and machine advisory is still in its infancy, we can see its great potential in the Chinese market. With the large user base and diversified product and service offerings, we are well positioned to become a one-stop investment gateway in a large addressable market," Mr. Zhao concluded.

Mr. Jeff Wang, Chief Financial Officer of China Finance Online, added, "Our balance sheet remains strong with cash and cash equivalents, restricted cash and short-term investments totaling $85.1 million, significantly higher than our market cap. While we successfully implemented and executed various cost control measures, we continued to invest in R&D. In the era of FinTech, we are committed to developing technologies to help investors to make better investments in one of the world's largest equity capital markets."

Comments & Business Outlook

Wed, 30 Nov 2016 14:03:23 GMT

Third Quarter 2016 Financial Results

Net revenues were $17.1 million, down 53.8% year-over-year, but up 6.3% quarter-over-quarter.
Fully diluted loss per American Depository Shares ("ADS") attributable to China Finance Online was $0.16 for the third quarter of 2016, compared with fully diluted earnings per ADS of $0.39 for the third quarter of 2015 and fully diluted earnings per ADS of $0.50 for the second quarter of 2016.

Mr. Zhiwei Zhao, Chairman and CEO of China Finance Online, commented, "We continue with our transition towards becoming a one-stop investment gateway for Chinese retail investors by providing a state-of-the-art platform where our best-in-class technologies meet Chinese investors' growing needs in trading, advisory services and investments."

"Yinglibao continues to gain traction among our users, as the purchase of various wealth management products totaled RMB2.5 billion in the third quarter, demonstrating a significant growth from RMB 1.2 billion in the second quarter and RMB 352 million in the first quarter, respectively. While we are not in a rush to monetize all services offered on our platform, we are certainly encouraged by the increased user engagements on iTougu, which now features thousands of financial advisors, actively mentoring millions of investors throughout China on a monthly basis. We look forward to leveraging our large user base to generate sustainable growth in the future." Mr. Zhao concluded.

Mr. Jeff Wang, Chief Financial Officer of China Finance Online added, "While we continue to invest in the next generation of products and services, we are taking measures to improve efficiency and increase productivity by divesting underperforming divisions and focusing on areas with potential for monetization. Our balance sheet remains strong with cash and cash equivalents, restricted cash and short-term investments accounting for approximately 70% of our market cap and our book value is approaching $100 million. Given our growing user activities and longstanding brand name in China, we believe that we are well positioned to create long-term value."

Resolution of Legal Issues

Mon, 22 Aug 2016 13:15:47 GMT

BEIJING, Aug. 22, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- China Finance Online Co. Limited ("China Finance Online", or the "Company", "we", "us" or "our") (NASDAQ GS: JRJC), a leading web-based financial services company that provides Chinese retail investors with online access to securities and commodities trading, wealth management products, investment advisory services, as well as financial database and analytics services to institutional customers, today announced that it has entered into a Stipulation of Settlement with lead plaintiffs in the class action lawsuit against the Company filed in June 2015.

The securities class action lawsuit was filed in the United States District Court for the Central District of California and later transferred to the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York (Wang v. China Finance Online, Case no. 1:15-CV-07894-RMB) against the Company and alleges that the Company's public filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission included materially false statements and/or omitted material facts that the Company's transactions with a Chinese entity were related party transactions, which inflated the price of the Company's securities during the period from April 29, 2013 and June 3, 2015. The Company entered into the Stipulation of Settlement without any admission of wrongdoing and provided for a settlement fund of $3 million.

The Stipulation of Settlement remains subject to court approval and certain other conditions including notice to the class members and administration of the settlement.

Comments & Business Outlook

Fri, 19 Aug 2016 12:53:12 GMT

Second Quarter 2016 Financial Results

Net revenues were $16.0 million, a decrease of 30.6% year-over-year.
Fully diluted earnings per ADS attributable to China Finance Online was $0.50 for the second quarter of 2016, compared with $0.16 for the second quarter of 2015 and $0.08 for the first quarter of 2016.

Mr. Zhiwei Zhao, Chairman and CEO of China Finance Online commented, "After multiple quarters of strong double-digit growth, our pace of growth slowed during the quarter due to unfavorable market conditions. We are taking measures to adapt to China's ever-changing financial markets. Nevertheless, our newest growth drivers continued to make good progress during the quarter with Yinglibao and iTougu growing strongly as we attract more investors and advisors. I'm pleased with the progress we have made in executing our financial services and advisory growth strategy and look forward to further strengthening our position in the Chinese Fintech market."

Research

Fri, 13 May 2016 15:05:56 GMT

Closed Out The Rest of Our JRJC Position

Yesterday we stated we had reduced our long position, we have now closed out our long position in $JRJC. As we stated yesterday, in mid December we established our long position in JRJC based on news in China that a non-binding $8.50 bid was made for the company by Shenzhen Windsor Capital Ltd. Last week we mentioned that there is a rumor that the China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC) will postpone the relisting of the ChinaHybrids that have already gone private or plan to go private, casting doubt that any of the current U.S listed go privates will close. This has led to shares of going private candidates getting slaughtered. Thus, we think it’s prudent to sit on the sidelines until we gain more clarity on this development.

Research

Thu, 12 May 2016 16:42:30 GMT

JRJC ($5.48) - In mid December we established our long position in JRJC based onnews in China that a non-binding $8.50 bid was made for the company by Shenzhen Windsor Capital Ltd. Last week we mentioned that there is rumor that the China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC) will postpone the relisting of the ChinaHybrids that have already gone private or plan to go private, casting doubt that any of the current U.S listed go privates will close. Based on this news, we have decided to reduce our long position in JRJC.

Comments & Business Outlook

Tue, 12 Apr 2016 12:31:05 GMT

Fourth Quarter 2015 Financial Results

Net revenues were $33.6 million, an increase of 79.1% year-over-year.
Fully diluted earnings per ADS was $0.40 for the fourth quarter of 2015, compared with a fully diluted earnings per ADS of $0.14 for the fourth quarter of 2014 and a fully diluted earnings per ADS of $0.39 for the third quarter of 2015. Basic and diluted weighted average numbers of ADSs for the fourth quarter of 2015 were 22.2 million and 25.2 million, respectively. Each ADS represents five ordinary shares of the Company.

Mr. Zhiwei Zhao, Chairman and CEO of China Finance Online commented, "We finished the year on a strong footing as we increasingly benefit from our strategic investments in growing iTouGu, Yinglibao and brokerage-related services. iTouGu finished off the year with 3.9 million activated users and over 2,500 investment advisors. We launched iTouGu version 3.0 in December 2015 which includes a number of new features to enhance the user experience which we expect will increase its growth momentum in 2016. Our research also indicates that the investment advisors on our platform are among the most active securities advisors in China which I believe demonstrates the attraction and user stickiness iTouGu is creating. Yinglibao, our wealth management application, continues to grow in line with our expectations with total assets invested and users both increasing rapidly. We are working hard to streamline the investment experience and expand our online investment brokerage and advisory business with new and improved products and services. I am confident that our current strategy will lead us to a successful transition."

Research

Tue, 22 Dec 2015 05:00:00 GMT

JRJC - Windsor Capital Confirms Their $8.50/ADS Bid is For Real

As we have been writing about for the last few days, there appears to have been a bid made for $JRJC by Shenzhen Windsor Capital Ltd. that has not been disclosed by JRJC yet. The bid is reportedly a non-binding go-private proposal for $8.50/ADS. Last night, we reached out to Shenzhen Windsor Capital and they confirmed via phone that they have, in fact, made a bid for China Finance Online for $8.50/ADS. We are still waiting for JRJC to disclose receipt of this offer.

Last Friday afternoon, we put out a note to members detailing what we believe to be an offer for JRJC that has not been disclosed by the company or disseminated in the U.S. yet. Based on our understanding, the offer is to acquire ALL outstanding shares of JRJC. We stated:

"According to a news report from China, Windsor Capital has sent out a non-binding offer (in Chinese, attached in this news report) to acquire all outstanding shares of JRJC at a price of $8.50 per ADS. Windsor Capital stated on Friday that this non-binding offer has been sent out and because it was sent from Shenzhen, the company may not have received it yet. Windsor Capital estimated that this non-binding offer would arrive at JRJC’s Board of Directors by next Monday (December 21, 2015) at the latest."

Research

Fri, 18 Dec 2015 20:12:10 GMT

Once again, the GeoTeam has found an information arbitrage opportunity from China. This time, it involves a non-binding go-private offer that has reportedly been made to China Finance Online (JRJC). The company has not filed an 8-K or put out a press release acknowledging this offer and it has not been confirmed that the company has been in receipt of this letter. As part of news released in China that we touched upon early yesterday, this photo of the reported proposal has been circulated.

According to a news report from China, Windsor Capital has sent out a non-binding offer (in Chinese, attached in this news report) to acquire all outstanding shares of JRJC at a price of $8.50 per ADS. Windsor Capital stated on Friday that this non-binding offer has been sent out and because it was sent from Shenzhen, the company may not have received it yet. Windsor Capital estimated that this non-binding offer would arrive at JRJC’s Board of Directors by next Monday (December 21, 2015) at the latest.

This offer has been time stamped as of December 16, 2015. Below is the non-binding acquisition offer in the news report.

From our point of view, as long as JRJC’s management or Board of Directors has received this non-binding acquisition offer, dated December 16, 2015, they should be obliged to put out a press release in order to inform their shareholders.

The proposed non-binding acquisition offer price of $8.50 is about a 35% premium compared to JRJC’s current stock price. Although we don’t think the stock of JRJC would go as high as $8.50 after an announcement of this proposal, it is possible that it could appreciate from its current levels.

Research

Wed, 16 Dec 2015 15:39:10 GMT

According to the news in China, a private investment institution has proposed a non-binding go private offer to acquire all the outstanding shares of JRJC. Below is the text and the translation:

16日私募机构温莎资本透露，目前已正式对中概股：金融界(4.56, 0.25, 5.80%)提出非约束性收购邀约。温莎资本计划收购金融界全部已发行普通股和美国存托股(每股存托股相当于5股普通股)，提出以8.5美元每股美国存托股的固定现金价格收购。

当前金融界还没有就收购邀约给出最后回复。按照协议，非约束性邀约可随时撤回。但市场人士分析，此举或是金融界借路私有化，温莎资本承担私有化接盘者身份。目前金融界市值仅1亿美金，其账面现金将近市值一半。在A股，其同行业公司东方财富目前市值接近千亿人民币。

公开信息显示，本次邀约收购发起方温莎资本是国内最早投资海外的资产管理公司之一，主要合伙人包括中概股投资领域著名的基金经理简毅。据悉，此次邀约收购金融界不仅有温莎资本参与，还有其他大型PE(私募股权投资)在身后一起参与这项投资。

一位券商资管人士分析，金融界作为国内最早IPO的财经垂直类互联网上市公司，目前被东方财富、同花顺、大智慧甩在身后，一直让行业人士唏嘘。“A股市场对互联网金融标的估值更高，企业能得到更多资本支持对金融类企业至关重要，金融街私有化回A股市场，相比目前市值有提升空间。”

Translation, as paraphrased:

On [December] 16, [2015], private investment institution Windsor Capital said that, [it] has officially proposed a non-binding acquisition offer to JRJC. Windsor Capital plans to acquire all of the outstanding common shares and ADS (every ADS equals 5 common shares), proposing to acquire at price of $8.50 per ADS in cash.

