(QIHU) research, news, and more from GeoInvesting

Company description

Wed, 25 May 2011 04:00:00 GMT

Qihoo 360 Technology Co. Ltd. is the No. 3 Internet company in China as measured by user base. As of March 2011, the Company had 345 million monthly active Internet users, representing a user penetration rate of 88% in China, according to iResearch. The Company is also the No. 1 provider of Internet and mobile security solutions in China as measured by active user base, according to iResearch. Recognizing security as a fundamental need of Internet and mobile users, Qihoo 360 offers comprehensive high-quality Internet and mobile security solutions free of charge. In addition, the Company also provides users with secure access points to the Internet via its industry leading Safe Browser and Application Desktop. The Company monetizes its massive user base primarily through online advertising on its web assets and through Internet value-added services on its open platforms.

Going Private News

Fri, 15 Jul 2016 04:00:00 GMT

BEIJING, July 15, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Qihoo 360 Technology Co. Ltd. ("Qihoo 360" or the "Company") (NYSE: QIHU), a leading Internet company in China, today announced the completion of the merger pursuant to the previously announced agreement and plan of merger, dated December 18, 2015 (the "Merger Agreement"), by and among the Company, Tianjin Qixin Zhicheng Technology Co., Ltd., Tianjin Qixin Tongda Technology Co., Ltd., True Thrive Limited ("Midco"), New Summit Limited, and solely for purposes of Section 6.19 of the Merger Agreement, Global Village Associates Limited and Young Vision Group Limited. As a result of the merger, the Company became a wholly owned subsidiary of Midco and will cease to be a publicly traded company.

In accordance with the terms of the Merger Agreement, which was approved by the Company's shareholders at an extraordinary general meeting held on March 30, 2016, each of the Company's class A and class B ordinary shares (the "Shares") has been cancelled in exchange for the right to receive $51.33 in cash without interest, and each American Depositary Share ("ADS") of the Company, every two ADSs representing three class A ordinary shares, has been cancelled in exchange for the right to receive $77.00 in cash without interest, except for (a) certain Shares (including Shares represented by ADSs) owned by entities controlled by Mr. Hongyi Zhou, chairman and chief executive officer of the Company, and Mr. Xiangdong Qi, director and president of the Company, and the Company's treasury shares, which have been cancelled with no payment or distribution with respect thereto; and (b) Shares held by shareholders who have validly exercised and not effectively withdrawn or lost their rights to dissent from the merger pursuant to Section 238 of the Companies Law of the Cayman Islands (the "Dissenting Shares"), which have been cancelled in exchange for the right to receive the payment of fair value of the Dissenting Shares in accordance with Section 238 of the Companies Law of the Cayman Islands.

Registered shareholders immediately prior to the effective time of the merger who are entitled to the merger consideration will receive a letter of transmittal and instructions on how to surrender their Shares in exchange for the merger consideration and should wait to receive the letter of transmittal before surrendering their Shares. Payment of the merger consideration will be made to holders of ADSs as soon as practicable after Bank of New York Mellon, the ADS depositary, receives the aggregate merger consideration payable to holders of ADSs from the paying agent.

The Company also announced today that it requested that trading of its ADSs on the New York Stock Exchange (the "NYSE") be suspended as of 4:00 p.m. (New York time) on July 15, 2016. The Company requested that the NYSE file a Form 25 with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the "SEC") notifying the SEC of the delisting of its ADSs on the NYSE and the deregistration of the Company's registered securities. The Company intends to terminate its reporting obligations under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, by promptly filing a Form 15 with the SEC. The Company's obligation to file with the SEC certain reports and forms, including Form 20-F and Form 6-K, will be suspended immediately as of the filing date of the Form 15 and will cease once the deregistration becomes effective.

Going Private News

Tue, 28 Jun 2016 13:03:39 GMT

BEIJING, June 28, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Qihoo 360 Technology Co. Ltd. (the "Company") (QIHU), a leading Internet company in China, today announced its receipt of a further update from the buyer group on its proposed going private transaction. The buyer group has informed the Company that they are continuing to work diligently towards satisfying the remaining conditions precedent under the previously announced merger agreement and currently expect the merger to close before mid-August 2016.

Going Private News

Fri, 13 May 2016 12:50:03 GMT

BEIJING, May 13, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Qihoo 360 Technology Co. Ltd. (the "Company") (QIHU), a leading Internet company in China, today announced its receipt of an update from the buyer group on its proposed going private transaction. The buyer group has informed the Company that the work towards satisfying the conditions precedent under the previously announced merger agreement is progressing as expected.

Comments & Business Outlook

Wed, 30 Mar 2016 12:24:33 GMT

BEIJING, March 30, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Qihoo 360 Technology Co. Ltd. ("Qihoo 360" or the "Company") (QIHU), a leading Internet company in China, today announced that, at an extraordinary general meeting held today, the Company's shareholders voted in favor of the proposal to authorize and approve (i) the previously announced agreement and plan of merger, dated December 18, 2015 (the "Merger Agreement") among the Company, Tianjin Qixin Zhicheng Technology Co., Ltd., Tianjin Qixin Tongda Technology Co., Ltd., True Thrive Limited ("Midco"), New Summit Limited ("Merger Sub"), and solely for purposes of Section 6.19 of the Merger Agreement, Global Village Associates Limited and Young Vision Group Limited, pursuant to which Merger Sub will be merged with and into the Company with the Company continuing as the surviving corporation and becoming a wholly owned subsidiary of Midco (the "Merger"), (ii) the plan of merger required to be filed with the Registrar of Companies of the Cayman Islands, substantially in the form attached as Exhibit A to the Merger Agreement (the "Plan of Merger") and (iii) the transactions contemplated by the Merger Agreement and the Plan of Merger, including the Merger.

Holders of 32,592,419 Class A ordinary shares and 41,818,346 Class B ordinary shares attended the extraordinary general meeting in person or by proxy. These shares represented approximately 41.0% of the Company's total ordinary shares outstanding at the close of business in the Cayman Islands on the record date of March 25, 2016. These shares are entitled to an aggregate of 241,684,149 votes, or 69.3% of the total outstanding votes on the record date. Approximately 99.8% of the total votes cast at today's extraordinary general meeting were in favor of the proposal to authorize and approve the Merger Agreement, the Plan of Merger and the transactions contemplated thereby, including the Merger.

Completion of the Merger is subject to the satisfaction or waiver of the conditions set forth in the Merger Agreement. The Company will work with various other parties to the Merger Agreement towards satisfying all other conditions precedent to the Merger set forth in the Merger Agreement and complete the Merger as quickly as possible. If and when completed, the Merger would result in the Company becoming a private company and its American depositary shares (the "ADSs") would no longer be listed or traded on any stock exchange, including the New York Stock Exchange, and the Company's ADS program would be terminated.

Going Private News

Thu, 03 Mar 2016 13:35:33 GMT

BEIJING, March 3, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Qihoo 360 Technology Co. Ltd. ("Qihoo 360" or the "Company") (QIHU), a leading Internet company in China, today announced that it has called an extraordinary general meeting of shareholders (the "EGM"), to be held on March 30, 2016 at 10:00 a.m. (Beijing time), at 3/F, Building #2, 6 Jiuxianqiao Road, Chaoyang District, Beijing 100015, People's Republic of China, to consider and vote on, among other things, the proposal to authorize and approve the previously announced agreement and plan of merger, dated December 18, 2015 (the "Merger Agreement") among the Company, Tianjin Qixin Zhicheng Technology Co., Ltd., a limited liability company incorporated under the laws of the PRC, Tianjin Qixin Tongda Technology Co., Ltd., a limited liability company incorporated under the laws of the PRC, True Thrive Limited, an exempted company incorporated with limited liability under the laws of the Cayman Islands ("Midco"), New Summit Limited, an exempted company incorporated with limited liability under the laws of the Cayman Islands ("Merger Sub"), and solely for purposes of Section 6.19 of the Merger Agreement, Global Village Associates Limited, a British Virgin Islands company, and Young Vision Group Limited, a British Virgin Islands company, the plan of merger required to be filed with the Registrar of Companies of the Cayman Islands, substantially in the form attached as Exhibit A to the Merger Agreement (the "Plan of Merger") and the transactions contemplated thereby, including the Merger (as defined below).

Pursuant to the Merger Agreement and the Plan of Merger, Merger Sub will be merged with and into the Company and cease to exist, with the Company continuing as the surviving company (the "Merger") and becoming a wholly owned subsidiary of Midco. If consummated, the Merger would result in the Company becoming a private company and its American depositary shares (the "ADSs") would no longer be listed or traded on any stock exchange, including the New York Stock Exchange and the Company's ADS program would be terminated. The Company's board of directors, acting upon the unanimous recommendation of a special committee of the Company's board of directors composed entirely of independent and disinterested directors, recommends that the Company's shareholders and ADS holders vote FOR, among other things, the proposal to approve the Merger Agreement, the Plan of Merger and the transactions contemplated thereby, including the Merger.

Shareholders of record at the close of business in the Cayman Islands on March 25, 2016 will be entitled to attend and vote at the EGM and any adjournment thereof. ADS holders as of the close of business in New York City on March 7, 2016 will be entitled to instruct The Bank of New York Mellon, the ADS depositary, to vote the ordinary shares represented by the ADSs at the EGM.

Joint Venture

Wed, 25 Nov 2015 13:29:12 GMT

BEIJING, Nov. 25, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- Qihoo 360 Technology Co. Ltd. ("Qihoo 360" or the "Company") (NYSE: QIHU), a leading Internet company in China, today announced that its joint venture Oriental Shiny Star Limited ("JVC") has entered into a license agreement with Smilegate Entertainment, Inc. ("SG"), a leading Korean game developer, to publish and operate Cross Fire 2 for a five-year term in mainland China on an exclusive basis.

System Link Corporation Limited is a 50-50 joint venture between Qihoo 360 and The9 Limited (NASDAQ: NCTY), an online game developer and operator, and indirectly owns the majority of equity interest in JVC. JVC will pay SG a US$50 million license fee upon signing of the license agreement, and up to an additional US$450 million during the contract period depending on the progress of the game development and operating results.

Cross Fire 2 is the sequel to Cross Fire, a blockbuster first-person-shooter PC online game in China. Both Cross Fire and Cross Fire 2 are developed by SG. Cross Fire 2 is being developed with a new game engine. In addition to the traditional PVP game mode available in Cross Fire, Cross Fire 2 also provides PVE game mode to enhance gamers' user experience.

Research

Tue, 29 Sep 2015 14:50:20 GMT

QIHU (46.02) - According to Chinese news, Chairman Zhou Hongyi stated that the going-private process is going according to plan and in response to the rumor that QIHU is looking to lower the go-private offer price. The company’s CEO, Qi Xiangdong, said that there is no such plan [to lower the price] and that “our shareholders will not agree to lower the go-private offer price”.

The announced non-binding go-private offer price for QIHU is $77.00 per ADS, which represents a 67.3% premium compared to yesterday’s closing price.

Acquisition Activity

Fri, 18 Sep 2015 14:05:02 GMT

BEIJING, September 18, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- Qihoo 360 Technology Co. Ltd. ("Qihoo 360" or the "Company") (NYSE: QIHU), a leading Internet company in China, today announced that it has reached an agreement with Coolpad Group Limited ("Coolpad") (HKSE: 2369) to adjust their respective shareholding in Coolpad E-Commerce Inc., a joint venture between the Company and Coolpad set up in December 2014 to focus on mobile terminal products that are distributed through Internet as the primary channel.

Under the agreement, the joint venture will redeem a portion of the shares held by Coolpad in consideration of the joint venture transferring back to Coolpad certain Internet operating assets related to "Coolpad" branded smartphones that Coolpad had previously contributed to the joint venture. As a result, Coolpad's equity stake in the joint venture will be reduced to 25% from 50.5%, and the Company's equity stake in the joint venture will be increased to 75% from 49.5%.

The Company and Coolpad also agreed to closely cooperate in intellectual property sharing, supply chain management, product development, and app distribution to further strengthen the joint venture's capabilities in developing, manufacturing, marketing, and distributing smartphones under the "QIKU" and "DAZEN" brands.

In connection with the new agreement reached with Coolpad, the Company has agreed that, upon the closing of the share redemption and full implementation of the new arrangement, the Company will not pursue the put option that it exercised on September 2, 2015 to require Coolpad to purchase the Company's entire 49.5% stake in the joint venture.

"We are pleased to reach this agreement with Coolpad on the joint venture," said Mr. Hongyi Zhou, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Qihoo 360. "It is a win-win solution for both companies, the joint venture and, above all, China's consumers. Since we launched the first QIKU branded smartphone a few weeks ago, we have received encouraging and positive feedback from users and industry participants. We will continue to focus on providing our users the best-in-class products, services, and user experience to reward them for their unyielding support to Qihoo 360 and QIKU."

Mr. Deying Guo, Chairman of Coolpad commented, "This agreement will promote the further development of the joint venture, and it is a win-win solution for Coolpad and Qihoo 360 after the recent communications. The QIKU and DAZEN brands have already gained substantial awareness in the e-commerce channel. We'll do the best to support the joint venture to bring users the best experience of the smartphones in the future. "

The Company cautions its shareholders and others considering trading in the Company's securities that the abovementioned share redemption and full implementation of the new arrangement are subject to the approval by Coolpad's shareholders meeting. The Company cannot give any assurance of the outcome of such shareholders meeting.

Acquisition Activity

Tue, 08 Sep 2015 13:14:27 GMT

BEIJING, September 8, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- Qihoo 360 Technology Co. Ltd. ("Qihoo 360" or the "Company") (NYSE: QIHU), a leading Internet company in China, today announced that it has issued a notice to Coolpad Group Limited ("Coolpad") (HKSE: 2369) to exercise its put option to require Coolpad to purchase the Company's entire 49.5% stake in Coolpad E-Commerce Inc., a joint venture between the Company and Coolpad set up in December 2014 to focus on mobile terminal products that are distributed through Internet as the primary channel, in accordance with the shareholders agreement relating to the joint venture.

Under the shareholders agreement, the Company has a put option to sell its entire stake in the joint venture to Coolpad at a total price equal to twice its fair market value, exercisable if Coolpad breaches its non-compete obligations under the shareholders agreement. The Company issued the notice to Coolpad to exercise this put option based on a series of breaches by Coolpad of its relevant non-compete obligations.

In the notice, the Company has proposed a fair market value of US$742.5 million for the 49.5% stake, based on a US$1.5 billion valuation of the entire share capital of the joint venture. Accordingly, the purchase price payable by Coolpad would be US$1.485 billion.

The Company cautions its shareholders and others considering trading in the Company's securities that it cannot give any assurance that the transfer of the Company's 49.5% stake would close on the terms outlined above or that Coolpad would not dispute, in legal proceedings or otherwise, the Company's right to exercise the put option of the 49.5% stake.

Comments & Business Outlook

Wed, 02 Sep 2015 04:37:08 GMT

Second Quarter 2015 Financial Results

Revenues were $438.3 million, a 37.9% increase from $317.9 million in the second quarter of 2014.
Diluted earnings per ADS[2] ("EPADS") attributable to Qihoo 360 was $0.62, compared to $0.30 in the same period last year.
Non-GAAP diluted EPADS attributable to Qihoo 360[1] was $0.82, compared to $0.50 in the same period last year.

"We are pleased to report another quarter of solid growth," said Mr. Hongyi Zhou, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Qihoo 360. "As we continued to maintain our leadership position in key product categories, we took initiatives to further expand our footprint into some important mobile-Internet-related fields, such as smart hardware and smart phones. During the quarter we launched 360 Auto Guard (automobile data recorder) and a new generation of 360 Kids Guard. These products were well received by users. We believe that smart hardware and IOT (Internet of Things) devices present emerging opportunities to form deeper relationships with the massive number of mobile end users in the future.

"Last week, we launched three smartphone models under the QIKU brand and started to take pre-orders onSeptember 1, 2015. The launch represents an important milestone for us in our efforts to establish QIKU as one of the leading and most innovative smartphone brands in China. The new models are designed and built very well, and we received encouraging positive feedback from users and industry participants. The embedded security features of our smartphones and smart hardware enable us to expand our services and brand influence from online to offline and from virtual to real settings. We view smartphones and smart hardware as critical components of our long-term mobile strategy," concluded Mr. Zhou.

Mr. Xiangdong Qi, President of Qihoo 360, added, "We are heartened to see continued solid growth in our business. Online advertising grew 71.6% year-over-year, supported by strong contributions from search monetization. Internet value added services performed largely in line with expectations, despite continued suspension of online lottery operations. We made further progress in our enterprise security operations and continued to gain traction among potential institutional clients. We will continue to make investments over the next few quarters to strengthen our brand and market position, and to improve our product and technology, particularly in new product and service initiatives. We believe such investments will provide a solid foundation for our future growth."

Research

Fri, 28 Aug 2015 16:46:32 GMT

QIHU ($51.29) - The Wall Street Journal is reporting that:

“The investor group offering to buy out Qihoo 360 Technology Co. is considering cutting its $9 billion bid after China’s stock-market rout lowered valuations, a person with knowledge of the matter said.”

The CEO of the company, Hongyi Zhou, replied to this news using his Weibo (the equivalent of a China-based Twitter app) account, which translated and paraphrased, said:

“Now the made-up statement doesn’t need much effort to make, [and] using person who know the affair as a cover-up, so WSJ, could you please tell us who this person is.”

QIHU received a preliminary non-binding go-private proposal of $77.00 per ADS on June 17, 2015.

Comments & Business Outlook

Wed, 26 Aug 2015 13:48:07 GMT

BEIJING, Aug. 26, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- Qiku, a joint venture between Qihoo 360 and Coolpad, today announced its entry into the Asian smartphone market, with three new cutting-edge Android phones that come with features not found on any other phone on the market. The Qiku phones will start shipping in China in September, India in October and Indonesia later this year. Distribution to additional countries, including Brazil, Russia and Turkey, will follow.

Qiku is a Beijing-based joint venture between Qihoo 360, a leading China-based Internet company, and Coolpad, a China-based producer of smart phones and other electronic products. Announced earlier this year, Qiku is owned 49.5% by Qihoo and 50.5% by Coolpad.

The new smartphone line includes high-end (Q Terra) and entry-level (Q Luna) models for all markets, and a China-only mid-range version. Without compromising on the high-end performance smartphone users demand, the Qiku phones provide consumers with unprecedented safety and security features other phones can't match.

"At present, all Android mobile users in China face daily fraudulent telemarketing calls, phishing attacks and shopping on insecure ecommerce websites," said Qihoo 360 CEO Zhou Hongyi. "With Qiku's new range of smartphones, we mitigate those risks, providing free insurance covering up to 120,000 RMB (approximately $18,700) of coverage to protect our users. Even Apple iOS security, while well done, lacks this capability to protect people from the growing threat of mobile fraud."

Among other features, the Qiku phones include:

Secure payments feature uses a dedicated VPN for payment applications
Unique kill switch function allows consumers to remotely disable lost phones - even without internet access or when a different SIM card is used on a stolen phone
Ability to hide confidential documents on smartphone from prying eyes and rogue third party applications using a unique personal code
Ability to simply use two WeChat instant messenger accounts on one smartphone
Dedicated team of 2,500 security engineers working 24/7 to deal with mobile phishing, viruses, malware and APT attacks in real-time
Ability to uninstall all pre-installed applications on the smartphone

"Qiku is offering consumers high-quality smartphones at affordable prices with many security features," said Qiku Chief Business Officer Patrick Pan. "Our goal is to be one of the top three smartphone and smart device makers in China. Our proven business model and security DNA has previously demonstrated that we cause major disruption for existing competitors in the markets we enter."

All three phones use the 360 OS operating system, a variation of Android 5.1 Lollipop with added security features. Other noteworthy features of the Qiku phones include large screens; high-end processors; unusually long battery life; a unique dual 13-megapixel camera system on the high-end and mid-range models, allowing for high quality photography even in low light situations; and a back-side fingerprint scanner.

Qiku Phone Specifications

Screen size:
- High-end and mid-range phones: 6 inches
- Entry-level phone: 5.5 inches
Screen resolution:
- High-end phone: 2K
- Mid-range and entry-level: 1080p
Physical dimensions:
- High-end and mid-range: 157.6�79.8�8.6mm
- Entry-level: 150.2�75.7�9mm
Weight:
- High-end and mid-range: 185g
- Entry-level: 170g
Colors:
- The phones are available in both silver and gold; the case is made with magnalium.
Processors:
- High-end: Qualcomm Snapdragon 810
- Mid-range: Qualcomm Snapdragon 808
- Entry-level: MediaTek MT6753
Memory:
- High-end: 4 GB RAM, 64 GB ROM
- Mid-range: 3 GB RAM, 16 GB ROM
- Entry-level: 2 GB RAM, 16 GB ROM
MicroSD cards:
- For all 3 models, memory can be expanded via MicroSD cards up to 128GB.
Operating system:
- All models use the 360 OS, which is Android-based.
- The phone supports the full range of Android apps.
- The phone includes access to the Qiku app store, but users can access any Android app store.
- The 360 OS includes unique security features building on Qihoo's long-history in the desktop and mobile security market.
- The Qiku phone is China's first anti-fraud, anti-harassment, anti-theft smartphone. Qiku smartphone users get free insurance of RMB 120,000 ($19,354) per year to cover instances of fraud, theft or robbery.
Battery:
- High-end and mid-range: 3700mAh battery. Max battery life 37 hours for voice calls; 14 hours for video.
- Entry-level: 3000mh battery; 24 hours for voice calls.
Fingerprint scanner:
- All three models support fingerprint scanning for security. Unlike the iPhone, the Qiku phones' fingerprint sensor is on the back of the phone.
Cameras:
- High-end and mid-range: Dual 13-megapixel back cameras, allowing for high quality images in low light situations. 8 megapixel front camera.
- Entry-level: Single 13-megapixel back camera; 8 megapixel front camera.
Distribution:
- The phone will launch in China, with distribution in India and Indonesia to follow.
- Qiku is negotiating with all major carriers in China for distribution of the phone; Qiku expects to sell the phone directly to consumers online.

Research

Tue, 09 Jun 2015 04:00:00 GMT

QIHU Enters Medical E-Commerce Sector

According to a report in the Chinese media, QIHU is entering into the medical e-commerce sector by forming a joint company with a subsidiary of China National Pharmaceutical Group Corporation (Sinopharm). As noted in the linked article, Sinopharm is China’s largest Chinese medical and healthcare group. It offers more than 30,000 medicines and health products, including prescription and non-prescription drugs, personal healthcare products and medical products.

The two parties have come together in order to try and establish the safest online medicine sales platform that can offer the most comprehensive selection of drugs. Sinopharm will provide as much of its resources and infrastructure as it can to the new joint company, which should help fully support its development. In addition, QIHU will assist the construction of the e-commerce transaction platform, ensuring the safety of transactions and offering support for product searches, cloud computing, big data and mobile application development.

We believe that the medical e-commerce sector has big market potential and investors may believe it’s a good strategy for QIHU to enter into this sector in the long run. However, no detailed cooperation agreement terms have been disclosed at this point.

The GeoTeam will keep following the story.

Acquisition Activity

Tue, 26 May 2015 04:00:00 GMT

BEIJING, May 26, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- Qihoo 360 Technology Co. Ltd. ("Qihoo 360" or the "Company") (QIHU), a leading Internet company in China, today announced it has entered into an agreement with Coolpad Group Limited ("Coolpad") (2369.HK) to increase its ownership stake in the COOLPAD E-COMMERCE INC., the joint venture (the "JV") established by the Company and Coolpad in April 2015, to 49.5% by purchasing 4.5% shares in the JV from Cooldpad in the total consideration of $45 million

Mr. Hongyi Zhou, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Qihoo 360, commented, "We are very excited to increase our ownership position in the Coolpad JV which underscores our increased confidence in the future of this JV. The two parties have worked closely together since earlier this year and we are pleased with the progress we have made. We believe the Coolpad JV is a key element to our long term mobile strategy and will help us build a stronger mobile ecosystem in the future ".

Joint Venture

Thu, 21 May 2015 04:00:00 GMT

BEIJING, May 21, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- Qihoo 360, China's leading Internet security software provider, and Huayuan Group, one of China's leading real-estate developers, have formed a strategic partnership to promote the adoption of smart home and security technologies in China's real-estate market.

Under the agreement, Qihoo 360 will design and provide intelligent home security products and management systems for Huayuan's real-estate developments. These will include intelligent surveillance cameras, security routers, location- and health-tracking wearables, electrical appliance safety alarms, intelligent gas and fire alarms, and other devices to help Huayuan improve and optimize existing security systems and establish new intelligent home security management systems.

"Qihoo 360's flagship products have historically been focused on protecting PCs and cell phones," said Hongyi Zhou, Qihoo 360 CEO. "Through this partnership with Huayuan, Qihoo 360 is not only able to offer useful tools, but a sense of security, which paired with our software can connect every user, every family and office together. This partnership is just the beginning for Qihoo 360 in the smart home technologies and IoT market."

"We are very pleased to partner with Qihoo 360 on the development of smart home technologies," said Zhiqiang Ren, former CEO and the landmark leader of Huayuan. "Although we have cooperated with other Internet companies in the past, Qihoo 360 possesses unique qualities that others do not - the two most important being security and safety. Development of intelligent technologies requires highly secure and reliable technical expertise."

"We are committed to working closely with Qihoo 360 to roll out smart home technologies to many more developments, creating new intelligent real estate communities across China," added Yuyan Sun, Chairman and CEO of Huayuan Group.

First cross-industry strategic partnership between real estate and Internet industries

Qihoo 360 and Huayuan are the first companies to respond to the push by China's central government for the Internet sector to partner with traditional industries under the "Internet Plus" strategy.

Together, the two companies will develop China's first true intelligent community. The partnership will first be implemented at a development in Changsha, the capital of Hunan Province in south-central China, followed by expansion into Beijing, Shanghai and eventually all of Huayuan's developments nationally. The first intelligent community is expected to be completed by year-end.