Currently JRJC hasn’t given final response to this acquisition offer. According to the terms, non-binding offer can be withdrawn anytime. But based on the analysis from the market participant, this [endeavor] is perhaps JRJC wants to go private, and Windsor Capital will be the taker of this go private transaction. Right now the market capital of JRJC is only $100 million, and its cash balance is almost half of it. In China A share, the comparable company East Money Information Co.,ltd. (SHE: 300059)’s market cap is close to RMB 100 Billion ( USD 15.4 billion).

Public information shows that the proposer of this offer, Windsor Capital, is one of earliest overseas investing asset management companies, and [its] main partner includes famous fund manager in China-based US listed companies area, Yi Jian. It is known that Windsor Capital is not the only participant, but there are some other private equity firms behind to involve in this investment.

One person in the brokerage & asset management industry analyzes that, as the earliest IPO-ed vertical financial internet company, JRJC falls behind East Money information (SHE: 300059), Hithink RoyalFlush Information Network Co.,Ltd. (SHE:300033), Shanghai DZH Limited (SHA: 601519). “China A share market is valuing internet financial companies at a higher multiple, and companies will be able to get more capital to support the financial-like companies. [If] JRJC goes private and comes back to China A share market, its valuation will have room to grow.”

Comments & Business Outlook

Wed, 16 Dec 2015 13:19:04 GMT

Third Quarter 2015 Financial Results

Net revenues were $37.0 million, an increase of 74.8% year-over-year and 59.9% sequentially.
Fully diluted earnings per ADS was $0.39 for the third quarter of 2015, compared with a fully diluted loss per ADS of $0.11 for the third quarter of 2014 and a fully diluted earnings per ADS of $0.16 for the second quarter of 2015.

Mr. Zhiwei Zhao, Chairman and CEO of China Finance Online commented, "I am pleased to see our top and bottom lines continue to increase significantly. And we begin to see encouraging progress from our two most exciting growth drivers, iTouGu and Yinglibao. We further streamlined our business and freed up additional resources that will allow us to reinvest in and fully focus on developing both iTouGu and Yinglibao. As a result, iTouGu grew rapidly during the quarter, and as of September 30, 2015 it had over 3.5 million activated users and over 2,000 investment advisors. iTouGu's first nationwide investment masters tournament that we just concluded helped to increase its exposure and appeal to individual investors seeking professional advice and helped to attract a large number of investment advisors from domestic securities firms to our platform. Yinglibao also grew, in line with our expectations. As these businesses mature, we expect to implement monetization initiatives which will help improve our financial prospects."

"We continue to integrate our traditional business lines with our new growth drivers. This includes the redesign and transition of JRJC's core website, www.jrj.com, from a pure news aggregation function towards a more transaction-oriented information platform that will directly support the growth of iTouGu and Yinglibao. We will continue to invest in our newest businesses and transit our traditional ones as we work to create greater value for our customers and shareholders."

Comments & Business Outlook

Tue, 15 Sep 2015 06:05:07 GMT

Second Quarter 2015 Financial Results

Net revenues were $23.1 million, beating the guidance of $22.0 million, representing a 12.2% increase year-over-year from $20.6 million in the second quarter of 2014 and a 68.7% increase quarter-over-quarter from $13.7 million in the first quarter of 2015;

Fully diluted earnings per ADS was $0.16 for the second quarter of 2015, compared with a loss of $0.29 for the second quarter of 2014 and a loss of $0.06 for the first quarter of 2015. Basic and diluted weighted average numbers of ADS for the second quarter of 2015 were 22.2 million and 25.1 million, respectively. Each ADS represents five ordinary shares of the Company.

Mr. Zhiwei Zhao, Chairman and CEO of China Finance Online stated, "We are encouraged that our business lines registered growth and turned profitability in the second quarter. The volatility and complexity in the Chinese stock market in recent months has triggered higher demand for advisory services. In particular, social-driven stock selection platforms like iTouGu have gained tractions as more and more investors are seeking investment advices in an uncertain macro environment. Meanwhile, our financial portals, our data and trading systems, and our commodities investment company which is in the transition to a high-net-worth asset management company, have all seen progress in user growth and activeness. We are pleased to see our new and traditional business lines working in tandem to create value for our users and members."

"While growing our top line, we further streamlined our operations and team structure. We are not only turning profitability on the operating line but generating positive cash flow as well. In addition, we exited one of our former investments in an internet company during the second quarter. We will continue to invest in iTouGu and other financial services to help grow member enrollment, increase user engagement and improve user experience." Mr. Zhao concluded.

Comments & Business Outlook

Tue, 08 Sep 2015 13:21:53 GMT

BEIJING, September 8, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- China Finance Online Co. Limited ("China Finance Online", or the "Company", "we", "us" or "our") (NASDAQ GS: JRJC), a leading web-based financial services company that provides Chinese retail investors with online access to securities and commodities trading, wealth management products, investment advisory services, as well as financial database and analytics services, today announced that based on our popular one-stop mobile platform of iTouGu, we have launched the first iTougu Masters Tournament (the "Tournament") for "grass-root" and professional investment advisors across China.

The first iTouGu Masters Tournament takes place at a critical stage of a volatile A share market when many retail investors, who account for majority volume of daily trading, incurred huge losses. The demand for professional advice on investment management and risk controls is on the rise, not only because many investors' confidence is decimated, but because a large portion of retail investors lack adequate investment knowledge, discipline and judgment. The purpose of the Masters Tournament is to showcase featured investment advisors with different investment styles and to enable investors to consult with the advisors online.

The Tournament will feature two group tournaments, individual and institutional participants. Starting on September 7, 2015, all participants shall display daily performance of their investment portfolios over a three-month period. Throughout the Tournament, all registered users of China Finance Online's flagship portals (jrj.com.cn, stockstar.com, and the iTouGu marketplaces) will be able to view the Tournament participants' stock portfolios and live trading records free of charge. The-aggregate online viewership is targeted at approximately 50 million. The co-host of the Tournament is Changjiang Securities Company Limited, a leading full-service brokerage firm in China. Institutions entering the tournament also include twelve leading Chinese brokerage firms, such as Ping'An Securities, Northeast Securities and Haitong Securities.

Since China Finance Online launched its iTouGu mobile application in early May, app downloads and membership registrations have grown rapidly. Up till today, there have been over 400,000 unique member registrations and over a million downloads from app stores. In addition, more than 1,200 investment advisors have signed up for the stock investment mentoring marketplace, where they actively mentor retail investors. Through the mentoring service, retail investors may receive stock-picking advice, follow real-time commentaries on the markets and have access to their mentors' portfolios for a monthly fee.

Mr. Zhiwei Zhao, the Chairman and CEO of China Finance Online, commented, "The rapid growth of the iTouGu stock advisory platform is a testament to the value we are creating for retail investors quality stock market advice. The support from leading brokerage firms also demonstrated their endorsement of our business model and long-term interest from their client-base."

"With the recent volatility in the Chinese stock market, we anticipate an increasing need from retail investors for investment advice and wealth management ideas. China Finance Online is a leader in this high-barrier, high growth space. Our Masters Tournament will further the awareness of our program's benefits and drive growth of our investor and advisor member base." Mr. Zhao concluded

Comments & Business Outlook

Tue, 14 Jul 2015 13:26:36 GMT

BEIJING, July 14, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- China Finance Online Co. Limited ("China Finance Online", or the "Company")(NASDAQ GS: JRJC), a leading web-based financial services company that provides Chinese retail investors with online access to securities and commodities trading, wealth management products, investment advisory services, as well as financial database and analytics services to institutional customers, announced that the Company has received a letter from Nasdaq dated July 9, 2015confirming the compliance by the Company of the independent director, audit and compensation committee requirements for continued listing on The Nasdaq Global Market as set forth in Listing Rules 5605(b)(1), 5605(c)(2) and 5605(d)(2), respectively, following the appointment of Dr. Zheng Chen, Jian Wang and Dr. Yaowei Zhang to the Company's Board of Directors on July 6, 2015.

Comments & Business Outlook

Fri, 10 Jul 2015 04:56:33 GMT

First Quarter 2015 Financial Results

Net revenues were $13.7 million, compared with $23.2 million in the first quarter of 2014.

Fully diluted loss per ADS was $0.06 for the first quarter of 2015, compared with a loss of $0.09 for the first quarter of 2014. Basic and diluted weighted average number of ADS for the first quarter of 2015 were 22.1 million. Each ADS represents five ordinary shares of the Company.

Mr. Zhiwei Zhao, Chairman and CEO of China Finance Online stated, "After six years of sluggishness, Chinese stock market staged a strong come-back with record setting liquidity increase in the first half year of 2015. We are pleased to see our mobile application, Investment Masters (iTouGu), is gaining traction and experienced robust growth in both membership enrollment program and user traffic. As we have more brokerage firms, more retail investors and more investment products on iTouGu, our strategy of forming a one-stop marketplace for retail investors starts to take shape."

"Second quarter was an improved quarter for us, although the Chinese stock market demonstrated unusual volatility since the second half of June. We remain optimistic that iTouGu can not only facilitate trading through our robust user interface integrated with the most popular brokerage firms in China, but also help investors to diversify their investment through a wide array of products offerings and access to professional advisors."

Company Rebuttal

Thu, 04 Jun 2015 04:00:00 GMT

BEIJING, June 4, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- China Finance Online Co. Limited ("China Finance Online", or the "Company", "we", "us" or "our") (NASDAQ GS: JRJC), a leading web-based financial services company that provides Chinese retail investors with online access to securities and commodities trading, wealth management products, investment advisory services, as well as financial database and analytics services to institutional customers, responded to the allegations raised in a report dated June 3, 2015 issued by a short seller. The Company believes that the short seller's report contains numerous errors of facts, misleading speculations and malicious interpretations of events. The Company's board of directors has been informed of the allegations made by the short seller and will consider and decide on the necessary and appropriate course of action in response to the allegations. The Company may release additional information concerning the allegations in due course and is committed to providing full and accurate disclosure to investors and to rebutting any false claims that attempt to undermine confidence in the Company's business, management, operations and corporate structure.