"The future is all about interconnectedness, with a vast ecosystem of connected intelligent instruments, providing more secure and convenient services," said Qihoo 360 Chairman and CEO Hongyi Zhou. "The goal of our partnership with Huayuan is to use the Internet to develop more intelligent hardware that will create safe and convenient smart communities for future generations. No matter the distance, smartphones can be used to control every appliance in the home, protecting families and their properties."

Establishing a new benchmark for an intelligent community

Qihoo 360 and Huayuan will cooperate on a wide front, developing intelligent hardware, mobile apps and cloud services, to bring the intelligent home to consumers. The partnership is a logical extension of Qihoo 360's broad strategic move over the last two years into intelligent security hardware and services.

With Qihoo 360 mobile WiFi, consumers can access the Internet by simply plugging in a dongle, without the need for WiFi set up.
Qihoo 360's Kids Guard smart watch enables parents to locate and interact with their children at any time.
The Qihoo 360 smart surveillance camera allows users to see and interact with the elderly and children at any time.
Qihoo 360's secure router offers expansive WiFi coverage while protecting home networks.

Qihoo 360 also offers intelligent driving records to ensure safety on the roads, air quality testers and voice-activated speakers, among other smart products.

Qihoo 360's intelligent hardware strategy: Quality, Security, Openness, Connectedness

When discussing Qihoo 360's intelligent hardware development strategy, Mr. Zhou lists four key concepts: Quality, Security, Openness, and Connectedness.

Quality: Qihoo 360 partners with traditional industry players to develop high quality intelligent hardware products. Combined with Qihoo 360's deep expertise in software, the company can guarantee that every Qihoo intelligent product is a quality product.
Security: Security is at the core of Qihoo 360's smart technologies. As China's largest Internet security company, Qihoo 360 has deep experience and technological expertise in protecting user data.
Openness: Qihoo 360 cooperates with both start-ups and more established companies on product development and investments to ensure the healthy development of the entire industry food chain.
Connectedness: Qihoo 360 provides its partners with wireless technology, leveraging expertise in cloud services to offer individualized services to end users.

At the press conference held today in China to announce the partnership, Mr. Zhou and Mr. Ren, along with other industry executives, also announced the creation of an intelligent hardware investment fund. This fund aims to support emerging intelligent hardware start-ups, accelerating their pace of development, and ultimately expediting the development of China's intelligent hardware chain.

In recent years, Qihoo 360 has invested in dozens of intelligent hardware manufacturers - and the company is open to more partners in the future. Qihoo 360 will adopt an open and cooperative approach and offer partners access to its brand, capabilities, capital and other resources.

Comments & Business Outlook

Wed, 20 May 2015 04:00:00 GMT

First Quarter 2015 Financial Results

Revenues were $384.4 million, a 45% increase from $265.1 million in the first quarter of 2014.
Non-GAAP diluted EPADS attributable to Qihoo 360[1] was $0.57, compared to $0.54 in the same period last year.

"We are pleased to report another quarter of solid growth and operating metrics," said Mr. Hongyi Zhou, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Qihoo 360. "While we maintained our leadership position in key PC-related product categories, we continued to make progress in mobile Internet. The number of Chinese smartphone users of our key mobile security product, 360 Mobile Safe, reached 778 million in the first quarter, making Qihoo 360 the indisputable leader in mobile Internet security in China. In addition, our Android-based app store, 360 Mobile Assistant, continued to maintain its leadership position in Android app distribution in China."

"During the first quarter, we launched our independent search brand, 'HaoSou,' and we have since observed encouraging user recognition and interaction with the new brand and our search services. Through continued product improvement and innovation, we aim to further grow our share of China's PC and mobile search market in terms of both traffic and revenue. We recently closed our joint venture transaction with Coolpad, and we expect the joint venture to launch a series of new smartphone models under the 'QiKoo' brand in the coming months. We view smartphones and smart hardware as critical components of our long-term mobile strategy," concluded Mr. Zhou.

Mr. Xiangdong Qi, President of Qihoo 360, added, "We are glad to see continued solid growth in our business. Online advertising grew 75.1% year-over-year, supported by strong contributions from both search and mobile monetization. We are particularly encouraged by the progress in search monetization and expect the upward momentum to continue in the coming quarters. We have made significant investments over the last few quarters to strengthen our brand and market position, and to improve our product and technology, particularly in mobile Internet-related areas. We believe such investments will build a solid foundation for our future growth and we have already seen exciting progress in areas such as enterprise security, smart hardware, and international expansions."

Business Outlook

For the second quarter of 2015, the Company expects revenues to be between $435 million and $445 million, representing a year-over-year increase of 37% to 40% and quarter-over-quarter increase of 13% to 16%. These estimates reflect the Company's current and preliminary view, which is subject to possible material changes.

Joint Venture

Thu, 23 Apr 2015 04:00:00 GMT

BEIJING, April 23, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- Qihoo 360 Technology Co. Ltd. ("Qihoo 360" or the "Company") (NYSE: QIHU), a leading Internet company in China, today announced that it has successfully closed the joint venture ("JV") transaction with Coolpad Group Limited ("Coolpad") (HKSE: 2369), a leading smartphone company in China. Per the terms of the transaction, which was announced on December 16, 2014, the Company invested $409.05 million in cash for a 45% stake in a joint venture with Coolpad.

Mr. Hongyi Zhou, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Qihoo 360, said, "We are delighted to successfully close the transaction with Coolpad as planned. We believe that the JV with Coolpad is a key element of our long term mobile strategy and will help us build a stronger mobile ecosystem in the future."

Comments & Business Outlook

Tue, 21 Apr 2015 04:00:00 GMT

SAN FRANCISCO, April 22, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- Qihoo 360 (NYSE: QIHU), a leading Internet company is presenting its product line-up at the RSA Conference 2015, held this week in San Francisco. The company's exhibition will showcase and introduce its technology and flagship products for PC and mobile.

The RSA Conference has been a major event for the security industry in the past decades. Qihoo 360, as an active player in security, has made numerous significant contributions to the industry.

Since 2009, Qihoo has received 68 official acknowledgments from Microsoft for its discovery and assistance in repairing Windows vulnerabilities. In 2014, Qihoo was acknowledged by Tesla, as the first security vendor to identify security flaws in its vehicle management software.

During WinHEC 2015, Microsoft and Qihoo announced a collaboration program for the distribution of Windows 10 in China, where the company acquired 96.1% of the Internet market with its flagship product -- 360 Total Security.

In 2014, Qihoo increased its efforts to develop its global presence by offering the international version of this flagship product. 360 Total Security is now available in 10 languages, and is being showcased at the company's exhibition booth at the RSA Conference.

Comments & Business Outlook

Mon, 13 Apr 2015 04:00:00 GMT

BEIJING, April 11, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- On January 21^st, 2015 China State Intellectual Property Office website (http://www.sipo.gov.cn/) published relevant patent information. According to that, in the middle of last year, Yulong Coolpad Company applied a patent involving frameless mobile phones. Using this new type of Smartphone can make "frameless screens" come true. And it is told by the insiders that this patent will be applied in a new type of Smartphone which is being launched corporately by both Qihu 360 (NYSE: QIHU) and Yulong Coolpad. This means the Smartphone launched by those two companies will be equipped with a frameless screen visual effect.

According to the patent literature, this patented technology can render the visual effect of a Smartphone's screen to be frameless through a manufacturing process while displaying a frameless visual effect to users. Smartphones adopting this patent will possess larger screen proportion than present narrow-frame Smartphones launched by some Smartphone manufacturers. So this way, this can bring users better user experience.

An unnamed phone engineer introduced a recent Smartphone that cannot fully realize a "frameless" screen. Current phone manufacturers can just innovate technologically on the basis of narrow frames. Taking Huawei P8 that will be launched in mid-April and LETV mobile phone as examples. These two phones both adopt narrow-frame designs where users still can see the black frames of the mobile phone screen. However, if the new Smartphone launched by Qihu 360 (NYSE:QIHU) utilizes that patent, then this new type of smartphone can completely realize "frameless screens" for the user's visual experience.

As far as we know, the "frameless screen" has become the key of new arm race among Smartphone manufacturers. Besides Qihu 360 (NYSE:QIHU), Sharp and other mainstream phone manufacturers all invest massive research and development power on the "frameless screen" in hope that it is a main selling point in the future.

Last December, Qihu 360 (NYSE:QIHU) and Yulong Coolpad announced that they would establish a joint venture company to move into the Smartphone industry. At present, these two companies corporately launching a new Smartphone is still on the way. The specific configuration and launch time is unknown. But according to Zhou Hongyi, Chairman of the Qihu 360 board of directors, who has publicly disclosed information: 360 new Smartphone will be equipped with the hardware configuration of the intelligent mobile phone products.

Joint Venture

Wed, 25 Mar 2015 04:00:00 GMT

BEIJING, March 25, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- Xueda Education Group (NYSE: XUE) ("Xueda" or the "Company"), a leading national provider of personalized tutoring services for primary and secondary school students in China, today announced updates pertaining to its Joint-Venture Agreement (the "Agreement") with Qihoo 360 Technology Co. Ltd. (NYSE: QIHU) ("Qihoo 360").

The Agreement formed a joint-venture company, Sunshine Rabbit (Beijing) Technology Co., Ltd., in Beijing, on February 26, 2015, with registered capital of less than $5 million for the principal business purpose of pursuing online education opportunities. Xueda's CEO and co-founder, Mr. Xin Jin, serves as Chairman of the Board for the joint venture. Mr. Junyi Li, a senior executive at Xueda, serves as CEO of the joint venture. Qihoo 360's co-founder and president, Mr. Xiangdong Qi, and senior vice president, Mr. Guangdong Yu, serve, together with others, as Directors of the joint venture.

Mr. Jin stated, "I am delighted for Xueda to be working closely with Qihoo 360, one of the largest Internet companies in China, as we explore ways to create a personalized mobile learning platform to serve students. Combining eXueda's in-depth curriculum and instructional framework with Qihoo 360's massive user base and advanced interactive technology offers natural synergies for both parties. As Xueda continues to transform into a technology-based, personalized tutoring organization, I look forward to seeing this joint venture develop and contribute to our effort."

Comments & Business Outlook

Tue, 10 Mar 2015 04:00:00 GMT

Fourth Quarter 2014 Financial Results

Revenues were $431.2 million, a 94.6% increase from $221.6 million in the fourth quarter of 2013.
Non-GAAP diluted EPADS attributable to Qihoo 360[1] was $0.75, compared to $0.70 in the fourth quarter of 2013.

"We are pleased to report our sixteenth consecutive quarter of robust growth as a public company and deliver another full year of solid progress in operations," said Mr. Hongyi Zhou, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Qihoo 360. "As we continued to maintain our leadership position in key product categories, such as PC security, PC browser, mobile security and mobile app store, we made significant progress with new product initiatives, particularly those related to mobile Internet. We exceeded our year-end PC search traffic share target and further established our search service as a strong alternative to the market leader. Our mobile search continued to gain traction with innovative product features and new branding initiatives. We are well-positioned to capture additional market share in China's massive PC and mobile search market. In December 2014 we formed a strategic partnership with Coolpad to enter the strategically important smartphone market. We firmly believe that the combination of software and hardware ecosystems will play a critical role in the future of Chinese mobile Internet. Although still in its nascent stage, our endeavor in selective IOT (Internet of Things) categories also achieved a solid start. 360 Kids Guard, 360 Family Guard, and 360 Secure Router were all well received by the market."

"While we made significant progress financially and operationally, there are still areas need to improve. We are determined to address these issues directly and proactively. Over the past few months we have realigned our product development efforts, streamlined our monetization operations, and adjusted our organizational structure. We believe these efforts will significantly improve our operational efficiency, accelerate product development cycles, and optimize monetization potential. We are very confident that we will achieve our full year operational goals in 2015," concluded Mr. Zhou.

Mr. Xiangdong Qi, President of Qihoo 360, added "We are happy to surpass our internal revenue and profitability targets for both the fourth quarter and the full year. We continue to see robust growth in key areas of our business. Online advertising grew 81% in 2014, supported by continued strong ramp-up in search monetization. Internet value-added services once again outpaced the market with revenue growth of 142% in 2014, with strong ramp-up in mobile games being the main driver. Both search and mobile app store businesses more than tripled and have ramped up faster than expected. They will continue to be key drivers of our growth for the foreseeable future.

"While we have achieved robust revenue growth every year since our public listing, we realize there are still many unturned stones and underutilized capacities in our ecosystem. We are streamlining our monetization system into a fully integrated structure that seamlessly covers PC and mobile, and web and apps. We believe these efforts should drive accelerated revenue growth down the road. Meanwhile, we will continue to make proactive investments in product and technology development in order to strengthen our leadership position and expand our footprint, particularly in mobile Internet and search technology where we see tremendous opportunities for future expansion. We believe these investments will further strengthen our foundation, support sustainable growth and drive long-term shareholder value."

Business Outlook

For the first quarter of 2015, the Company expects revenues to be between $375 million and $380 million, representing a year-over-year increase of 41% to 43% and quarter-over-quarter decline of 12% to 13%. These estimates reflect the Company's current view on its recent operational results, estimated performance of its products and services and general market conditions, which may fluctuate and are subject to possible material changes.