Mr. Ling Wang resigned from the board of directors of the Company in May 2012 and the Company made due announcement in respect thereof. The Company should not be responsible for Mr. Wang's personal matters, especially those occurred after his departure.
On the next day after Tencent Prism's report was released, Mr. Zhiwei Zhao had an interview with a Chinese reporter and rebutted the speculations which were groundless. Stock price of the Company recovered substantially thereafter.
Mr. Zhiwei Zhao did not attend the earnings conference call of the Company in July 2013 due to health reasons. He was absent from the call in March 2015 for the same reason. Accusations from the short seller based on such circumstantial evidence are simply innuendo and groundless.
Mr. Rongquan Leng's resignation was unexpected and the Company made immediate announcement upon his resignation. The Company should not be responsible for Mr. Leng's business affairs unrelated to the Company. Prior to his resignation, Mr. Leng's role in the Company had always been kept independent and the Company has never been associated with Mr. Leng's other business connections. Other than standard compensation including stock options as a board member, Mr. Leng has not acquired shares in the Company from open market or private transactions. The short seller purposefully used Mr. Leng's personal crisis to taint the Company's reputation.
Mr. Zhiwei Zhao has never been subject to restrictions on travels. Mr. Zhiwei Zhao remains the CEO and Chairman of the Company. The changes of legal representatives and management positions in affiliate companies are a normal course of action. This happens in many companies. The short seller's reading and analysis aimed to feed into their speculation that Mr. Zhao is in legal trouble.
The investment in real estate project was fully disclosed. Langfang project was owned by 4 individuals when China Finance Online invested. Later, by the time that Qingshi started investing in Langfang project, Mr. Zhiwei Zhao was already no longer the shareholder of Qingshi. There was no related party transaction. There had been two partial repayments. The Company will pursue legal action if the full repayment is not completed.
Mr. Zhao personally bought the stock for $7 per share when the stock price was below $3. Regarding the sell-off triggered by the short seller's misleading allegation, the Company is now contemplating a share buyback program.

Given the Company's current status in US market and its competitors' performance in Shenzhen Stock Exchange, China Finance Online is reviewing options to enhance shareholder value. China Finance Online's competitors in China include East Money, Great Wisdom and Hithink Flush.

Comments & Business Outlook

Mon, 11 May 2015 04:00:00 GMT

BEIJING, May 11, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- China Finance Online Co. Limited ("China Finance Online", or the "Company", "we", "us" or "our") (NASDAQ GS: JRJC), a leading web-based financial services company that provides Chinese retail investors with online access to securities and commodities trading, wealth management products, investment advisory services, as well as financial database and analytics services to institutional customers, announced that the company has launched the updated version 2.0 of its investment advisory service application Investment Masters (in Chinese "iTouGu"). The new version is available on the Company's website and app stores for iOS and android.

The new features and functions in the updated version 2.0 include:

Added a "What to Buy" sector, integrating advisors' real-time portfolios and their market performance, as well as recommendations for wealth management products; and
Improved application interface and functional flows for better user experience.

Through the brand new version of Investment Masters, investors can obtain private advices from online investment advisors, and also follow advisors' stock holdings' baskets to build their own optimal and suitable investment portfolio.

Comments & Business Outlook

Mon, 27 Apr 2015 04:00:00 GMT

BEIJING, April 27, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- China Finance Online Co. Limited ("China Finance Online", or the "Company", "we", "us" or "our") (NASDAQ GS: JRJC), a leading web-based financial services company that provides Chinese retail investors with online access to securities and commodities trading, wealth management products, investment advisory services, as well as financial database and analytics services to institutional customers, today announced that the company now provides a unitary access to unlimited securities firms on its web-based securities trading platform Securities Master (in Chinese "Zhengquantong") through Hundsun Technologies Inc. ("Hundsun Technologies")'s iTN system.

The iTN system, as an intermediate trading platform, connects brokerage firms and internet portals and facilitates securities trading at these portals. Investors with existing brokerage accounts can now trade with JRJ.com and Stockstar.com equipped with iTN. The company plans to bring sixteen brokerage firms online, trades carried out by which firms account for approximately one third of the total trading volume in China. Until today, the company has completed the trading connections with four brokerage firms, including China International Capital Corporation Limited, China Securities, Northeast securities, and New Times Securities.

Mr. Zhiwei Zhao, Chairman and CEO of the Company, commented, "We are happy to announce this key upgrade of our Securities Master which enables investors to broader one-stop services. Meanwhile, the partnership with Hundsun Technologies allows us to convert a large base of our information users to trading clients. Looking ahead, our team will continue to expand and optimize the innovative and comprehensive financial platform for China's growing population of retail investors, and make their access to our securities trading services easier."

Comments & Business Outlook

Mon, 23 Mar 2015 04:00:00 GMT

Fourth Quarter 2014 Financial Results

Net revenues were $18.8 million, compared with $26.5 million in the fourth quarter of 2013.
Fully diluted earnings per ADS was $0.14 for the fourth quarter of 2014, compared with $0.08 for the fourth quarter of 2013. Basic and diluted weighted average number of ADS for the fourth quarter of 2014 were 21.9 million and 25.0 million, respectively. Each ADS represents five ordinary shares of the Company.

"We continued to strengthen our core competence by optimizing our operations and developing new products and services. Last year, we launched our new and applauded Investment Masters (iTougu) application facilitating communication between securities investment advisors and their respective clients and followers in real-time and for 24 hours a day, and enabling a vast number of Chinese individual investors to obtain private advice from thousands of securities investment advisors. We continued to expand our partnerships with more securities firms on our web-based trading platform, Securities Master (Zhengquantong) and continued to diversify our product offerings on our wealth management platform, Yinglibao," Mr. Zhiwei Zhao, Chairman and CEO of China Finance Online stated. "With the policy of promoting the healthy development of Internet finance and improving financial supervision and coordination mechanism, we continue to remain confident in the long-term prospect of becoming a one-stop financial products and service provider in China, and 'Making Investment Easier' for our clients and users."

Comments & Business Outlook

Fri, 06 Feb 2015 05:00:00 GMT

BEIJING, February 6, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- China Finance Online Co. Limited ("China Finance Online", "we" or the "Company") (NASDAQ GS: JRJC), a leading web-based financial services company that provides Chinese retail investors with access to securities, commodities and wealth management products, today announced that Changjiang Securities Company Limited ("Changjiang Securities") has joined the Company's web-based securities trading platform Securities Master (in Chinese "Zhengquantong"), where have connected six securities firms to date.

Changjiang Securities trading system has been integrated into China Finance Online's Securities Master platform, through which Changjiang Securities provides online account opening and trading services, portfolio diagnosis and investment advisory services from its private advisors.

"I am pleased to announce that Changjiang Securities has gone live on Securities Master," said Mr. Zhao, Chairman and CEO of the Company, "more and more securities firms choose Investment Masters and Securities Master to provide advisory and trading services to their clients, which shows our accurate market positioning and technological advantages to lead the transition of Chinese online finance. China Finance Online will continue to be committed in building an ecosystem for our users to allocate assets and to invest easily across products and markets."

Comments & Business Outlook

Wed, 28 Jan 2015 05:00:00 GMT

BEIJING, Jan. 28, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- China Finance Online Co. Limited ("China Finance Online", "we" or the "Company") (NASDAQ GS: JRJC), a leading web-based financial services company that provides Chinese retail investors with access to securities, commodities and wealth management products, today announced that the Company has launched securities services in Hong Kong, which enables Chinese investors to open trading accounts to trade in real-time, Hong Kong securities, including all stocks listed on Hong Kong exchanges.

Our Hong Kong securities service is integrated into the Company's one-stop platform, Securities Master, which allows Chinese individual investors to trade online while having access to financial information and analytics, investment advisory service and wealth management products.

"The launch of our Hong Kong securities service is an important milestone to create a one-stop platform for multiple financial products in global securities markets," said Mr. Zhao, Chairman and CEO of the Company. "China Finance Online is committed to providing an ecosystem for our users to allocate assets and to invest across markets and countries."

Joint Venture

Thu, 15 Jan 2015 05:00:00 GMT

BEIJING, January 15, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- China Finance Online Co. Limited ("China Finance Online", or the "Company") (NASDAQ GS: JRJC), a leading web-based financial services company that provides Chinese retail investors online access to securities, commodities and wealth management products, today announced that it has entered into a strategic partnership agreement with China International Capital Corporation Limited ("CICC "), which is a top global securities and investment firm from China.

Mr. Zhiwei Zhao, Chairman and CEO of China Finance Online, commented, "We are happy that CICC chose China Finance Online as its strategic partner to extend its online brokerage business. We believe this success demonstrates the superior technical innovation as well as capital market and online brokerage experience that underlie our ability to make online brokerage services in China a reality. Looking ahead, we will continue to leverage our unique advantages and forge win-win partnerships to build an investment ecosystem in China that offers beneficial investment services to China's growing population of retail investors, and support our ability to expand our market-share and generate returns for our shareholders and partners."

Comments & Business Outlook

Tue, 23 Dec 2014 05:00:00 GMT

Third Quarter 2014 Financial Results

Net revenues increased by 61% year over year to $21.1 million, compared with $13.2 million in the third quarter of 2013.
Loss Per ADS Basic and Diluted was (0.11) vs last years loss of ($0.07).

Mr. Zhiwei Zhao, Chairman and CEO of China Finance Online stated, "During the third quarter of 2014, we launched 'Zhengquantong (Securities Master)', a fully-integrated securities-trading platform that will be easily accessible through a highly-intuitive user interface via computers, smartphones, tablets and smart TVs. By leveraging our innovative financial services platform, we have entered into strategic partnership agreements with nine Securities companies and gone live with CITIC Securities Co. Ltd. ('CITIC Securities'), Zhongshan Securities Co. Limited ('Zhongshan Securities'), Great Wall Securities Co. Limited ('Great Wall Securities') and Hengtai Securities Co. Limited ('Hengtai Securities'), and will continue to launch strategic partnerships in many areas."

"On December 16, we launched a beta test for our Investment Advisory Service Platform or 'Investment Masters' (in Chinese 'iTouGu'), allowing a vast number of Chinese individual investors to obtain previously private advice from thousands of investment advisors." Mr. Zhao continued, "Going forward, our team will continue to be fully committed to building the comprehensive financial ecosystem, including online securities trading, wealth management and investment advisory, and 'to make investment easier' for Chinese retail investors. Recent waves of regulatory changes in China's securities industry and our dedication in internet-driven financial service innovation will enable us to be an important participant in this new era of large-scale financial reform."

Comments & Business Outlook

Tue, 16 Dec 2014 05:00:00 GMT

BEIJING, December 16, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- China Finance Online Co. Limited ("China Finance Online" or the "Company") (NASDAQ GS: JRJC), a leading web-based financial services company that provides Chinese retail investors with access to securities, commodities and wealth management products, today announced that the Company has launched a beta test for its Investment Advisory Service Platform or "Investment Masters" (in Chinese "iTouGu") today. The web-based system, and especially, real-time mobile apps for both iOS and Android are available at http://itougu.jrj.com.cn/.

The platform facilitates securities investment advisors to communicate with their clients and followers directly in real-time and for 24 hours, allowing a vast number of Chinese individual investors to obtain previously private advice from thousands of investment advisors. In addition, the Investment Masters platform provides these highly-demanded features including:

Text and audio interactive messaging system allowing real-time broadcasting and Q&As between advisors and followers;
Daily market analytics, research reports and investment strategies for investment advisors;
Fast trade order placement directly connecting to the Company's Securities Masters platform; and
Client Management system for every investment advisor to view and manage client profiles, historical data, and activities.

From the headquarter in Beijing, Mr. Zhiwei Zhao, Chairman and CEO of the Company, commented, "the team and I have dedicated our significant efforts for the past months in order to develop an application that would solve the asymmetric investment information issue for the mass. The Investment Masters platform would be a significant step toward this goal and it could greatly activate the market by catering to each investor's individual preference and experience".

"Meanwhile", Mr. Zhao continued, "I am looking forward to more break-through applications that would enable individual to make investment decisions in unprecedented ways."

Auditor trail

Mon, 17 Nov 2014 05:00:00 GMT

BEIJING, November 15, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- China Finance Online Co. Limited ("China Finance Online", or the "Company") (NASDAQ GS: JRJC), a leading web-based financial services company that provides Chinese retail investors online access to securities, commodities and wealth management products, today announced that it has engaged BDO China Shu Lun Pan Certificated Public Accountants LLP ("BDO China") as the Company's new independent auditing firm effective on November 12, 2014. The appointment of BDO was approved by the Company's board of directors and the Audit Committee.

BDO is one of the leading global accounting firms with member firms over 144 countries. BDO China was founded in 1927 and is one of the earliest and most influential accounting firms in China. BDO China's clients include over 300 listed companies, over 300 IPO companies, and more than 2,000 enterprises with foreign investments. The companies BDO provides services to cover a wide range of size and industries including large national enterprises, state-owned companies, commercial banks, securities companies, futures brokerage, insurance, trusts and funds.

With BDO China team's thorough understanding of the Company's business, large local presence and its well-established reputation, the Company believes that BDO China is well qualified to become its independent auditing firm. The Company does not believe that the change of auditor will affect the timely filing of its annual report on Form 20-F for the year ending December 31, 2014.

For more information on the Company's change in auditing firm, please refer to the Company's Form 6-K filed on November 13, 2014:

Joint Venture

Tue, 11 Nov 2014 05:00:00 GMT

BEIJING, November 11, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- China Finance Online Co. Limited ("China Finance Online", or the "Company") (NASDAQ GS: JRJC), a leading web-based financial services company that provides Chinese retail investors online access to securities, commodities and wealth management products, today announced that it has entered into a strategic partnership agreement with Great Wall Securities Co. Limited ("Great Wall Securities"), to integrate Great Wall Securities' backend systems with China Finance Online's web-based trading platform, "Securities Master," or "Zhengquantong." Along with the Company's partnerships with CITIC Securities Co., Ltd. and Zhongshan Securities Co., Ltd., each of which has already gone live, the strategic partnership with Great Wall Securities will allow China Finance Online to continue to enhance its platform's depth by providing more comprehensive products and services and to further expand its broad user base.

Great Wall Securities was founded in 1995 and is one of the oldest nation-wide comprehensive securities firms in China. In 2013, it was awarded, among others, the "Best Investment Advisory Brand of China" and "Research Institution with Highest Potential."

China Finance Online's new partnership with Great Wall Securities will allow customers to open online accounts and to trade real-time. In addition, Great Wall Securities will be able to provide its new users from the Company's Securities Master platform with several high-quality financial advisory services.

"We are happy to announce this new partnership at this encouraging moment where the well-anticipated Shanghai-Hong Kong Stock Connect will soon be launched," stated Zhiwei Zhao, Chairman and CEO of China Finance Online. "With Chinese government's accelerated opening of capital markets, our Company will take advantage of waves of regulatory change and keep standing at the forefront of financial innovations."

Comments & Business Outlook

Tue, 14 Oct 2014 04:00:00 GMT

BEIJING, October 14, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- China Finance Online Co. Limited ("China Finance Online", or the "Company") (NASDAQ GS: JRJC), a leading web-based financial services company that provides Chinese retail investors online access to securities, commodities, and wealth management products, today announced that it has updated its mobile application to include the functionalities based on the Securities Master, or Zhengquantong, the web-based securities trading platform the Company launched on August 18, 2014. China Finance Online's updated mobile application will support real-time securities trading and allow users to open accounts in China via their mobile devices.

"We are happy to announce this key upgrade of our mobile financial application which will now incorporate our powerful trading platform, Securities Master," stated Zhiwei Zhao, Chairman and CEO of China Finance Online. "Built upon our philosophy of making investments easier, the latest version of our app will allow Android and iOS users to open new accounts, manage their portfolios, track the markets, and trade with ease, anytime, anyplace and on any device, which is available on the Company's website and the App Store. The features and functions that are currently or soon will be available to investors include:

'Stock Watch-list' which will provide investors with immersive real-time data and contextual third-party news on selected stocks by seamlessly synchronizing the information of the PC platform with that of the mobile application,
'Stock Rating' which will provide research and guidance from our investment advisers, who will utilize our self-developed big data research and calculation methodology, and
'Stock Alert' which will allow investors to set up push notifications for price triggers and trade notifications to receive timely and customizable alerts."

Mr. Zhao continued, "The new features will include an 'IPO Calendar,' through which investors can subscribe to information as early as one month prior to the issuance of certain new stocks as well as buy shares. Going forward, we will continue to add new features and functions. For example, we are planning to integrate our mobile application products with a live advice platform, where investors can interact and get perspectives and market insights from our investment experts. Furthermore, we will be able to support the ability to open multiple trading accounts, enabling our users the ability to trade at multiple brokerages. By continuing to demonstrate our industry expertise and advantages in integrating financial platforms, we believe we will further enhance our user experience and provide comprehensive online brokerage services to Chinese investors."

Comments & Business Outlook

Wed, 08 Oct 2014 04:00:00 GMT

BEIJING, Oct. 8, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- China Finance Online Co. Limited ("China Finance Online", or the "Company") (NASDAQ GS: JRJC), a leading web-based financial services company that provides Chinese retail investors online access to securities, commodities and wealth management products, today announced that it expects the Company and its Securities Masterplatform users will benefit from China Securities Depository and Clearing Corporation Limited's launch of Yimatong, a unified brokerage account system which assigns an account to investors with existing securities brokerage accounts in China, starting October 8, 2014. The launch of Yimatong highlights the significant progress made in the current deregulation environment, allowing investors in China to open accounts in multiple brokerages over time.

Mr. Zhiwei Zhao, Chairman and CEO of China Finance Online commented, "Since pioneering the concept of 'Making Investment Easier' in China, we continue to aim towards building a fully-integrated online securities-trading platform, where retail investors can have access to one-stop professional-level financial information and services. With recent deregulation achievements, going forward, investors with existing accounts trading accounts at other brokerages will have an easier path to migrate to other trading platforms, including China Finance Online's financial ecosystem, strengthening our foundation for further monetization opportunities."

Joint Venture

Thu, 02 Oct 2014 04:00:00 GMT

BEIJING, Oct. 2, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- China Finance Online Co. Limited ("China Finance Online", or the "Company") (NASDAQ GS: JRJC), a leading web-based financial services company that provides Chinese retail investors online access to securities, commodities and wealth management products, today announced that it has entered into a strategic partnership agreement with Lianxun Securities Co., Ltd. ("Lianxun Securities"). To date, China Finance Online has signed trading integration arrangements with eight securities firms, with CITIC Securities Co., Ltd. and Zhongshan Securities Co., Ltd. already gone live. All of these brokerage firms are regulated by the Chinese Securities Regulatory Commission.

Mr. Zhiwei Zhao, Chairman and CEO of China Finance Online, commented, "We are excited that our leading securities-trading platform, Securities Master, is being integrated with a growing number of Chinese securities firms and continues to gain traction in China. We believe this success demonstrates the superior technical innovation and capital market and online brokerage experience that underlie our ability to make online brokerage services in China a reality. Looking ahead, we will continue to leverage our unique advantages and forge win-win partnerships to build an investment ecosystem in China that offers beneficial investment services to China's growing population of retail investors, and support our ability to expand our market-share and generate returns for our shareholders and partners."

Comments & Business Outlook

Tue, 30 Sep 2014 04:00:00 GMT

Second Quarter 2014 Unaudited Financial Results

Net revenues for the second quarter of 2014 increased by 171.4% year-over-year to $20.6 million from $7.6 million in the second quarter of 2013, and compared with $23.2 million in the first quarter of 2014.
Net loss per ADS attributable to China Finance Online Co. Limited Basic and Diluted was (0.29) vs. last years same quarter (0.21).

Mr. Zhiwei Zhao, Chairman and CEO of China Finance Online stated, "We are pleased to announce that we have seen a promising beginning towards building an integrated online securities trading and wealth management platform. During the third quarter of 2014, we launched "Zhengquantong ("Securities Master")", a fully-integrated securities-trading platform that will be easily accessible through a highly-intuitive user interface via computers, smartphones, tablets, and smart TVs. By leveraging our innovative financial services platform, we entered into strategic partnership agreements with CITIC Securities Co., Ltd. ("CITIC Securities") and Zhongshan Securities Co. Limited ("Zhongshan Securities") and will continue to launch similar strategic partnerships going forward. Looking ahead, we will strengthen our efforts in building a comprehensive wealth management ecosystem through our fully-integrated online securities-trading platform, making financial management and investment activities easier for all Chinese retail investors. We are confident that as we fortify our market leadership position in China, we will be able to deliver long-term value to our shareholders."

Joint Venture

Tue, 23 Sep 2014 04:00:00 GMT

BEIJING, Sept. 23, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- China Finance Online Co., Limited ("China Finance Online", or the "Company") (NASDAQ GS: JRJC), a leading web-based financial services company that provides Chinese retail investors online access to securities, commodities, and wealth management products, today announced that it has entered into a strategic partnership agreement with Zhongshan Securities Co., Limited ("Zhongshan Securities"), to integrate with China Finance Online's newly-launched web-based trading platform, "Securities Master," or "Zhengquantong," with Zhongshan Securities' trading and settlement system. Along with the Company's previous partnership with CITIC Securities, Co., Ltd. (SHA: 600030), this partnership will allow China Finance Online to offer a competitive commission rate to investors, strengthen its platform's online trading capabilities and further expand its broad user base.