Notable Share Transactions

Tue, 10 Mar 2015 04:00:00 GMT

Share Repurchase Programs

On February 27, 2015, the Company announced that it had completed a $200 million share repurchase program at an average price of $58.98 per ADS. The program was authorized by its Board of Directors on October 1, 2014.

On March 9, 2015, the Company's Board of Directors authorized the repurchase of up to additional US$200 million of the Company's American Depositary Shares. The share repurchases are currently expected to be made through open market purchases or privately negotiated transactions as market conditions warrant, at prices the Company deems appropriate, and in accordance with the Securities and Exchange Commission requirements. The share repurchases will be funded with the Company's existing cash reserves and ongoing cash flow.

Notable Share Transactions

Fri, 27 Feb 2015 05:00:00 GMT

BEIJING, February 27, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- Qihoo 360 Technology Co. Ltd. ("Qihoo 360" or the "Company") (NYSE: QIHU), a leading Internet company in China, today announces that it has completed the US$200 million share repurchase program. The Company has bought back approximately 3.4 million of its American Depositary Shares with an average cost of $58.98 in open market. The repurchase was announced by the Company on October 1, 2014 once authorized by its Board of Directors.

Mr. Hongyi Zhou, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Qihoo 360, commented, "The share repurchases reflect our unwavering confidence in our business and are in the best interest of our shareholders. As we continue to generate healthy cash flow from operations to help us fund our ongoing business expansion, we will also regularly review our capital structure to achieve effective usage of our cash in the future."

Joint Venture

Tue, 16 Dec 2014 05:00:00 GMT

BEIJING, December 16, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- Qihoo 360 Technology Co. Ltd. ("Qihoo 360" or the "Company") (NYSE: QIHU), a leading Internet company in China, today announced it has formed a strategic partnership with Coolpad Group Limited ("Coolpad") (HKSE: 2369), a leading smartphone company in China, through investing $409.05 million in cash to take a 45% stake in a joint venture with Coolpad (the "JV").

The JV will primarily focus on mobile terminal products that are distributed through Internet as the primary channel, through building a strong mobile ecosystem involving designing, manufacturing, marketing and selling best in class smartphones and other mobile Internet devices with innovative user experiences in China. The JV will leverage on Coolpad's extensive experience in smartphone design, manufacturing, supply chain management, and aftermarket services, while benefiting from Qihoo 360's strong capability in mobile app development and online marketing. The JV will market smartphones under "Dazen" brand, which is already one of the leading e-commerce smartphone brands in China.

Through the partnership, Qihoo 360 will also become the default provider of key mobile services on full portfolio of Coolpad's smartphones, including mobile security, mobile app store and mobile search, etc. Coolpad is one of the leading smartphone makers in China. According to third party data, Coolpad is also the largest 4G smartphone provider in China in terms of accumulative unit shipment as of October 2014.

Commenting on the partnership, Mr. Hongyi Zhou, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Qihoo 360, said, "We are very excited to form the partnership with Coolpad. Combining Coolpad's extensive experience in smartphone industry with Qihoo 360 strong presence in mobile Internet, the partnership will build one of the leading mobile Internet ecosystems in China, which offers users smooth integration of hardware, software and applications. This is one of the key initiatives we are taking to strengthen our position in Chinese mobile Internet and further establish ourselves as a leading mobile Internet platform in China."

Mr. Deying Guo, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Coolpad, said, "The partnership with Qihoo 360 will be an important step for Coolpad to construct a strong mobile Internet ecosystem. Qihoo 360 is the leading provider of the mobile security and other mobile Internet services in China with massive user base. By combining each other's strength, we will enable individual users to enjoy better and fully integrated mobile Internet experience."

Comments & Business Outlook

Tue, 25 Nov 2014 05:00:00 GMT

Third Quarter 2014 Financial Results

Revenues were $376.4 million, a 100.3% increase from $187.9 million in the third quarter of 2013.
Non-GAAP diluted EPADS attributable to Qihoo 360[1] was $0.63, compared to $0.47 in the same period last year.

"We are pleased to deliver another quarter of strong growth and solid operational metrics," said Mr. Hongyi Zhou, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Qihoo 360. "Not only did we maintain our leadership position in key PC-related product categories during the quarter, but we continued to make a significant transition to the important mobile Internet market. The number of Chinese smartphone users of our key mobile security product, 360 Mobile Safe, reached 673 million in the third quarter, further strengthening our leading position in Internet security in China. In addition, our Android-based app store, 360 Mobile Assistant, continues to lead the market with the largest Android app distribution market share despite intense competition. Our goal is to maintain our leadership position in this market in the future."

"As we take 30% of PC search traffic share and continue to gain more, we have started to allocate significantly more resources to support product development for and market penetration of our mobile search. We already made noticeable progress in this area in the third quarter and are confident that we can achieve our near-term and long-term targets in mobile search. Strategically, we are proactively strengthening our mobile platform and our position in the Chinese mobile Internet ecosystem through both internal development and external strategic partnerships.

Mr. Xiangdong Qi, President of Qihoo 360, added, "We are excited to see continued robust growth in key areas of our business. Online advertising grew 67% year-over-year, supported by strong contributions from both search and mobile monetization and deepening monetization of our user traffic. Internet value-added services continue to show strong momentum with revenue growth of 158%, driven by strength in both PC and mobile games. Since we began monetizing our search and mobile products at the beginning of 2013 we have made significant progress, and are encouraged by the results. While search and mobile monetization are still in their early stages, we believe they represent a substantial long-term growth opportunity for our company. At the end of the third quarter, we launched a few advertising platforms that are designed to help us better monetize our display and search advertising inventories, as well as target the increasing demand in mobile O2O market. We have received very encouraging responses to these new platforms from our customers. We will continue to make significant investments in the coming quarters to strengthen our brand and market position, and to improve our products and technology, particularly in mobile Internet-related areas."

Business Outlook

For the fourth quarter of 2014, the Company expects revenues to be between $410 million and $415 million, representing a year-over-year increase of 85% to 87% and quarter-over-quarter increase of 9% to 10%. These estimates reflect the Company's current and preliminary view, which is subject to possible material changes.

Notable Share Transactions

Thu, 02 Oct 2014 04:00:00 GMT

BEIJING, October 2, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- Qihoo 360 Technology Co. Ltd. ("Qihoo 360" or the "Company") (NYSE: QIHU), a leading Internet company in China, today announced that its Board of Directors has authorized the repurchase of up to US$200 million of the Company's American Depositary Shares. The share repurchases are currently expected to be made through open market purchases or privately negotiated transactions as market conditions warrant, at prices the Company deems appropriate, and in accordance with the Securities and Exchange Commission requirements. The share repurchases will be funded with the Company's existing cash reserves and ongoing cash flow. The Company had approximately US$787 million of cash and cash equivalents on its balance sheet as of June 30, 2014. The company also raised approximately $1 billion through a convertible bond offering in August 2014.

Mr. Hongyi Zhou, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Qihoo 360, commented, "We believe share repurchases are in the best interest of our shareholders and represents an effective use of our cash. We expect to continue to generate cash from operations that will help us fund our ongoing business expansion. We remain confident in our current business strategy and our near and long-term growth prospects.

Comments & Business Outlook

Mon, 25 Aug 2014 04:00:00 GMT

Second Quarter 2014 Unaudited Financial Results

Revenues were $317.9 million, a 109.6% increase from $151.7 million in the second quarter of 2013.
Diluted earnings per ADS⁽²⁾ ("EPADS") attributable to Qihoo 360 was $0.30, compared to $0.26 in the same period last year.
Non-GAAP diluted EPADS attributable to Qihoo 360 ⁽¹⁾ was $0.50, compared to $0.40 in the same period last year.

"We delivered another quarter of strong growth and solid operational metrics," said Mr. Hongyi Zhou, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Qihoo 360. "As we maintain our leadership position in key PC-related product categories, we are making a significant transition to the ever more-important mobile Internet market. The number of Chinese smartphone users of our key mobile security product, 360 Mobile Safe, reached 641 million in the second quarter, further strengthening our indisputable leadership position in Internet security in China. In addition, our Android-based app store, 360 Mobile Assistant, continues to lead the market with the largest Android app distribution market share. We intend to continue to invest significant resources in the fast-growing mobile Internet market for the foreseeable future."

"A few days ago, our share of Internet search traffic reached over 30% according to third-party data, achieving our year-end target four months ahead of schedule. As we continue to claim higher market share in PC search, we intend to allocate significantly more resources to support product development and market penetration of our mobile search. Through continued product improvement and technological innovation, we believe we are in an excellent position to further grow our share of China's search market in both PC and mobile traffic and revenue.

Mr. Xiangdong Qi, President of Qihoo 360, added, "We are excited to see robust growth in key areas of our business. Online advertising grew 89% year-over-year, supported by strong contributions from both search and mobile monetization and deepening monetization of our user traffic. Internet value-added services continue to show strong momentum with revenue growth of 140%, driven by strength in PC games and a continued ramp-up in mobile games. Since we began monetizing our search and mobile products at the beginning of 2013 we have made significant progress, and are encouraged by the results. While search and mobile monetization are still in their early stages, we believe they represent a substantial long-term growth opportunity for our company. We will continue to make significant investments in the coming quarters to strengthen our brand and market position, and to improve our products and technology, particularly in mobile Internet-related areas. At the same time, we also intend to strengthen and expand our ecosystem through strategic partnerships and investments in the rapidly evolving industry landscape."

Business Outlook

For the third quarter of 2014, the Company expects revenues to be between $360 million and $365 million, representing a year-over-year increase of 92% to 94% and quarter-over-quarter increase of 13% to 15%. These estimates reflect the Company's current and preliminary view, which is subject to possible material changes.

Deal Flow

Fri, 15 Aug 2014 04:00:00 GMT

BEIJING, August 14, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- Qihoo 360 Technology Co. Ltd. ("Qihoo 360" or the "Company") (NYSE: QIHU), today announced that, in connection with the Company's private placement of 0.50% convertible senior notes due 2020 (the "2020 notes") and 1.75% convertible senior notes due 2021 (the "2021 notes" and together with the 2020 notes, the "notes"), the joint bookrunners have exercised in full their over-allotment option to purchase an additional US$67.5 million aggregate principal amount of the 2020 notes and an additional US$67.5 million aggregate principal amount of the 2021 notes. The issuance of the additional US$135 million aggregate principal amount of notes closed on August 14, 2014. The full exercise of the over-allotment option brings the total aggregate principal amount of notes sold in the private placement to US$1.035 billion. The notes were offered and sold pursuant to Rule 144A under the United States Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the "Securities Act"), and Regulation S under the Securities Act.

Deal Flow

Thu, 14 Aug 2014 04:00:00 GMT

BEIJING, Aug. 14, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- Qihoo 360 Technology Co. Ltd. ("Qihoo 360" or the "Company") (NYSE: QIHU), today announced that, in connection with the Company's private placement of 0.50% convertible senior notes due 2020 (the "2020 notes") and 1.75% convertible senior notes due 2021 (the "2021 notes" and together with the 2020 notes, the "notes"), the joint bookrunners have exercised in full their over-allotment option to purchase an additional US$67.5 million aggregate principal amount of the 2020 notes and an additional US$67.5 million aggregate principal amount of the 2021 notes. The issuance of the additionalUS$135 million aggregate principal amount of notes closed on August 14, 2014. The full exercise of the over-allotment option brings the total aggregate principal amount of notes sold in the private placement to US$1.035 billion. The notes were offered and sold pursuant to Rule 144A under the United States Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the "Securities Act"), and Regulation S under the Securities Act.

The notes, the ADSs deliverable upon conversion of the notes and the Class A ordinary shares represented thereby, have not been and will not be registered under the Securities Act or the securities laws of any other place, and may not be offered or sold in the United States absent registration or an applicable exemption from registration requirements. This press release does not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy the securities, nor will there be any sale of the securities in any state or jurisdiction in which such an offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful.

Deal Flow

Wed, 06 Aug 2014 04:00:00 GMT

BEIJING, August 6, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- Qihoo 360 Technology Co. Ltd. ("Qihoo 360" or the "Company") (NYSE: QIHU), today announced the closing of its private placement of US$450 million aggregate principal amount of convertible senior notes due 2020 (the "2020 notes") and US$450 million aggregate principal amount of convertible senior notes due 2021 (the "2021 notes" and together with the 2020 notes, the "notes"). The notes were sold to qualified institutional buyers pursuant to Rule 144A under the United States Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the "Securities Act"), and non-U.S. persons in offshore transactions in compliance with Regulation S under the Securities Act. The joint bookrunners of the notes offering were granted a 30-day option to purchase up to an additional US$67.5 million principal amount of the 2020 notes and an additional US$67.5 million principal amount of the 2021 notes to cover over-allotments. Qihoo 360 anticipates using the proceeds for general corporate purposes.