China Finance Online's new partnership with Zhongshan Securities, which is one of the oldest and respected securities firms in China, will allow customers to easily create new trading accounts and offer highly competitive commission rates, which can be as low as 0.025% for new trading accounts. Zhongshan Securities will also be able to provide users with additional services such as access to microfinance loans and several other products. As a key part of the Company's new strategy for "Securities Master," China Finance Online aims to continue to expand its partnerships with more securities firms, enabling it to offer an integrated financial platform with more comprehensive products and services to its broadened base of retail investors.

"With the recently announced government deregulation in the finance industry, investors in China will be able to open multiple trading accounts at multiple brokerages, giving them great flexibility in making financial decisions," stated Mr. Zhiwei Zhao, Chairman and CEO of China Finance Online. "By continuing to demonstrate our industry expertise and provide comprehensive financial products on our integrated financial platform, we firmly believe that we are building a solid ecosystem that will continue to attract new users and strengthen our foundation for future monetization."

Comments & Business Outlook

Tue, 02 Sep 2014 04:00:00 GMT

BEIJING, Sept. 2, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- China Finance Online Co. Limited ("China Finance Online", or the "Company") (NASDAQ GS: JRJC), a leading web-based financial services company that provides Chinese retail investors online access to securities, commodities, and wealth management products, today announced that it is ranked as a leading online financial firm amongst China's Top-100 Internet Companies, according to the Internet Society of China and the Information Center of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology of China.

"We are very proud to be ranked amongst the leading internet companies in China," stated Mr. Zhiwei Zhao, Chairman and CEO of China Finance Online. "We will continue to invest in our broadening financial platform, especially our "Securities Master" trading platform, to further improve user experience. As government efforts to liberalize and stimulate the consumer financial industry gain traction, we firmly believe that demand for our one-stop platform for timely information and on-line trading, available on any device, demonstrates the tremendous advantages our platform possesses as compared with traditional channels. As an example, with the recent deregulation initiatives allowing investors in China to open accounts at multiple brokerages, now investors with existing securities accounts elsewhere have an easier path to potentially migrate into our financial trading ecosystem."

Comments & Business Outlook

Mon, 18 Aug 2014 04:00:00 GMT

BEIJING, Aug. 18, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- China Finance Online Co. Limited ("China Finance Online", or the "Company") (NASDAQ GS: JRJC), a leading web-based financial services company that provides Chinese retail investors online access to stocks, commodities and wealth management products, today announced that it has launched China's first independent web-based securities trading platform, "Zhengquantong ("Securities Master")", on the leading financial portals it operates, www.jrj.com and www.stockstar.com. Securities Master is the product of a new strategic partnership China Finance Online has entered into with the largest brokeragefirm in China, CITIC Securities Co., Ltd. (SHA: 600030) ("CITIC"), to seamlessly integrate China Finance Online's state-of-the-art, web-based architecture with CITIC's robust trading and settlement system.

Securities Master has been designed as a fully integrated securities-trading platform that will be easily accessible to investors through a highly-intuitive user interface via computers, smartphones, tablets, and smart TVs. By creating a simple and seamless experience for retail investors to access market information, open accounts and trade in real-time, investors will be able to manage their finances more effectively and efficiently via Securities Master. For the first time, active investors will have fast access to online securities trading with professional-level market data, analytics, research reports, as well as real-time online advisory services to facilitate trading decisions.

"We are extremely excited to form this groundbreaking partnership with CITIC, given China's accelerating financial and investment reforms and the liberalization of financial instruments available to Chinese investors," stated Mr. Zhiwei Zhao, Chairman and CEO of China Finance Online. "By bringing together leaders in both brokerage services and internet finance, we are creating a leading-edge integrated financial service ecosystem for Chinese investors. In addition to enhancing our online trading capabilities, we will also collaborate with our partners in wealth management, investment advisory and other value-added internet finance service offerings. Going forward, we will continue to leverage, expand and optimize our innovative and comprehensive financial platform for China's growing population of retail investors, further strengthening our foundation for monetization."

As China's leading financial information center, the Company's portals, jrj.com and stockstar.com, have aggregated a large user base of over tens of millions of monthly active users. By providing accurate, consistent and reliable financial information to Chinese investors for over a decade, the Company's expertise and value proposition in internet finance have been widely recognized by major financial services providers like CITIC, as well as the wider investment community. Through this partnership with CITIC, the new web-based securities trading platform will enable both companies to quickly transfer their current user bases to online securities trading system as well as to expand and attract new users.

Comments & Business Outlook

Fri, 20 Jun 2014 04:00:00 GMT

First Quarter Unaudited 2014 Financial Results

Net revenues were $23.2 million, representing a year-over-year increase of 321% from $5.5 million in the first quarter of 2013;
Income (loss) per ADS Basic and diluted was (0.02) vs. last years same quarter of (0.04).

Mr. Zhiwei Zhao, Chairman and CEO of China Finance Online commented, "We are pleased that our strategic transition continues to take hold as evidenced by our record first quarter revenues. Precious metal trading and Yinglibao cash management are viable new businesses addressing the demand of Chinese investors for alternative investment opportunities. Leveraging on our massive user base and industry-leading customer specialist team, we have quickly gained customers and established China Finance Online as a premier provider of such services in China. We will continue to explore various opportunities to become a one-stop financial product and service provider."

Comments & Business Outlook

Fri, 09 May 2014 04:00:00 GMT

BEIJING, May 9, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- China Finance Online Co. Limited ("China Finance Online", or the "Company") (NASDAQ GS: JRJC), a technology-driven, and user-focused market leader in China providing vertically integrated financial information and services, today announced that it expects to report net revenues of $21.0 million for the first quarter of 2014, up 281.8% from $5.5 million in the first quarter of 2013. The expected net revenues reflect the impact of fewer trading days in the first quarter due to the long Chinese New Year holidays.

Comments & Business Outlook

Fri, 04 Apr 2014 04:00:00 GMT

Fourth Quarter 2013 Financial Results

Net revenues were $25.8 million, representing a year-over-year increase of 400% from $5.2 million for the fourth quarter of 2012, and a quarter-over-quarter increase of 96% from $13.2 million for the third quarter of 2013;
Net income (loss) per diluted share was RMB0.01 vs. last years comparable quarter of RMB(0.04).

"We are very excited that our strategic transition has finally taken shape as we not only significantly grew our top line but also returned to profitability in the fourth quarter. In the past three years, we focused on improving our business fundamentals and maintaining relationships with our online audience, while exploring viable new business opportunities to monetize our large user base. Now that our business model has evolved from providing financial information to providing financial services, we look forward to continuing to serve an increasingly large group of affluent Chinese investors."

"We have accumulated significant experience and an invaluable customer base through directly servicing Chinese investors for more than ten years. Our regional offices cover all major investment centers in China, and our sales and marketing team is one of the most effective in the industry. With our new business model, we are equipping our seasoned customer specialists with new technology, tools and financial knowledge to better serve our clients."

"Against an inflationary macro environment where the stock market remains weak and the real estate market is policy-influenced, investors are increasingly looking for more diversified investment categories to help preserve and grow their personal wealth. We strive to provide a full suite of investment products to help clients achieve their financial goals. Through Yinglibao, an internet-based financial platform, we provide cash management solutions which generate higher returns than the current one-year bank demand deposit rate, while also enabling users to purchase mutual fund products. Our precious metal trading service enables investors to tap into alternative investment areas. We will continuously expand the types of investment products available to our clients so as to perfect our one-stop solution to clients."

Comments & Business Outlook

Fri, 03 Jan 2014 05:00:00 GMT

2013 Third Quarter Financial Results

Net revenues for the third quarter of 2013 were $13.2 million compared with $7.2 million for the third quarter of 2012, and up from $7.6 million for the second quarter of 2013.
Loss per ADS basic and diluted was (0.07) vs. last years (0.14)

"After three years of consolidation, we are starting to turn things around amid a challenging market environment. Our revenues grew for three consecutive quarters on a sequential basis. During the strategic transition, we improved our business fundamentals and established new brokerage service with the growing precious metal trading. We also laid the foundation for a new wealth management service like Yinglibao. In addition, we also achieved progress in consolidating and integrating with complementary industry resources," commented Mr. Zhiwei Zhao, Chairman and CEO of China Finance Online.

"In 2014, we intend to enhance our core competitiveness through professional services and re-establish our vision for growth around 'Let's make investment easier' for our clients and users. By leveraging our industry-leading internet capabilities, we are creating an online investment platform that is intuitive and easy-to-operate for our massive user base. We are also introducing diverse and high quality investment products to serve our growing customers and users of our flagship web portals. We remain confident in the long-term prospect of becoming a one-stop financial products and service provider in China," Mr. Zhao concluded.

Comments & Business Outlook

Tue, 15 Oct 2013 04:00:00 GMT

Second Quarter 2013 Results

Net revenues for the second quarter of 2013 were $7.6 million, compared with $8.1 million for the second quarter of 2012.
Loss per ADS was $0.21, compared to a loss of $0.12 for the same quarter of 2012.

"We are pleased to announce the launch of our internet financial platform Yinglibao, for trial service. In China, internet-based finance is gaining traction as more users realize the safety, convenience, and diversity of financial products available through online platforms. We see this as a good opportunity for us to develop an internet-based finance business through capitalizing on our internet capabilities," commented Mr. Zhiwei Zhao, Chairman and CEO of China Finance Online. "At the heart of our strategic transition, we continue to enhance our core internet capabilities and expand the influence of our financial media platforms. In a recent study conducted by the authoritative Internet Society of China, JRJ was awarded one of 'China's Top 100 Internet Sites' and ranked highest among vertically integrated financial websites in China."

"We are encouraged by early signs of turnaround in our business as our top line has started to recover. And as we seek to provide alternative investment opportunities to qualified clients in a continuously sluggish domestic stock market, the Company began providing precious metals trading services recently. We remain cautiously optimistic during the ongoing transition while striving to service our tremendous user base with new products and services," concluded Mr. Zhao.

Comments & Business Outlook

Fri, 05 Jul 2013 04:00:00 GMT

First Quarter 2013 Results

Net revenues were $5.5 million compared with $9.1 million for the first quarter of 2012.
Reported first quarter 2013 ADS of a loss of $0.20, compared to a loss of $0.06 for the same quarter of 2012.

"We continue to believe that internet will play a huge role in China's financial industry. Adapting to a changing business environment, we streamlined our business structure in 2012 and accelerated our expansion into internet-based financial services. To ensure our competitive position, we continue to leverage on our massive user base to consolidate internet resources and collaborate with industry leaders who offer complementary intellect and services. Our Hong Kong-based brokerage arm continues to expand its product offerings in securities and futures trading on global exchanges. Despite the sluggish domestic stock market, we are proactively adapting ourselves to the evolving industry through integrating our proven capabilities in financial information, financial service and internet capabilities," commented Mr. Zhiwei Zhao, Chairman and CEO of China Finance Online.