The notes are convertible into Qihoo 360's American Depositary Shares ("ADSs"), every two ADSs representing as of the date above three Class A ordinary shares of Qihoo 360, based on an initial conversion rate of 7.9789 ADSs per US$1,000 principal amount of the 2020 notes (equivalent to an initial conversion price of approximately US$125.33 per ADS) and an initial conversion rate of 8.2799 ADSs per US$1,000 principal amount of the 2021 notes (equivalent to an initial conversion price of approximately US$120.77 per ADS). The initial conversion rates for the 2020 notes and 2021 notes represent conversion premiums of approximately 37.5% and 32.5%, respectively, over the NYSE last reported sale price of the ADSs on July 31, 2014, which was US$91.15 per ADS. The conversion rate is subject to adjustment upon the occurrence of certain events. Holders of the notes may convert their notes, at their option, in integral multiples of US$1,000 principal amount, at any time prior to the close of business on the third business day immediately preceding the notes' respective maturity dates. Holders of the 2020 notes will have the right to require Qihoo 360 to repurchase the notes on August 15, 2017 or upon the occurrence of certain fundamental changes, at a repurchase price equal to 100% of the principal amount of the 2020 notes to be repurchased, plus accrued and unpaid interest to, but excluding, the date of repurchase. Holders of the 2021 notes will have the right to require Qihoo 360 to repurchase the notes on August 15, 2019 or upon the occurrence of certain fundamental changes, at a repurchase price equal to 100% of the principal amount of the 2021 notes to be repurchased, plus accrued and unpaid interest to, but excluding, the date of repurchase.

The 2020 notes will accrue interest at an annual rate of 0.50%. The 2021 notes will accrue interest at an annual rate of 1.75%. Interest on the notes will be payable semiannually in arrears on February 15 and August 15 of each year, beginning February 15, 2015. The 2020 notes will mature on August 15, 2020, and the 2021 notes will mature on August 15, 2021, in each case unless previously repurchased, redeemed or converted in accordance with their terms prior to such date.

Deal Flow

Fri, 01 Aug 2014 04:00:00 GMT

BEIJING, August 1, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- Qihoo 360 Technology Co. Ltd. ("Qihoo 360" or the "Company") (NYSE: QIHU), today announced the pricing of its private placement of US$450 million principal amount of convertible senior notes due 2020 (the "2020 notes") and US$450 million principal amount of convertible senior notes due 2021 (the "2021 notes" and together with the 2020 notes, the "notes"). The notes were offered to qualified institutional buyers pursuant to Rule 144A under the United States Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the "Securities Act"), and non-U.S. persons in offshore transactions in compliance with Regulation S under the Securities Act. The transaction is expected to close on or about August 6, 2014, subject to customary closing conditions. The joint bookrunners of the notes offering have a 30-day option to purchase up to an additional US$67.5 principal amount of the 2020 notes and an additional US$67.5 principal amount of the 2021 notes to cover over-allotments, if any. Qihoo 360 anticipates using the proceeds for general corporate purposes.

The notes will be convertible into Qihoo 360's American Depositary Shares ("ADSs"), every two ADSs representing as of the date above three Class A ordinary shares of Qihoo 360, based on an initial conversion rate of 7.9789 ADSs per US$1,000 principal amount of the 2020 notes (equivalent to an initial conversion price of approximately US$125.33 per ADS) and an initial conversion rate of 8.2799 ADSs per US$1,000 principal amount of the 2021 notes (equivalent to an initial conversion price of approximately US$120.77 per ADS). The initial conversion rates for the 2020 notes and 2021 notes represent conversion premiums of approximately 37.5% and 32.5%, respectively, over the NYSE last reported sale price of the ADSs on July 31, 2014, which was US$91.15 per ADS. The conversion rate is subject to adjustment upon the occurrence of certain events. Holders of the notes may convert their notes, at their option, in integral multiples of US$1,000 principal amount, at any time prior to the close of business on the third business day immediately preceding the notes' respective maturity dates. Holders of the 2020 notes will have the right to require Qihoo 360 to repurchase the notes on August 15, 2017 or upon the occurrence of certain fundamental changes, at a repurchase price equal to 100% of the principal amount of notes to be repurchased, plus accrued and unpaid interest to, but excluding, the date of repurchase. Holders of the 2021 notes will have the right to require Qihoo 360 to repurchase the notes on August 15, 2019 or upon the occurrence of certain fundamental changes, at a repurchase price equal to 100% of the principal amount of notes to be repurchased, plus accrued and unpaid interest to, but excluding, the date of repurchase.

Deal Flow

Thu, 31 Jul 2014 04:00:00 GMT

BEIJING, July 31, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- Qihoo 360 Technology Co. Ltd. ("Qihoo 360" or the "Company") (NYSE: QIHU) today announced that it plans to offer US$900 million aggregate principal amount of convertible senior notes due 2020 (the "2020 notes") and convertible senior notes due 2021 (the "2021 notes," together with the 2020 notes, the "notes"), subject to market conditions and other factors. Qihoo 360 plans to grant to the joint bookrunners of the notes offering a 30-day option to purchase up to an additional US$135 million aggregate principal amount of the 2020 notes and 2021 notes to cover over-allotments, if any. The notes will be convertible into Qihoo 360's American Depositary Shares ("ADSs"), with every two ADSs representing three Class A ordinary shares of Qihoo 360. The 2020 notes will mature on August 15, 2020 and the 2021 notes will mature on August 15, 2021. It is also contemplated that holders will have the right to require Qihoo 360 to repurchase the 2020 notes on August 15, 2017, and the 2021 notes on August 15, 2019, respectively, or upon the occurrence of certain fundamental changes. Qihoo 360 anticipates using the net proceeds for general corporate purposes. The conversion rate and other terms of the notes have not been finalized and will be determined at the time of pricing of the offering.

The notes are to be offered and sold in a private placement to qualified institutional buyers pursuant to Rule 144A and to non-U.S. persons outside the United States pursuant to Regulation S under the United States Securities Act of 1933, as amended.

Comments & Business Outlook

Wed, 28 May 2014 04:00:00 GMT

First Quarter 2014 Unaudited Financial Results

Revenues were $265.1 million, a 141.3% increase from $109.9 million in the first quarter of 2013.
Non-GAAP diluted EPADS attributable to Qihoo 360 ^[1] was $0.54, compared to $0.14 in the same period last year.

"We are pleased to report another quarter of strong growth and solid operational metrics," said Mr. Hongyi Zhou, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Qihoo 360. "While we maintained our leadership position in key PC-related product categories, we continued to make significant progress in the ever more-important mobile Internet market. The number of Chinese smartphone users of our key mobile security product, 360 Mobile Safe, reached 538 million in the first quarter, making Qihoo 360 the indisputable leader in Internet security in China. In addition, our Android-based app store, 360 Mobile Assistant, has already registered over 400 million users, further reinforcing its industry-leading position. We intend to continue to allocate significant resources to the fast-growing mobile Internet market for the foreseeable future."

"During the quarter, our share of Internet search traffic reached approximately 25% according to third-party data. Through continued product improvement and technological innovation, we believe we are in an excellent position to further grow our share of China's search market in terms of both traffic and revenue. Since we began monetizing our search and mobile products at the beginning of 2013 we have made significant progress, and we are highly encouraged by the early results. As we continue to execute our business plan and strategy, we believe that search and mobile monetization represent a substantial long-term growth opportunity for our business," concluded Mr. Zhou.

Mr. Xiangdong Qi, President of Qihoo 360, added "We are excited to see continued robust growth in key areas of our business. Online advertising grew 121% year-over-year, supported by strong contributions from both search and mobile monetization and further deepening of our monetization process for Personal Start-up Pages. Internet value-added services once again outpaced the market with revenue growth of 172%, driven by strength in PC games and a strong ramp-up in mobile games. While search and mobile monetization are still in their early stages, they are ramping up faster than expected, and are poised to become key drivers of our future growth. We have made significant investments over the last few quarters to strengthen our brand and market position, and to improve our product and technology, particularly in mobile Internet-related areas. Given the rapidly-evolving industry landscape, we will maintain the intensity of our investments in these areas to build a sustainable foundation for future growth."

Business Outlook

For the second quarter of 2014, the Company expects revenues to be between $300 million and $305 million, representing a year-over-year increase of 98% to 101% and quarter-over-quarter increase of 13% to 15%. These estimates reflect the Company's current and preliminary view, which is subject to possible material changes.

Acquisition Activity

Wed, 14 May 2014 04:00:00 GMT

BEIJING, May 14, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- Qihoo 360 Technology Co. Ltd. ("Qihoo 360" or the "Company") (NYSE: QIHU), a leading Internet company in China, today announced its simultaneous signing and closing of definitive agreements to acquire controlling equity interests in MediaV, a leading precision advertising platform for PC and mobile Internet in China.

Founded in 2009, MediaV is a leading precision advertising and digital marketing platform in China. Its cloud-based big data analysis services enable customers to deliver advertising to target audience precisely.

"We are very excited to invest in MediaV", said Mr. Hongyi Zhou, Chairman and CEO of Qihoo 360, "Combining Qihoo 360's massive user base and traffic in PC and mobile Internet, with MediaV's industry leading digital advertising platform and cutting edge precision advertising technology, we believe we can build a stronger and more efficient online advertising eco-system and significantly enhance monetization of our platform products."

Joint Venture

Thu, 24 Apr 2014 04:00:00 GMT

BEIJING, April 24, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- Qihoo 360 Technology Co. Ltd. ("Qihoo 360" or the "Company") (NYSE: QIHU), a leading Internet company in China, today announced that it has formed a strategic partnership with Sungy Mobile Limited ("Sungy Mobile") (Nasdaq: GOMO), a leading provider of mobile internet products and services globally with a focus on applications and mobile platform development. Qihoo 360 will use Sungy Mobile's international app distribution platform to introduce a wide range of mobile security and mobile utility apps, including system cleanup and battery management apps, to users in key markets, including the United States.

Sungy Mobile's platform product, GO Launcher EX, manages apps, widgets and functions on Android smartphones and serves as users' first entry point to their phones. It is the mobile access point from which many Android users are able to find new and innovative ways to customize their experience, download apps and interact with their mobile devices every day. It has a proven track record of successfully distributing Android apps in the international markets, and Qihoo 360 will leverage this distribution network to bring to international users its industry leading mobile security product 360 Mobile Safe, as well as other popular mobile utility apps such as system cleanup and battery management apps.

"We are extremely excited to work with Sungy Mobile through this partnership. The two companies have a lot in common in focusing on delivering the best and most innovative products and services to mobile users," said Mr. Hongyi Zhou, Chairman and CEO of Qihoo 360, "As we have established a clear leadership position in mobile security in China, we are actively looking at opportunities to expand internationally. We believe Sungy Mobile's success in overseas markets will add significant strategic value as we pursue international expansion. Through this partnership, more and more overseas users will be able to enjoy the same level of high quality protection and convenience provided by Qihoo 360, along with currently over 500 million Chinese smartphone users."

Mr. Yuqiang Deng, CEO of Sungy Mobile said, "GO Launcher EX has established a strong beachhead in developed countries and regions, such as the United States and European Union. Since last year, we've been helping Chinese companies access international markets through our strong distribution channel. Qihoo 360 is an outstanding company and I am very happy that Sungy Mobile works together with them. Sungy Mobile will further explore international markets with more and more companies from China."

Comments & Business Outlook

Mon, 07 Apr 2014 04:00:00 GMT

BEIJING, April 7, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- Qihoo 360 Technology Co. Ltd. ("Qihoo 360" or the "Company") (NYSE: QIHU), a leading Internet company in China, today announced that its flagship security solution, 360 Safeguard XP Shield, withstood 13 hours of continuous attacks during an organized hacker contest, while two other security systems from Tencent and Cheetah Mobile (formerly Kingsoft Internet Software) were breached in less than two minutes.

To test the readiness of Chinese online security solutions against potential threats, eRange Lab (www.erangelab.com), the largest Massive Open Online Experiment (MOOE) on cyber security in China, organized The XP Challenger Contest. The contest brought together 178 "white-hat" hackers and security experts from around the world who were allowed 13 hours to attack three sets of Windows XP PCs being protected by Qihoo 360's 360 Safeguard XP Shield, Tencent's Computer Manager XP Special Edition, and Cheetah Mobile's Duba Antivirus XP Protection Shield, respectively. Qihoo 360's system was able to withstand 13 hours of continuous attacks without a single breach, while Tencent's system was breached in 57 seconds and Cheetah Mobile's system was breached in less than two minutes. By 9:00 PM on April 5, 2014 in Beijing, the official end of the competition, thirteen breaches had been registered against Cheetah Mobile, and nine breaches were registered against Tencent. Qihoo 360's system was not breached during the contest.

"The outcome of The XP Challenger contest is a significant victory for Qihoo 360," said Mr. Xiangdong Qi, President of Qihoo 360. "It demonstrates Qihoo 360's substantial leadership in security technology and product reliability. It further strengthens "360" as the most trustworthy brand in PC and mobile security in China and globally."

Microsoft has announced that it will cease providing technical support for its Windows XP operating system beginning April 8, 2014. There are still over 200 million Windows XP-based computer users in China. Qihoo 360 is cooperating with Microsoft to provide ongoing extended security protection to hundreds of millions XP users in China.