Business Outlook

our product upgrade and strategic transformation initiative;
our expansion into the internet-based financial services;
our investment in the real estate project in Langfang City of Hebei Province;
our prospect on stabilization in cash attrition and improvement of our financial position;
our efforts in expanding the market coverage of international equity and futures trading services;
our initiatives to address customers' demand for alternative investment opportunities; and
the market prospect of the business of securities investment advisory and wealth management.

Such statements involve certain risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements, which risks and uncertainties include, among others, the following:

he changing customer needs, regulatory environment and market condition that we are subject to;

the uneven condition of the world and Chinese economy that could lead to volatility in the equity markets and affect our operating results in the coming quarters;

the impact of a poor performing Chinese stock market, Hong Kong stock market and global financial market on our future performance;

the unpredictability of our strategic transformation and upgrade;

the degree to which our strategic collaborations with partners will yield successful outcome;

the prospect for China's high-net-worth and middle-class households;

the competition we are facing in the new business of securities investment advisory and wealth management;

the unpredictability of our investment in the real estate project in Langfang City of Hebei Province;

the market prospect and competition in other business areas that we have expanded or ventured into futures brokerage business;· wavering investor confidence that could impact our business; and

possible non-cash goodwill, intangible assets and investment impairment may adversely affect our net income.

Comments & Business Outlook

Fri, 14 Sep 2012 04:00:00 GMT

Second Quarter 2012 Results

Net revenues were $8.1 million compared with $13.8 million for the second quarter of 2011 due to the challenging global and domestic macroeconomic environment and a weak Chinese stock market;
Gross profit was $5.5 million compared with $11.6 million for the second quarter of 2011;
Net loss attributable to China Finance Online was $2.6 million.
Diluted loss per ADS of $0.12 vs loss of $0.08 in prior year quater.

Mr. Zhiwei Zhao, Chairman and CEO of China Finance Online, commented, "Amidst the persistent European sovereign debt crisis and a slowing PRC domestic economy, the Chinese stock market continued its downward trend during the second quarter of 2012. China's GDP growth dipped below 8% for the first time in twelve consecutive quarters. The Shanghai A-Share index breached its three-year lows and investor sentiment remains fragile. A tough macroeconomic and market environment poses substantial challenges for our ongoing operations.

"In the face of these challenges, we are implementing additional cost-cutting initiatives to increase efficiency and improve operational performance. We continue to expand the influence and technical capabilities of our flagship financial media platforms for further internet applications. With improving internet capabilities and consistent user traffic, we are also looking to upgrade our advertising business.

"Meanwhile, we continue to proceed with operational transition and we have launched trial services for our securities investment advisory operations during the third quarter. In the third quarter of 2012, one of our PRC affiliates obtained regulatory approval to distribute mutual funds. The newly granted mutual fund license will allow us to diversify our product portfolio and help expand our customer base. However, given the trying external environment, it will take some time for such new segments to generate revenues.

"In the midst of a slowing economy and weak stock markets, we are proactively laying the foundation for future growth through product innovation, resource consolidation and streamlining our corporate structure. Our strategic vision remains to become a leading service provider of informational and other value-added financial products for Chinese investors through leveraging on our proven strength in vertically integrated market intelligence and our substantial experience in financial services," concluded Mr. Zhao.

Comments & Business Outlook

Thu, 28 Jun 2012 04:00:00 GMT

First Quarter 2012 Results

Net revenues for the first quarter of 2012 were $9.1 million, compared with $15.0 million for the first quarter of 2011.
Non-GAAP net loss attributable to China Finance Online, which excluded the non-cash share-based compensation expenses of $0.2 million, was $1.1 million for the 2012 first quarter, compared with a non-GAAP net income of $1.9 million for the same quarter of 2011.
Non-GAAP net loss per share for the 2012 first quarter was $0.05) vs earnings per share of $0.08 in prior year period.

Mr. Zhiwei Zhao, Chairman and CEO of China Finance Online, commented, "Amid concerns toward a slowdown of the Chinese economy, the Chinese A-Share market again was one of the most underperforming global equity markets during the first quarter of 2012. Trading turnover and market capitalization shrank further as China's GDP and corporate earnings growth trended lower. Demand for paid securities analysis software continued to be negatively impacted across the board as investor sentiment remained fragile.

"As we transition our business toward securities investment advisory services, we continue to leverage our leadership in financial information services, data solutions and web technologies, to expand our user base. Our flagship sites jrj.com and stockstar.com are two of the most established financial portal sites in China with tens of millions of users. We keep strengthening our research and development in new areas including open-source platform application, wireless application, financial micro-blogging, and HTML5 technology. Furthermore, our exclusive partnership with Baidu will enable us to provide our market-leading financial information services to a much broader audience," Mr. Zhao concluded.

Joint Venture

Mon, 18 Jun 2012 04:00:00 GMT

BEIJING, June 18, 2012 /PRNewswire-Asia/ -- China Finance Online Co. Limited ("China Finance Online", "the Company") (NASDAQ GS: JRJC), a technology-driven, user-focused market leader in China in providing vertically integrated financial information and services including news, data, analytics, securities investment advisory and brokerage-related services, today announced that its flagship portal site Stockstar.com ("Stockstar") has entered into an exclusive partnership with Baidu.com ("Baidu") on a mobile web application to provide financial information services.

Under the partnership, Stockstar and Baidu have launched a mobile web application integrating Stockstar's proven financial information services with leading internet technologies. The application allows users to access a variety of information on companies traded on the Shanghai Stock Exchange and the Shenzhen Stock Exchange.

Pioneered in introducing HTML5 technology into developing financial information services, the application greatly enhances user experience of searching for and digesting financial information on mobile devices through a highly user-friendly system interface and lower requirement on data usage. Users are able to quickly and conveniently access information including company profile, trading data and charts, and company news without having to install any local application or account registration.

The web application went live in June 2012. Through the application, smartphones running on Google Android and Apple iOS operating systems are now able to access financial information by inputting company name or ticker into Baidu's search engine.

Mr. Zhiwei Zhao, Chairman and CEO of China Finance Online, commented, "This partnership speaks volumes about our leadership in financial information services and technologies. Stockstar is one of the most established financial portal sites in China with a proven track record in data processing, website optimization, and client development. As more Chinese are spending more time seeking market intelligence online, extending our competitive advantages to the mobile internet market is a natural choice.

"Meanwhile, we are excited to provide our timely, reliable and robust financial information services to Baidu users. Baidu is the No. 1 website in China with the largest user base and highest traffic rank. I am optimistic that by building on Baidu's powerful and far-reaching platform we will be able to expand our potential users and provide them with a better mobile experience in accessing financial information that is faster, cheaper and more streamlined," Mr. Zhao concluded.

Comments & Business Outlook

Tue, 17 Apr 2012 04:00:00 GMT

2011 Fourth Quarter Financial Highlights

Net revenues were $10.8 million compared with $14.8 million for the fourth quarter of 2010;
Gross profit was $8.7 million with a gross margin of 80.8% compared with $12.4 million and 84.1% for the fourth quarter of 2010;
A total of $15.2 million in non-cash impairment loss of goodwill and intangible assets was recorded following an impairment test;
Net loss attributable to China Finance Online was $15.4 million;
Excluding non-cash share-based compensation expenses and non-cash impairment loss of goodwill and intangible assets, non-GAAP net income attributable to China Finance Online was $80,000.

Business Outlook

Cost reduction associated with the transition will help offset the loss in revenues and mitigate the loss of cash flow to a certain extent. The Company plans to implement additional cost-cutting initiatives to increase efficiency and improve operational performance. Deferred revenues will continue to be realized until the expiration of outstanding premium individual subscriptions. The Company intends to preserve its cash balance as ample cash is critical for ensuring the success of the strategic transition.

New businesses such as securities investment advisory and other wealth management services are still in the early stage of development. The Company does not expect these areas to contribute material revenues any time soon. During this transition period, the Company will no longer provide financial or operational guidance.

"Given the increasing availability of financial products, investors are diversifying their investments and at the same time seeking professional investment advisory and guidance on wealth management. We are taking necessary actions now to adapt to the evolving external environment and better position ourselves for future growth," commented Mr. Zhiwei Zhao, Chairman and CEO of China Finance Online.

Comments & Business Outlook

Tue, 13 Dec 2011 05:00:00 GMT

Third Quarter 2011 Results

Net revenues were $13.5 million compared with $14.4 million in the third quarter of 2010;
Gross profit was $11.2 million with a gross margin of 83.0% compared with $12.3 million and 85.1% in the third quarter of 2010;
A total of $2.3 million non-cash impairment of goodwill and intangible assets associated with the subscription and brokerage-related business was recorded following an interim impairment test;
Net loss attributable to China Finance Online was $3.5 million;
Excluding non-cash share-based compensation and non-cash impairment of goodwill and intangible assets, non-GAAP net loss attributable to China Finance Online was $0.8 million with diluted non-GAAP net loss per ADS of 4 cents.

Revenues from subscription fees paid by individual customers decreased 9.3% year-over-year reflecting the decreased demand for financial information products amid a plunging stock market in China, deteriorating global macroeconomics, as well as the continuing impact on sales due to the new Provisional Regulations on Securities Investment Advisory Business.

Business Outlook

Due to a continuously sluggish business and stock market environment, which has persisted since the end of the 2011 third quarter, the Company lowers its net revenues guidance from $55 million to $52 million for fiscal year 2011. Non-GAAP net income, which is defined as net income excluding non-cash share-based compensation expenses and non-cash goodwill, intangible assets and investment impairment, for the 2011 fiscal year is anticipated to be a loss of $1 million.

The above forecast reflects the Company's current views, which are subject to change. A number of important factors that are outside the Company's control including without limitation, the overall Chinese macroeconomic outlook, fluctuations in the mainland and Hong Kong stock markets and further regulatory changes, among other factors, could cause the actual results to differ materially from those contained in the above guidance.

"Throughout much of the year 2011, significant stock market decline and trading volatility have considerably reduced Chinese investors' appetite for stock investment and their demand for financial information products. This industry-wide slack in demand could go on in the near term as the Chinese stock market continues to seek signs of stabilization and improvement in both the domestic and global economies. Our ability to compete is also partially impacted by the ongoing implementation of the provisional regulations. In the long-run, however, we are confident that these regulations will reward us for our highest compliance standards and compelling products," commented Mr. Zhiwei Zhao, CEO of China Finance Online.