Comments & Business Outlook

Fri, 07 Mar 2014 05:00:00 GMT

Fourth Quarter 2013 Financial Results

Revenues were $221.6 million, representing an increase of 115.3% from $103.0 million in the fourth quarter of 2012 and an increase of 17.9% from $187.9 million in the third quarter of 2013.
Non-GAAP diluted EPADS for the fourth quarter of 2013 was $0.70 vs. last years $0.22.

"We are extremely pleased to report our twelfth consecutive quarter of robust growth and deliver another full year of substantial progress in operations," said Mr. Hongyi Zhou, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Qihoo 360. "We continue to expand our leadership position in key product categories, while making significant inroads in new markets. Monthly active users of our PC-based products and services, which cover 95% of the Chinese PC Internet population, increased to 475 million at the end of 2013. The number of Chinese smartphone users of our key mobile security product, 360 Mobile Safe, reached 467 million, covering approximate 70% of Chinese smartphone users, making Qihoo the indisputable leader in Internet security in China. In addition, monthly active users of our PC browsers reached 354 million, representing over 70% of the Chinese PC Internet population. Our Android based app store, 360 Mobile Assistant, further strengthened its industry-leading position during the quarter. We are allocating significant resources in the fast growing mobile Internet market, while building upon our leadership position in the PC Internet market."

"During the quarter, our search traffic share reached approximately 23% according to third party data, noticeably exceeding our internal target. Through continued product improvement and technological innovation, we believe we are in an excellent position to further capture a significant share of China's search market and help reshape the competitive landscape of this vast industry in China. We started to monetize our search and mobile products at the beginning of 2013 and have made significant progress to date. As we continue to execute our business plan and strategy, we believe that search and mobile monetization will drive substantial long-term growth for our business," concluded Mr. Zhou.

Mr. Xiangdong Qi, President of Qihoo 360, added "We are thrilled to have surpassed our revenue guidance and internal profitability targets for both the fourth quarter and the full year. We continue to see robust growth in key areas of our business. Online advertising grew 88% in 2013, supported by further deepening of our monetization process and incremental contribution from search and mobile monetization. Internet value-added services once again outpaced the market with revenue growth of 145% in 2013, driven by healthy growth in PC games and strong ramp-up in mobile games. While search and mobile monetization are still in their nascent stages, they have ramped up faster than expected, and will become key drivers for our future growth. As we continue to leverage the strength of our platform, we expect our growth momentum to continue. We are making proactive investments in product and technology development in order to strengthen our leadership position and expand our footprint, particularly in mobile Internet and search technology where we see tremendous opportunities for future expansion. Meanwhile, we will continue to build our sales and marketing infrastructure to support our enhanced monetization efforts. We believe these investments will further strengthen our foundation, support sustainable growth and drive long-term shareholder value."

Business Outlook

For the first quarter of 2014, the Company expects revenues to be between $226 million and $228 million, representing a year-over-year increase of 106% to 107% and quarter-over-quarter increase of 2% to 3%. These estimates reflect the Company's current and preliminary view, which is subject to possible material changes.

Comments & Business Outlook

Mon, 25 Nov 2013 05:00:00 GMT

Third Quarter 2013 Financial Results

Revenues were $187.9 million, representing an increase of 124% from $84.0 million in the third quarter of 2012 and an increase of 24% from $151.7 million in the second quarter of 2013.
Diluted earnings per ADS⁽²⁾ ("EPADS") attributable to Qihoo 360 was $0.35, compared to $0.11 in the same period last year.

"We are very excited to report another quarter of success in all key areas of our business," said Mr. Hongyi Zhou, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Qihoo 360. "In addition to achieving record revenue and profitability, we strengthened our leadership position in key product categories and made significant inroads into new markets. With our PC security products covering nearly 95% of Chinese PC Internet users, and our mobile security solutions covering approximately 70% of Chinese smartphone users, Qihoo 360 remains the indisputable leader in Internet security in China. In addition, monthly active users of our PC browsers represented almost 70% of the Chinese PC Internet population. As we further established our leadership position in the PC Internet market, we have been making significant progress in the fast growing mobile Internet space. Our Android app store � 360 Mobile Assistant, maintained its position at the forefront of the industry and is increasingly becoming the most effective launch platform for Android app developers, despite the dynamic landscape and fierce competition."

"During the quarter, we continued to gain notable search traffic market share and, based on a third party report, we have already achieved our year-end search traffic share goal several months ahead of schedule. Looking ahead, we will continue to invest in product development and technology innovation, setting the stage for Qihoo 360 to capture a significant portion of the search market in both PC and mobile Internet and eventually reshape this vast industry in China. While our search monetization is still in its early stages, we have made significant progress. We believe that search and mobile monetization will drive substantial long-term growth for our business," concluded Mr. Zhou.

Mr. Xiangdong Qi, President of Qihoo 360, added, "We saw accelerated growth in key business lines in the third quarter. Online advertising revenue grew 107% year-over-year, bolstered by further development of our monetization process and incremental contributions from both search and mobile monetization. Internet value-added services once again outpaced the market and achieved revenue growth of 163% year-over-year with strong momentum in mobile games. While search and mobile monetization are still in their nascent stages, they ramped up faster than expected, and will become major catalysts for future growth. As the competitive environment rapidly changes in China, we will continue to make proactive investments in product and technology development to drive our leadership positions forward and expand our footprint, particularly in mobile Internet and search technology, where we see tremendous opportunities for expansion. Meanwhile, we are gradually building our sales and marketing infrastructure to support our monetization efforts. We believe these investments will fortify our foundation, support sustainable growth and drive long-term shareholder value."

Deal Flow

Fri, 06 Sep 2013 04:00:00 GMT

BEIJING, Sept. 5, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- Qihoo 360 Technology Co. Ltd. ("Qihoo 360" or the "Company") (NYSE: QIHU), today announced the closing of its private placement of US$600 million in aggregate principal amount of convertible senior notes due 2018, including US$50 million in principal amount of notes issued upon the exercise in full of the over-allotment option that the Company previously granted to the initial purchasers of the notes. The notes were sold to qualified institutional buyers pursuant to Rule 144A under the United States Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the "Securities Act"), and non-U.S. persons in offshore transactions in compliance with Regulation S under the Securities Act. Qihoo 360 anticipates using the proceeds for general corporate purposes.

The notes are convertible into Qihoo 360's American Depositary Shares ("ADSs"), every two ADSs representing as of the date above three Class A ordinary shares of Qihoo 360, based on an initial conversion rate of 9.0119 ADSs per US$1,000 principal amount of the notes (equivalent to an initial conversion price of approximately US$110.96 per ADS). The initial conversion rate for the notes represents an approximately 40% conversion premium over the NYSE last reported sale price of the ADSs on August 27, 2013, which was US$79.26 per ADS. The conversion rate is subject to adjustment upon the occurrence of certain events. Holders of notes may convert their notes, at their option, in integral multiples of US$1,000 principal amount, at any time prior to the close of business on the third business day immediately preceding the maturity date. The notes may be redeemed by Qihoo 360 under certain circumstances on or after September 20, 2016. Holders of the notes will have the right to require Qihoo 360 to repurchase the notes on September 15, 2016 or upon the occurrence of certain fundamental changes, at a repurchase price equal to 100% of the principal amount of notes to be repurchased, plus accrued and unpaid interest to, but excluding, the date of repurchase.

The notes will accrue interest at an annual rate of 2.50%. Interest on the notes will be payable semiannually in arrears on March 15 and September 15 of each year, beginning March 15, 2014. The notes will mature on September 15, 2018, unless previously repurchased, redeemed or converted in accordance with their terms prior to such date.

Deal Flow

Wed, 28 Aug 2013 04:00:00 GMT

BEIJING, Aug. 27, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- Qihoo 360 Technology Co. Ltd. ("Qihoo 360" or the "Company") (NYSE: QIHU) today announced that it plans to offer US$550 million principal amount of convertible senior notes due 2018, subject to market conditions and other factors. Qihoo 360 plans to grant the initial purchasers of the notes a 30-day option to purchase up to an additional US$50 million principal amount of notes to cover over-allotments, if any. The notes will be convertible into Qihoo 360's American Depositary Shares ("ADSs"), with every two ADSs representing three Class A ordinary shares of Qihoo 360. The notes will mature onSeptember 15, 2018. The notes may be redeemed by Qihoo 360 under certain circumstances on or after September 20, 2016. It is also contemplated that holders will have the right to require Qihoo 360 to repurchase the notes on September 15, 2016 or upon the occurrence of certain fundamental changes. Qihoo 360 anticipates using the proceeds for general corporate purposes. The conversion rate and other terms of the notes have not been finalized and will be determined at the time of pricing of the offering.

Comments & Business Outlook

Mon, 26 Aug 2013 04:00:00 GMT

Second Quarter Financial Results

Revenues were $151.7 million, a 108% increase from $72.8 million in the second quarter of 2012.
Diluted EPADS attributable to Qihoo 360 excluding share-based compensation (non-GAAP)⁽¹⁾ was $0.40, compared to $0.17in the same period last year.

"We are extremely pleased to report another record breaking quarter of robust revenue growth and substantial margin improvement," said Mr. Hongyi Zhou, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Qihoo 360. "We continue to strengthen our leadership position in key product categories, while establishing a foothold in new markets. Our PC security products already cover nearly 95% of Chinese PC Internet users, and our mobile security solutions cover approximately 70% of Chinese smartphone users, making Qihoo the indisputable leader in Internet security in China. In addition, monthly active users of our PC browsers reached 330 million, or almost 70% of the Chinese PC Internet population, while our Android based app store � 360 Mobile Assistant � further extended its industry-leading market share during the quarter. We are building upon our leadership position in the PC Internet market, while making significant progress in the fast growing mobile Internet market, an area that is particularly promising."

"During the quarter, we gained notable search traffic share and we believe that we are well on our way to reaching our year-end goals. Through continued product improvement and technology innovation, we believe we are in an excellent position to capture significant share of the search market and help reshape the competitive landscape of this vast industry in China. Although we just started monetizing our search and mobile products a few months ago, we have made very encouraging progress. As we continue to execute our business plan and strategy, we believe that search and mobile monetization will drive substantial long-term growth for our business," concluded Mr. Zhou.

Mr. Xiangdong Qi, President of Qihoo 360, added, "We continue to see re-accelerated growth in key areas of our business. Online advertising grew 78% year-over-year, supported by further deepening of our monetization process and incremental contribution from search and mobile monetization. Internet value-added services once again outpaced the market with revenue growth of 181% year-over-year, and we saw strong momentum in mobile games. While search and mobile monetization are still in their nascent stages, they have ramped up faster than expected, and will become key drivers for our future growth. As we continue to leverage the strength of our platform, we expect the growth momentum from the first half of 2013 will carry over into the rest of the year. We will continue to make proactive investments in product and technology development in order to strengthen our leadership position and expand our footprint, particularly in mobile Internet and search technology where we see tremendous opportunity for future expansion. Meanwhile, we are gradually building our sales and marketing infrastructure to support our deepening monetization efforts. We believe these investments will fortify our foundation, support sustainable growth and drive long-term shareholder value."

Business Outlook

For the third quarter of 2013, the Company expects revenues to be between $181 million and $183 million, representing a year-over-year increase of 115% to 118%, and quarter over quarter increase of 19% to 21%. These estimates reflect the Company's current and preliminary views on its operations and macro environment, which are subject to possible material changes.

Comments & Business Outlook

Fri, 19 Jul 2013 04:00:00 GMT

BEIJING, July 19, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- Qihoo 360 Technology Co. Ltd. ("Qihoo 360" or the "Company") (NYSE: QIHU), a leading Internet company in China, today commented on recent media reports related to certain market speculations.

The Company is aware of recent media reports regarding certain potential transactions by Qihoo 360. From time to time, the Company has been, and continues to be, exploring various potential investment and strategic alliance opportunities. No agreement has been reached with respect to a significant transaction in such nature. In keeping with its U.S. securities law obligations and as a matter of good investor relations, Qihoo 360 will update the market should there be any new material development.

Comments & Business Outlook

Mon, 20 May 2013 04:00:00 GMT

First Quarter Financial Resuts

Revenues were $109.9 million, a 58.6% increase from $69.3 million in the first quarter of 2012.
Net income attributable to Qihoo 360 was $5.6 million, compared to $14.1 million in the first quarter of 2012.
Net income attributable to Qihoo 360 excluding share-based compensation (non-GAAP)⁽¹⁾ was $17.5 million, compared to$25.7 million in the first quarter of 2012.
Diluted earnings per ADS⁽²⁾ ("EPADS") attributable to Qihoo 360 was $0.04, compared to $0.12 in the same period last year.
Diluted EPADS attributable to Qihoo 360 excluding share-based compensation (non-GAAP)⁽¹⁾ was $0.14, compared to $0.21in the same period last year.

"We are very pleased with our strong first quarter results as we continue to demonstrate top-line growth and further progress our strategic initiatives," commented Hongyi Zhou, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Qihoo 360. "We have further strengthened our leadership position across our key product categories. Monthly active users of our PC browsers reached a record 332 million, covering almost 70% of the Chinese PC Internet population. Additionally, we expanded our market share in mobile security and the number of Chinese smartphone users of 360 Mobile Safe, our key mobile security product, reached 275 million at the end of March. Our comprehensive mobile product portfolio provides us with a solid foundation to build a leading mobile Internet platform inChina."