"I believe in the long-term value of market intelligence and the financial services we offer to Chinese investors. We are proactively looking into product upgrades, more effective user outreach programs, and improved operational efficiency. Our core competency in internet capabilities through flagship portal sites and an established in-house database remain our greatest assets in serving our existing and potential user base," concludes Mr. Zhiwei Zhao, CEO of China Finance Online.

Analyst Reports

Thu, 01 Sep 2011 04:00:00 GMT

Maintaining Market Perform Rating after a Mostly In-Line 2Q11

2Q11 Results In-Line with Expectations

China Finance Online (Ticker: JRJC, Market Outperform) reported its 2Q11 financial results that were mostly in-line with our expectations. Revenue in the quarter came in at $13.8 million, a touch above our estimate of $13.5 million. Non-GAAP net income was $63,000, representing a basically flat $0.00 EPADS, slightly missing our respective estimates of $0.3 million and $0.01.

Our Take

The 2Q11 performance did not come as a surprise as we had anticipated a soft quarter in light of the lackluster Chinese stock market performance and trading volume as well as the company’s weak deferred revenue in 1Q11, which tended to be a fairly reliable leading indicator for performances in subsequent quarters. At this point, we see little improvement in the next couple quarters in terms of the macro picture and believe things could turn worse before getting better for the company. Looking forward to 2012, we anticipate a more subdued inflationary environment in China, (as compared with this year,) coupled with a somewhat modest, but still healthy, real GDP growth of over 8%. We believe this overall less ominous macro environment should be reflected in the Chinese stock market performance and provide a friendlier operating environment for China Finance Online next year.

We are not concerned about the COO departure, which was due to personal reasons. Despite the company’s recent lackluster financial performance, we continue to have faith in the current management team led by its CEO and CFO. We believe this professional management, with its familiarity with the company operations, can provide a competent and steady hand in leading China Finance Online through the current uncertain period.

Adjusting Estimates and Maintaining Market Perform Rating

We have tweaked our model to reflect the 2Q11 results. We now estimate China Finance Online will report full year 2011 revenue of $51.5 million, gross profit of $42.2 million, and pro forma net loss of $3.8 million, or $0.17 loss per diluted ADS. Please note that we are taking a decidedly more conservative approach in projecting the company’s remaining 2011 financial performance than the management’s guidance. We do expect things will turn around next year however. For full year 2012, we estimate revenue, gross profit, and pro forma net income will reach $53.7 million, $44.8 million, and $3.8 million (or $0.17 EPADS), respectively. We continue to view China Finance Online as a long term investment opportunity considering China’s market size and the company’s industry-leading position. In the short term, however, we choose to remain on the sideline, pending greater clarity on the company’s near to medium term business prospects, which are related to China’s economic outlook and stock market performance. We will revisit our rating should the share price yield significantly more attractive entry levels or if there are potentially game-changing corporate developments down the road.

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This material has been prepared for informational purposes only. While it is based on information generally available to the public from sources we believe to be reliable, no representation is made that the subject information is accurate or complete. Past performance is not a guarantee nor does it necessarily serve as an indicator of future results. Price and availability are subject to change without notice. Additional information is available upon request.

Since Rodman & Renshaw, LLC is not a tax advisor, transactions requiring tax consideration should be reviewed carefully with your tax advisor. Similarly, Rodman & Renshaw, LLC is not a law firm and provides no legal opinions or legal advice.

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Notice Regarding Privacy and Confidentiality:

This material has been prepared for informational purposes only. While it is based on information generally available to the public from sources we believe to be reliable, no representation is made that the subject information is accurate or complete. Past performance is not a guarantee nor does it necessarily serve as an indicator of future results. Price and availability are subject to change without notice. Additional information is available upon request.

Since Rodman & Renshaw, LLC is not a tax advisor, transactions requiring tax consideration should be reviewed carefully with your tax advisor. Similarly, Rodman & Renshaw, LLC is not a law firm and provides no legal opinions or legal advice.

Rodman & Renshaw, LLC may make a market in the securities being discussed.

Rodman & Renshaw, LLC and/or its officers or employees may have positions in any of the securities of this (these) issuer(s).

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Rodman and Renshaw on JRJC 9/01/2011

Maintaining Market Perform Rating after a Mostly In-Line 2Q11

2Q11 Results In-Line with Expectations

Our Take

Adjusting Estimates and Maintaining Market Perform Rating

Comments & Business Outlook

Wed, 31 Aug 2011 04:00:00 GMT

Second Quarter 2011 Results

Net revenues were $13.8 million, compared to $15.3 million in the second quarter of 2010;
Gross profit was $11.6 million with a gross margin of 84.3%, compared to $13.2 million and 86.2% in the second quarter of 2010;
Excluding share-based compensation expenses and investment impairment, non-GAAP net income attributable to China Finance Online in the second quarter of 2011 was $63,000 with diluted non-GAAP net earnings per ADS of $0.00 vs $0.10 in 2010.

Business Outlook

The Company maintains its net revenues guidance of $55 million for fiscal year 2011. Non-GAAP net income, which is defined as net income excluding share-based compensation expenses and non-cash goodwill and investment impairment, for the 2011 year is anticipated to be a loss of $1 million.

The above forecast reflects the Company's current views, which are subject to change. A number of important factors that are outside the Company's control including without limitation, the overall Chinese macroeconomic outlook, fluctuations in the Chinese stock market and further regulatory changes, could cause the actual results to differ materially from those contained in the above guidance.

Given the deteriorating global economic environment and the challenging stock market in China, the Company remains cautious with respect to its business outlook for the rest of fiscal year 2011.

Liquidity Requirements

Sun, 26 Jun 2011 04:00:00 GMT

Capital expenditures in 2009 and 2010 have been, and our 2011 capital expenditures are expected to continue to be, funded through operating cash flows and through our existing capital resources. We believe that our current cash and cash equivalents, and cash flow from operations will be sufficient to meet our anticipated cash needs, including for our working capital and capital expenditure needs, for the foreseeable future. We may, however, require additional cash resources due to changes in business conditions or other future developments.

Comments & Business Outlook

Fri, 17 Jun 2011 04:00:00 GMT

First Quarter Results:

Net revenues were $15.0 million, compared with $15.2 million for the first quarter of 2010;
Net income attributable to China Finance Online was $1.4 million with diluted GAAP earnings per ADS of $0.06 for the first quarter of 2011, compared with a net income of $0.14 million and diluted GAAP earnings per ADS of $0.01 in the first quarter of 2010;
Excluding share-based compensation expenses, non-GAAP net income attributable to China Finance Online in the first quarter of 2011 was $1.9 million with diluted non-GAAP earnings per ADS of $0.08, compared with a non-GAAP net income of $1.8 million and diluted non-GAAP earnings per ADS of $0.08 in the first quarter of 2010;
Annual guidance for net revenues revised down from $58 million to $55 million and non-GAAP net income from $3 million to a loss of $1 million in light of weakening investor sentiment regarding the languishing Chinese stock market and the impact of new Chinese regulations on both the Company's revenues and costs.

Mr. Zhiwei Zhao, Chief Executive Officer of China Finance Online, commented, "We see a more challenging external business environment. Domestic investor confidence remains low as concerns about the sluggish Shanghai index and a slowdown in Chinese economic growth have caused investors to scale back their stock market exposure. Meanwhile, the China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC) is stepping up its regulatory reform of China's securities investment advisory industry, and in particular, the securities advisory software business. This is the first time for the government to implement industry wide regulations of this sort. The evolving interactions between service providers and the regulatory bodies necessary to gauge the effect and effectiveness of the new regulations dictates a transition period that is taking longer than most industry participants, including ourselves, had anticipated. Additionally, while we have proactively adapted our sales and marketing strategies in the current environment, the timing of the new regulations in the midst of a sluggish Chinese stock market has nevertheless weakened our customers' confidence in stock investment and their interest in our products and services, and has deterred their purchasing decisions on subscription of our stock advisory software services.

Analyst Reports

Fri, 17 Jun 2011 04:00:00 GMT

Rodman and Renshaw on JRJC 6/17/2011

Downgrading to Market Perform Based on Reduced Medium-Term Outlook

We are downgrading the shares of China Finance Online (Ticker: JRJC) from our previous rating of Market Outperform to Market Perform.

With the lackluster domestic Chinese stock market performance, an inflationary environment, and a changing government policy and competitive landscape, we believe the company is facing an increasingly difficult operating environment as well as an inflection point with regard to its current business model. Thus we are adopting a much more conservative view with regard to the company’s near to medium term outlook (for the next 3-4 quarters).

Slumping Chinese stock market performance hindering business

Reflecting concerns on the country’s economic outlook, the Chinese stock market has had a lackluster performance so far this year, exemplified by the Shanghai Composite’s almost 7% year-to-date decline. More ominously for China Finance Online, China’s stock market trading volume as a whole decreased even more significantly, down about 19% year-to-date, based on Shanghai Stock Exchange’s 30-day trading volume moving average. As China Finance Online’s business, especially its bread and butter individual subscription business, is intrinsically tied to stock trading interest and activities, any noticeable apathy towards the domestic stock market can have material negative impact on the company’s financial performance. While the company’s top line result was adequate in the last quarter, deferred revenue, which is a good indication for future performance, has shown signs of weakening. The company reported $39.8 million of deferred revenue in 1Q11, noticeably lower than previous figures of $46.0 million in 4Q10 and $43.8 million in 1Q10. This leads us to believe that revenue might come under some pressure over the next several quarters. We acknowledge that the individual subscription business has not been the most “sexy” part of the company’s growth story over the past couple of years. However, when this segment, which contributed to about 80% of the company’s total revenue in the most recent quarter, shows weakness, no amount of growth in the company’s other business segments can completely compensate for the loss, at least for now. Particularly worthy of a mention is the company’s venture into the brokerage services sector. While we do like the potential this new business segment represents, rising asset prices in China is making it extremely difficult for the company to make any meaningful acquisitions of quality brokerages/financial service providers at current time, in our opinion. We believe management is facing an inflection point regarding which strategic direction the company should focus on going forward.

Major Risks

Major risks to our rating and price target include intense competition from existing and potential competitors; a potential prolonged Chinese stock market slump; execution risk; and political and regulatory risks related to operating in China.

Notice Regarding Privacy and Confidentiality:

This material has been prepared for informational purposes only. While it is based on information generally available to the public from sources we believe to be reliable, no representation is made that the subject information is accurate or complete. Past performance is not a guarantee nor does it necessarily serve as an indicator of future results. Price and availability are subject to change without notice. Additional information is available upon request.

Since Rodman & Renshaw, LLC is not a tax advisor, transactions requiring tax consideration should be reviewed carefully with your tax advisor. Similarly, Rodman & Renshaw, LLC is not a law firm and provides no legal opinions or legal advice.

Rodman & Renshaw, LLC may make a market in the securities being discussed.

Rodman & Renshaw, LLC and/or its officers or employees may have positions in any of the securities of this (these) issuer(s).