"During the first quarter, we invested in product development and technology innovation in order to deliver best-in-class user experience, and expanded our sales and marketing efforts to strengthen our brand in mobile Internet and support search monetization. During the quarter, we gained notable search traffic share and began to monetize our search engine through both an internal system and external partnership. We believe we are in an excellent position to capture a significant portion of the search market and help reshape the competitive landscape of this vast industry. As we execute on our search strategy, we believe this will drive substantial long-term growth for our business," concluded Mr. Zhou.

Xiangdong Qi, President of Qihoo 360, added, "Revenue from our online advertising business grew 40% year-over-year, supported by further deepening of our monetization process. Although still in its infancy, our search business already contributed meaningfully to overall revenue. Internet value-added services once again outpaced the market with revenue growth of 119% year-over-year, largely driven by strong momentum in the number of paying web game users. As we make ongoing efforts to leverage the strength of our platform, we expect to achieve accelerated overall growth for the rest of the year, with margin recovery. We will continue to make proactive investments in 2013 in product and technology development to strengthen our leadership position and expand our footprint, particularly in mobile Internet and search technology where we see tremendous opportunity for future expansion. Meanwhile, we are gradually building up our sales and marketing infrastructure to support our deepening monetization efforts. We believe these investments will fortify our foundation, support sustainable growth and drive long-term shareholder value."

Business Outlook

For the second quarter of 2013, the Company expects revenues to be between $142 million and $144 million, representing a year-over-year increase of 95% to 98% and a quarter-over-quarter increase of 29% to 31%. These estimates reflect the Company's current and preliminary view, which are subject to possible material changes.

Comments & Business Outlook

Wed, 22 Aug 2012 04:00:00 GMT

Second Quarter Financial Highlights

Revenues were $72.8 million, representing an increase of 107.3% from $35.1 million in the second quarter of 2011.
Net income was $7.0 million, compared to $11.1 million in the second quarter of 2011.
Net income excluding share-based compensation (non-GAAP)(1)was $20.6 million, compared to $13.2 million in the second quarter of 2011.
Diluted earnings per ADS(2) ("EPADS") were $0.06.
Diluted EPADS excluding share-based compensation (non-GAAP)(1) were $0.17 vs. $0.11 in prior year period.

"We are very pleased to report another strong quarter of triple-digit year-over-year growth in what continues to be a challenging macro environment," said Mr. Hongyi Zhou, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Qihoo 360. "Monthly active users of our PC-based products and services grew to a record 425 million, covering 94% of the Chinese PC Internet population. While we maintain a leadership position in PC Internet, we are particularly pleased to have made significant progress in the fast growing mobile Internet market during the quarter. The number of smartphone users of our mobile security products already reached 120 million, representing almost 70% of the total market share, according to third party data. We believe our success has largely been driven by our Company-wide focus on product and technology innovation and customer satisfaction. Recently, we introduced our personalized recommendation and comprehensive search engine to the market to provide viable and friendly alternatives for users to access various web services and destinations. These initiatives are transformational to our business model in the long run. As a leader inChina's Internet industry, we have demonstrated strong capabilities to effectively execute our open platform strategy. We are confident that the products and services we launched earlier this year will substantially enhance our monetization capabilities in the coming quarters, despite the uncertainty in the Chinese economy," concluded Mr. Zhou.

Mr. Xiangdong Qi, President of Qihoo 360, added, "Despite the ongoing macro headwinds in the second quarter, we are pleased to report that we achieved our revenue guidance and internal profitability targets. Our online advertising business delivered solid growth, supported by our continued robust user activity increases on our Personal Start-up Page. Web game operations continued to outpace the industry with a 189% year-over-year increase in revenue, despite seasonally slow trends across the industry. As we continue to deliver solid results in the near term, we have also allocated significant resources to make proactive investments in product and technology development, particularly in areas of mobile Internet, cloud based services, and search engine. We believe these initiatives will support long term, sustainable growth for our Company and drive long-term shareholder value."

Business Outlook

For the third quarter of 2012, the Company expects revenues to be between $81 million and $82 million, representing a year-over-year increase of 71% to 73%. These estimates reflect the Company's current and preliminary views on its operations and macro environment, which are subject to possible material changes.

Joint Venture

Fri, 27 Jul 2012 04:00:00 GMT

BEIJING, July 27, 2012 /PRNewswire-Asia/ -- Qihoo 360 Technology Co. Ltd (NYSE: QIHU) ("Qihoo 360"), a leading Internet company in China, and Giant Interactive Group Inc. (NYSE: GA) ("Giant"), one of China's leading online game developers and operators, today announced that they will collaborate in operating Qianjun Online, a customized micro-client version of Giant's ZT Online 2 on Qihoo 360's game open platform. The collaboration represents a significant extension of Qihoo 360's game open platform and makes Qianjun Online available to Qihoo 360's over 400 million user base.

Qianjun Online retains nearly all of the core gameplay mechanics of ZT Online 2, Giant's second flagship 2D client-based massively multiplayer online role playing game ("MMORPG"), which began open beta testing in September 2011 and reached over 541,000 peak concurrent users ("PCU") on April 22, 2012. In addition, Qianjun Online includes improved graphics and designed characters and quests. Although the micro-client installation file size is only approximately one percent of the MMORPG installation client file size, it provides a complete game experience to users. Qianjun Online also adopts Qihoo 360's latest Internet security technologies to enhance the protection of users' computers and game accounts.

Mr. Yuzhu Shi, chairman and chief executive officer of Giant commented, "We are pleased to announce our first micro-client game, Qianjun Online, in collaboration with Qihoo 360. Our extension into micro-client games offers incremental opportunities for Giant to market and operate its blockbuster games, helping to further expand the user base of client-based games. As a leading online game developer and operator with a sharp focus on innovation, Giant strives to deliver innovative, fun-to-play experiences to gamers. The development of the micro-client Qianjun Online and the new partnership with Qihoo 360 provide us new opportunities to extend such experience and expand our client-based game business. We look forward to a successful partnership with Qihoo 360."

Mr. Hongyi Zhou, chairman and chief executive officer of Qihoo 360, commented, "We are extremely pleased to work with Giant. Giant has extensive experience in online game development and a proven ability to understand game players' needs. This partnership is a significant extension of our game open platform as we add the micro-client version of MMORPGs to our offerings. As a leading Internet company in China, we have built our user base of over 400 million by offering free comprehensive Internet and mobile security solutions and key Internet access points such as browsers and an app store. With our user base and Giant's game experience, we believe that both companies are well positioned to collaborate in marketing and operating Qianjun Online. It is a win-win relationship. We will continue to leverage our user base and share resources with potential partners to build an open and prosperous online ecosystem."

Company Rebuttal

Tue, 03 Jul 2012 04:00:00 GMT

BEIJING, July 3, 2012 /PRNewswire-Asia/ -- Qihoo 360 Technology Co. Ltd. ("Qihoo 360" or the "Company") (NYSE: QIHU), the leading Internet company in China as measured by active user base, today issued a statement refuting allegations from Anonymous Analytics.

In addition to the false allegations that Qihoo 360 has previously addressed, the report issued on July 2, 2012 by Anonymous Analytics, alleges that data provided by a comScore from February through April 2012 "proves definitively that Qihoo has been lying to investors about its traffic volume." Qihoo 360 strongly rejects this and all other allegations in the report.

1) The hao.360.cn and www.hao123.com traffic data quoted in the article is inaccurate and misleading. The data was derived from "panel method" and rely on sampling information only. The accuracy of such method highly depends on the sample size and distribution. Sampling data has many limitations and biases. comScore's panel was rarely installed among Chinese Internet users in the past because it ran into conflict with most Internet security solutions in China. As such the panels tended to have a disproportionally small installation base among hao.360.cn users because substantially all of such users use 360 security solutions.

2) The sampling method significantly undercounting Qihoo 360's traffic data. Qihoo 360 and comScore have been working together over the past few months to improve the penetration rate of comScore's panel among security product users, mainly by making the panel more user-friendly. Over the course of last few months, comScore has offered several revised versions of the panel software to accommodate such changes. While comScore has made meaningful progress, the panel's sample distribution is still highly biased.

3) Qihoo 360 voluntarily added comScore tag to its websites to help comScore adjust and improve its statistic model on panel data. In recent months, the tag data has shown similar traffic volume and trends compared to the Company's internal tracking and other third party sources. During this period, an European third-party anti-virus software mistakenly identified the tag as a Trojan and we temporarily remove the tag from hao.360.cn to ensure user experience till the issue was resolved.

4) A spokesperson for comScore commented "comScore have been working and is still working with Qihoo 360 and other publishers in China for Unified Digital Measurement (UDM). At this point, comScore has not released any UDM data for Qihoo Sites. We do not comment on publisher's unpublished data or any work in progress"

"We will continue to work with comScore to enhance tag data tracking and use that to adjust and improve panel data collecting methodology and statistic model, and eventually to provide accurate and reliable third party traffic data to investors and public in the near future." commented Mr. Xiangdong Qi, President of Qihoo 360.

Article From Bloomberg:

Qihoo 360 Technology Co. (QIHU), a Chinese developer of online security software, denied allegations made by Anonymous Analytics that user traffic on its website is lower than reported. The shares sank 7.5 percent.

The information cited in Anonymous’s report is “inaccurate,” Chief Financial Officer Alex Xu said yesterday by phone from Beijing. “This report is basically a repetition of what other short sellers said before,” which Qihoo has denied and clarified in the past, he said. Full Article.

Comments & Business Outlook

Wed, 23 May 2012 04:00:00 GMT

First Quarter Financial Highlights

Revenues were $69.3 million, representing an increase of 202.1% from $22.9 million in the first quarter of 2011.
Net income attributable to Qihoo 360 was $14.1 million, compared to a net loss of $21.4 million in the first quarter of 2011.
Net income attributable to Qihoo 360 excluding share-based compensation (non-GAAP)(1) was $25.7 million, representing an increase of 290.5% from $6.6 million in the first quarter of 2011.
Diluted earnings per ADS(2) ("EPADS") attributable to Qihoo 360 were $0.12.
Diluted EPADS attributable to Qihoo 360 excluding share-based compensation (non-GAAP)(1) were $0.21 vs $0.12 in prior year.

"We have once again outperformed the industry and our expectations, delivering another quarter of triple-digit year-over year growth in revenue and net income as well as outstanding performance across several key operating metrics," said Mr. Hongyi Zhou, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Qihoo 360. "Monthly active users of our products and services grew to 411 million and our browsers' user penetration rate reached a record 62% in the first quarter of 2012. We believe our success has been driven by our company-wide focus on product and technology innovation and maximizing customer satisfaction. As a leader in China's Internet industry, we have demonstrated our ability to effectively execute our open platform strategy. We are confident that the product initiatives we launched earlier this year will substantially enhance our monetization capabilities in the coming quarters, despite the uncertainty in the Chinese economy and global markets," concluded Mr. Zhou.

Mr. Xiangdong Qi, President of Qihoo 360, added, "While the first quarter is seasonally soft across the industry, we achieved stronger than expected revenue growth and profitability. Our online advertising business outperformed the industry in a challenging macro environment, with a 177% year-over-year increase supported by our robust user activity growth on our Personal Start-up Page. Web game operations continued to gain momentum and strong user growth drove a 248% year-over-year increase in game revenue. As we continue to deliver solid results in the near term, we believe our proactive investments in product and technology on both the PC and mobile platforms will support sustainable growth and drive long-term shareholder value."

Business Outlook

For the second quarter of 2012, the Company expects revenues to be between $72 million and $73 million, representing a year-over-year increase of 105% to 108%. These estimates give consideration to the impact of our offer of remote technical support services for free starting in April 2012. Such free offerings significantly extend Qihoo 360's comprehensive free security solution, strengthen the Company's core security position, and enhance user experiences and stickiness to Qihoo 360's products and services.

Joint Venture

Fri, 20 Apr 2012 04:00:00 GMT

BEIJING, April 20, 2012 /PRNewswire-Asia/ -- Qihoo 360 Technology Co. Ltd. ("Qihoo 360" or the "Company," NYSE: QIHU), a leading Internet company in China as measured by active user base, and Unity Technologies (the "Unity"), the creator of Unity3D, have reached an agreement to form a partnership that enables Chinese Internet users to seamlessly access Unity3D-powered 3D games through 360 browsers.

Qihoo 360 will distribute the Unity Web Player initially to the over 240 million users of its 360 Safe Browser and then to its entire user base of 400 million. This will enable Unity games to be played seamlessly in the 360 Safe Browser on any website, including 360 Game Center, one of the top web game portals in China.

Qihoo 360 and Unity will also introduce Unity's popular 3D engine and development tools to Chinese developers. With one million registered developers worldwide, Unity is an intuitive and flexible development platform used to make creative and interactive 3D content and deliver the best 3D games and applications for the Internet, PCs, Macs, iOS and Android devices, and gaming consoles.

"This is an excellent opportunity to corner the market for Unity-powered web games throughout China," said David Helgason, CEO of Unity Technologies. "Having a strong partner like Qihoo 360 distribute the Unity Web Player across their user base will introduce new customers to our developers and solidify the global importance of Unity."