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Analyst Reports

Mon, 28 Mar 2011 04:00:00 GMT

Rodman and Renshaw on JRJC 03/28/2011

Sobering 2011 Guidance after Mixed 4Q10 Results; Lowering PT to $8

Mixed 4Q10 results

China Finance Online (Ticker: JRJC, Market Outperform) reported its 4Q10 financial results that missed our top line estimate but beat our bottom line forecast. Revenue for the quarter was $14.8 million, below our estimate of $15.6 million. Individual subscription fees continued to be the major revenue source, contributing 77% of the quarter’s total revenue. Advertising was the second largest revenue contributor, accounting for 13% of total revenue. Brokerage related services came in third, contributing 6% of total revenue. Institutional subscriptions, which accounted for 4%, rounded up the revenue streams. Gross profit in the quarter was $12.4 million, below our expectation of $13.4 million. Pro forma net income however, was $0.7 million, corresponding to an EPADS of $0.03, beating our respective estimates of $0.4 million and $0.02. Registered user accounts increased 44.3% YoY to 20.2 million as of December 31, 2010, exceeding the company’s year-end target of 20 million. Active paid subscribers were approximately 156,000, up 32.3% YoY. For full year 2010, the company realized a record $59.7 million of revenue, pro forma net income of $6.5 million, and pro forma diluted EPADS of $0.28, all representing significant improvements from their respective figures in 2009.

2011 guidance below expectation

China Finance Online provided its 2011 guidance that is significantly below our previous expectation. The company now expects to generate full year revenue of $58 million and pro forma net income of $3 million. Our previous estimates had the company realizing $61.6 million of revenue and $15.0 million of pro forma net income for 2011.

Adjusting 2011 estimates and introducing 2012 forecasts

In light of the company’s recent quarterly results and management’s 2011 guidance, we believe the less-than-robust Chinese stock market and increasing competition will pose a challenging operating environment for the company in 2011. We are adjusting our 2011 estimates accordingly. We now expect the company will report full year 2011 revenue of $58.9 million, gross profit of $50.3 million, and pro forma net income of $3.6 million, or diluted EPADS of $0.16. We are introducing our 2012 forecasts, in which revenue will reach $63.0 million, gross profit will reach $54.0 million, and pro forma net income will reach $8.9 million, corresponding to EPADS of $0.38.

Maintaining Market Outperform rating but lowering PT to $8

Despite the lowered 2011 expectation, we are maintaining our Market Outperform rating on the shares of China Finance Online. We continue to believe the company’s business is not only viable but also promising. Led by a professional management, the company continues to represent an attractive long term investment opportunity, in our opinion. Furthermore, the stock is currently trading below its $4.99 net cash per share, which we believe represents compelling valuation. In this regard, we recommend buying on share price weakness. We are, however, lowering our price target to $8 from $13 previously based on our lowered expectation. Our new $8 price target is now based on the shares trading at 20x our 2012 pro forma EPADS estimate of $0.38.

Notice Regarding Privacy and Confidentiality:

This material has been prepared for informational purposes only. While it is based on information generally available to the public from sources we believe to be reliable, no representation is made that the subject information is accurate or complete. Past performance is not a guarantee nor does it necessarily serve as an indicator of future results. Price and availability are subject to change without notice. Additional information is available upon request.

Since Rodman & Renshaw, LLC is not a tax advisor, transactions requiring tax consideration should be reviewed carefully with your tax advisor. Similarly, Rodman & Renshaw, LLC is not a law firm and provides no legal opinions or legal advice.

Rodman & Renshaw, LLC may make a market in the securities being discussed.

Rodman & Renshaw, LLC and/or its officers or employees may have positions in any of the securities of this (these) issuer(s).

Member FINRA.
Member SIPC.

Comments & Business Outlook

Fri, 25 Mar 2011 04:00:00 GMT

Fourth Quarter Results:

Net income attributable to China Finance Online was $89,000 for the fourth quarter of 2010, compared with a net loss of $2.7 million in the fourth quarter of 2009;
Excluding stock-based compensation expenses, non-GAAP net income attributable to China Finance Online in the fourth quarter of 2010 was $0.7 million, compared with non-GAAP net loss of $1.1 million in the fourth quarter of 2009.

Mr. Zhiwei Zhao, Chief Executive Officer of China Finance Online, commented, "We are pleased with the Company's performance in 2010 as we sustained our growth momentum as we achieved the highest annual top line in our corporate history. We remained committed to long-term innovation as product development expenses accounted for more than 20% of our annual top line. While we consolidate and steady our individual subscription operations, our institutional subscription, advertising and brokerage service-related businesses provide other sources of growth in challenging market condition. Meanwhile, we continue to make strides in enhancing our operating efficiency through further cost reduction, thus boosting our bottom line and increasing shareholders' value."

Diluted Non-GAAP net earnings per ADS attributable to China Finance Online were $0.03 for the fourth quarter of 2010

The Company expects to generate net revenues of $58 million for fiscal year 2011. Non-GAAP net income, which is defined as net income excluding stock-based compensations, for the 2011 year is anticipated to be $3million.

Analyst Reports

Wed, 01 Dec 2010 05:00:00 GMT

Rodman & Renshaw on JRJC 11/30/2010

3Q10 Results Mostly In-Line

China Finance Online (Ticker: JRJC, Market Outperform) reported its 3Q10 results that were mostly in-line with our expectations. Revenue for the quarter was $14.4 million, more or less in-line with our estimate of $14.6 million. Gross profit was $12.3 million, a touch shy of our estimate of $12.5 million. Pro forma net income, however, was $1.9 million, or $0.08 diluted EPADS, slightly higher than our respective estimates of $1.6 million and $0.07. Registered user accounts reached 18.46 million at the end of September, up 40.7% YoY. Active paid subscribers reached 144,600, up 29.1% YoY. The company also updated its 2010 full year guidance from the previous $56-$62 million of revenue and at least $4 million of pro forma net income to a more upbeat tone of at least $59 million of revenue and at least $6 million of pro forma net income. At the end of 3Q10, the company had $104.2 million of total cash, cash equivalent, and restricted cash.

In our opinion, the past quarter was a period of consolidation for China Finance Online and the financial results offered little surprise. Amid the choppy Chinese stock market over the past several months, the company has been focusing on improving operational efficiency after a period of infrastructural and marketing investments. In the mean time, it continues to keep its eyes open for possible collaborations, joint ventures, or acquisitions, which could serve as the company’s next significant growth driver.

New CSRC Regulations Favorable

In October, China Securities Regulatory Commission (“CSRC”) announced two new provisional regulations governing the securities software and advisory business that will become effective at the beginning of next year. This development did not come as a surprise as we had been anticipating it over the past several months. Overall, we believe the new regulations should be favorable to China Finance Online as they exert greater control over the currently fragmented Chinese securities software and advisory market and effectively favor the “Haves” over the “Have-Nots.” (China Finance Online is certainly one of the biggest “Haves” in this market segment.) In addition, they further blur the line between financial software and securities advisory industries, and in effect encourage the company to further expand into the securities advisory market. In this regard, we continue to believe a full-fledged financial services route represents a viable development option for China Finance Online.

Notice Regarding Privacy and Confidentiality:

This material has been prepared for informational purposes only. While it is based on information generally available to the public from sources we believe to be reliable, no representation is made that the subject information is accurate or complete. Past performance is not a guarantee nor does it necessarily serve as an indicator of future results. Price and availability are subject to change without notice. Additional information is available upon request.

Since Rodman & Renshaw, LLC is not a tax advisor, transactions requiring tax consideration should be reviewed carefully with your tax advisor. Similarly, Rodman & Renshaw, LLC is not a law firm and provides no legal opinions or legal advice.

Rodman & Renshaw, LLC may make a market in the securities being discussed.

Rodman & Renshaw, LLC and/or its officers or employees may have positions in any of the securities of this (these) issuer(s).

Member FINRA.
Member SIPC.

Comments & Business Outlook

Tue, 30 Nov 2010 05:00:00 GMT

Third Quarter Results

Net revenues for the third quarter of 2010 were $14.4 million, compared with $14.6 million for the comparable period in 2009. GAAP income from operations for the third quarter of 2010 was approximately $0.33 million compared with a loss of $1.81 million in the third quarter of 2009. Non-GAAP income from operations, which excluded stock-based compensation expenses, was $0.83 million for the 2010 third quarter, compared with a non-GAAP loss of $0.17 million for the comparable period of 2009.

GAAP net income attributable to China Finance Online for the third quarter of 2010 was $1.35 million compared with a net loss of $1.03 million in the 2009 third quarter. Diluted GAAP net earnings per ADS attributable to China Finance Online were $0.06 for the third quarter of 2010.

Non-GAAP net income attributable to China Finance Online, which excluded the stock-based compensation expenses of $0.5 million, was $1.85 million for the 2010 third quarter, compared with a non-GAAP net income of $0.60 million for the same quarter of 2009. Diluted Non-GAAP net earnings per ADS attributable to China Finance Online were $0.08 for the third quarter of 2010. Total diluted outstanding ADSs were 22,970,713 at the end of September 2010.

Business Outlook

The Company reiterates its expectation to increase the registered user accounts to 20 million by year end 2010, up 43% from 14 million at the year end of 2009, and up 82% from 11 million at the year end of 2008, respectively.

The Company updated its annual guidance for the year 2010 and expects net revenues to exceed $59 million. The Company also updated its guidance of annual non-GAAP net income attributable to China Finance Online, which excluded stock-based compensations, to exceed $6.0 million

Comments & Business Outlook

Fri, 04 Jun 2010 04:00:00 GMT

The Company reiterates its net revenues guidance of an amount ranging from $56 million to $62 million for the 2010 year.

The Company also reiterates its guidance for non-GAAP net income, which is defined as net income attributable to China Finance Online Co., Ltd. excluding stock-based compensation, for the 2010 year in an amount ranging from $2 million to $4 million. The Company intends to achieve positive free cash flow of over $8 million in 2010, excluding potential M&A activities. Free cash flow is defined as net cash flow from operations minus capital expenditure.

"The ripple effects from the on-going financial crisis in Europe and the Chinese government's regulation of the domestic real estate market have caused significant turbulence in the Chinese stock market and negatively affected Chinese investors' confidence. Although we posted a solid performance in the 2010 first quarter, we remain cautiously optimistic about the outlook for 2010. We believe that the need for high-quality financial data is bound to increase in the long run. Our role in providing vital financial information to enable Chinese investors to make more intelligent investment decisions will eventually be recognized and rewarded by the vast investor population in China," Mr. Zhao concluded.

The above forecast reflects the Company's current and preliminary view, which is subject to change. A number of important factors including, but not limited to, fluctuation in the Chinese stock market, could cause the actual results to differ materially from those contained in the above guidance.