"This partnership is a great opportunity to enhance our users' web game experiences," said Hongyi Zhou, Chairman and CEO of Qihoo 360. "We look forward to working with Unity to provide safe and exciting gaming experiences for our users across various platforms."

Company Rebuttal

Tue, 03 Apr 2012 04:00:00 GMT

BEIJING, April 4, 2012 /PRNewswire-Asia/ -- Qihoo 360 Technology Co. Ltd. ("Qihoo 360" or the "Company," NYSE: QIHU), the leading Internet company in China as measured by active user base, strongly rejects the allegations raised in a Forbes article today. The Company intends to take all necessary legal measures to defend itself against intentionally misleading and false allegations or any attempts to manipulate its stock prices, and to protect the interests of its shareholders.

Over the past five months, the Company has been subject to a series of accusations made by various firms and individuals such as Citron, Deloitte-Watch and Richard Pearson, the author of today's article. The company has rejected all those allegations and firmly stands by all of the information contained in its filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. The Company is fully committed to continuously increasing the transparency of its financial reporting.

3rd Party Alerts & Research

Tue, 03 Apr 2012 04:00:00 GMT

The year 2011 was without question a challenging year for Deloitte in China.

Following detailed fraud allegations from short sellers, Deloitte resigned from two major clients in China, China Media Express and Longtop Financial. Deloitte then became embroiled in a difficult battle between the Chinese government and the United States Securities and Exchange Commission over the issue of handing over audit papers to non-Chinese entities. Last year’s resignations drew widespread criticism, having come at the 11^th hour and only after detailed fraud allegations were published by short sellers. However, this year, Deloitte appears to be taking a more proactive approach to cleaning up its portfolio of clients listed in Hong Kong, having already resigned from two Hong Kong listed Chinese companies. With the current audit season approaching its end, other Deloitte clients who will be in focus include ChinaCast Education (CAST), Focus Media (FMCN) and Qihoo 360 Technology (QIHU). Full article.

Joint Venture

Mon, 12 Mar 2012 04:00:00 GMT

BEIJING, March 12, 2012 /PRNewswire-Asia/ -- Phoenix New Media Limited (NYSE: FENG), a leading new media company in China ("Phoenix New Media", "ifeng" or the "Company"), and Qihoo 360 Technology Co. Ltd. ("Qihoo 360") (NYSE: QIHU), a leading Internet company in China as measured by active user base, today announced strategic cooperation between the two companies to offer users seamless access to Phoenix New Media's premium content through Qihoo 360's multi-platform products.

Phoenix New Media, China's fourth largest Internet portal by time spent, has become the first media partner to offer Qihoo 360's over 400 million users easy and immediate access to ifeng's premium news content. Pursuant to the agreement, Phoenix New Media will provide content from its portal website, www.ifeng.com, directly to Qihoo 360's multi-platform products, including 360 Browsers and 360 Desktop. Ifeng News will be listed as one of only six default links placed on 360's Personal Start-up Page. Moreover, Phoenix New Media will further expand its news application offerings to 360 Desktop, Qihoo 360's application-based platform for PCs in China. Phoenix New Media will provide breaking news and other media updates to 360 Desktop users through tailored applications and push notifications.

Mr. Xiangdong Qi, President of Qihoo 360 commented, "We are pleased to partner with Phoenix New Media, leveraging its strong media DNA and editorial capabilities to provide our audience a balanced perspective on real-time global news and in-depth featured stories. This strategic cooperation with ifeng will further improve users' engagement and experience on our platform by providing comprehensive and efficient access to global news via ifeng's applications and information services. We believe this partnership will further enhance close interaction between two of China's leading Internet companies going forward."

Mr. Ya Li, Chief Operating Officer of Phoenix New Media, commented, "We are excited to be partnered with Qihoo 360, the leading Internet platform company in China. Our strategic partnership will not only enrich Qihoo 360's content offerings, but also help boost our application downloads, increase our webpage views and further expand our overall user reach. Going forward, we believe that such initiatives, allowing expanded and easier access to our proprietary content, will help further enhance our user loyalty and viewership growth."

Comments & Business Outlook

Fri, 09 Mar 2012 05:00:00 GMT

BEIJING, March 9, 2012 /PRNewswire-Asia/ -- Qihoo 360 Technology Co. Ltd. ("Qihoo 360" or the "Company") (NYSE: QIHU), a leading Internet company in China as measured by active user base, today announced that it has secured exclusive rights in China for the initial launch of the PC Version of Rovio's "Angry Birds Space" on its 360 Desktop. The game is expected to become available for download on March 22, 2012. A mobile version of the game is expected to be available on Qihoo 360's mobile platform shortly thereafter.

Chinese Internet users will be able to download the game for free with one easy click on their desktop and mobile platforms. Qihoo 360's 400 million users will also be able to customize their 360 Desktop, 360 Browsers, 360 Personal Startup Page, and 360 Safeguard with Angry Birds screen savers, skin packs and videos.

Angry Birds Space will be the largest sequel to follow the successful 2009 launch of wildly popular Angry Birds. With 60 puzzling levels, new Angry Birds characters, new superpowers, and new gameplay, users will be able to have fun with physics in a variable gravity environment. More levels will be available both as free regular updates as well as in-app purchases.

360 Desktop is the largest app-based open platform on the PC in China with over 180,000 third-party applications and more than 50 million active users as of December 31, 2011. Rovio, the developer of the Angry Birds franchise, granted Qihoo 360 the exclusive right for the initial launch of Angry Birds Space China in order to leverage the Company's massive user base.

Comments & Business Outlook

Wed, 22 Feb 2012 05:00:00 GMT

Fourth Quarter 2011 Highlights

Revenues were $62.3million, an increase of 214.5% from $19.8 million in the fourth quarter of 2010.
Net income attributable to Qihoo 360 was $15.0 million, an increase of 274.1% from $4.0 million in the fourth quarter of 2010.
Net income attributable to Qihoo 360 excluding share-based compensation ("non-GAAP")(1) was $24.3 million, an increase of 365.9% from $5.2 million in the fourth quarter of 2010.
Diluted earnings per ADS(2) (EPADS) attributable to Qihoo 360 were $0.13.
Diluted EPADS attributable to Qihoo 360 excluding share-based compensation (non-GAAP)(1) were $0.20.
Total monthly active users of Qihoo 360's products and services surpassed 400 million for the first time ever and user penetration of Qihoo 360's products reached a record 93.8% in December 2011(3)
User penetration of Qihoo 360's browsers reached a record 59.5% in December 2011(3).
Average daily clicks on Qihoo 360's Personalized Start-up Page and its sub-pages were approximately 235 million in the fourth quarter of 2011.

"We are very pleased to report robust growth and expanding margins in our first full year operating results since becoming a public company," commented Hongyi Zhou, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Qihoo 360. "We have set a number of new records in financial and operating metrics, significantly exceeding our expectations. Our success was driven by our continued focus on product and technology innovation and customer satisfaction. Despite global economic uncertainty and capital markets volatility, growth in China's Internet sector remains healthy and we continue to outgrow the market by a wide margin."

"Our business fundamentals are strong as ever. We continue to experience robust growth in all major areas throughout 2011, particularly in the second half. As we maintain our dominant market position in China's Internet security industry, we continued to expand our market share in other key product areas. Our browsers' user penetration hit another record high of 59.5% at the end of 2011, compared to 41% at the end of 2010, further strengthening our leading market position. Total monthly active users of Qihoo 360's products and services surpassed 400 million for the first time ever in our company's history, a significant leap from 290 million at the end of 2010. This is particularly encouraging as it demonstrates the level of trust that our users have in us and the strong brand recognition we carry in the market. We are well positioned for the many opportunities ahead of us as we effectively execute our open platform strategy to drive long-term sustainable growth," Mr. Zhou concluded.

Xiangdong Qi, President of Qihoo 360, added, "With a relatively healthy market environment in China and our history of solid execution, we achieved stronger than expected revenue growth and profitability in the fourth quarter and the full year. Our online advertising business is clearly gaining market share. The 217% year-over-year growth in online advertising in 2011 was supported by robust user activity growth on our Personal Start-up Page and new customer contributions. Although web game operations is still relatively small at Qihoo 360, it is gaining momentum as we see accelerated user growth in the second half of 2011 that eventually drove an over 170% year-over-year revenue growth. As we continue to execute our business plan, we are confident that we can consistently deliver strong operating results in the near term. We also believe our proactive investments in product innovation and technology on both PC and mobile platforms will support long-term sustainable growth for our company."

Business Outlook

For the first quarter of 2012, the Company expects revenues to be between $63 million and $65 million, representing a year-over-year increase of 175% - 183% and a sequential increase of 1% - 5%. These estimates reflect the Company's current and preliminary view, which is subject to possible material changes.

Comments & Business Outlook

Wed, 08 Feb 2012 05:00:00 GMT

BEIJING, February 8, 2012 /PRNewswire-Asia/ -- Qihoo 360 Technology Co. Ltd. ("Qihoo 360" or the "Company," NYSE: QIHU), a leading Internet company in China as measured by active user base, today announced that all of its mobile applications for iOS were back on Apple's iTunes App Store as of 11:00am, February 8, 2012, Beijing Time (10:00pm, February 7, 2012, EST).

These applications were taken offline by Apple from its iTunes App Store on February 4, 2012 due to unusual user rating activities by unknown sources on certain Qihoo 360 applications. The Company directly contacted Apple officials in the United States on February 6, 2012 and resolved the issue. Apple started the process of reinstating Qihoo 360's mobile applications shortly thereafter. The Company was not asked to modify any of these applications.

"We are very pleased to resolve the issue with Apple and have all of our iOS mobile applications quickly back on the iTunes App Store without any need for modification," commented Mr. Hongyi Zhou, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Qihoo 360. "We offer well-designed iOS mobile applications that satisfy users' demand and meet all the requirements of the iTunes App Store. Our 360 Mobile Safe for the iPhone and 360 HD Browser for the iPad are testaments to the quality of our products as they continue to gain popularity among Chinese users. We will continue to develop more mobile applications for iOS, Android and other mobile platforms to serve our ever-growing mobile Internet user base."

Joint Venture

Thu, 02 Feb 2012 05:00:00 GMT

BEIJING, February 2, 2012 /PRNewswire-Asia/ -- Qihoo 360 Technology Co. Ltd. ("Qihoo 360" or the "Company," NYSE: QIHU), a leading Internet company in China as measured by active user base, today announced that it has formed a strategic partnership with Sina Weibo, the leading social media platform in China. Through the partnership, all of Qihoo 360's registered users will be able to access Sina Weibo with their Qihoo 360 accounts and all Sina Weibo users will be able to access Qihoo 360 products and services with their Weibo accounts.

In addition, Qihoo 360 will integrate Sina Weibo service into its key platform products, such as 360 Safe Browser and 360 Desktop. Qihoo 360 will also become an official security solution provider for Sina Weibo to ensure a secure and convenient Weibo experience for all users.

Furthermore, Qihoo 360 will continue to expand its cooperation with Sina Weibo in mobile product and application development to provide expanded mobile Internet experiences to Chinese Internet users.

"We are very excited to form this partnership with Sina Weibo, the most influential social media platform in China," commented Mr. Xiangdong Qi, President of Qihoo 360. "Qihoo 360's 370 million active users together with Sina Weibo's 250 million registered users will allow us to cover almost the entire Chinese Internet population. We believe this partnership will bring more diverse, secure and convenient services and applications to a broader cross section of Chinese Internet users through our open platforms."

Notable Share Transactions

Thu, 05 Jan 2012 05:00:00 GMT

BEIJING, January 5, 2012 /PRNewswire-Asia/ -- Qihoo 360 Technology Co. Ltd. ("Qihoo 360" or the "Company") (NYSE: QIHU), a leading Internet company in China as measured by active user base, today announced that its Board of Directors has authorized the repurchase of up to US$50 million of the Company's American Depositary Shares. The share repurchases are currently expected to be made through open market purchases or privately negotiated transactions as market conditions warrant, at prices the Company deems appropriate, and in accordance with the Securities and Exchange Commission requirements. The share repurchase will be funded with the Company's existing cash reserves and ongoing cash flow. The Company had US$319 million cash and cash equivalent on its balance sheet as of September 30, 2011.

Mr. Hongyi Zhou, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Qihoo 360, commented, "We believe the authorized share repurchase is in the best interests of our shareholders and represents an effective use of our cash. We expect to continue to generate cash from operations that will help us fund our ongoing business expansion. We remain confident in our current business strategy and our near and long-term growth prospects."

Investor Presentations

Thu, 22 Dec 2011 05:00:00 GMT

BEIJING, Dec. 22, 2011 /PRNewswire-Asia/ -- Qihoo 360 Technology Co. Ltd. ("Qihoo 360" or the "Company") (NYSE: QIHU), a leading Internet company in China as measured by active user base, today announced that it will host the Company's first investor/analyst day in Beijing on January 12, 2012.

During the day, members of senior management as well as the heads of major business units will provide formal presentations and host Q&A sessions to discuss the Company's growth strategy, product development, operational details and business updates. In addition, several business partners and major customers of Qihoo 360 will participate in panel discussions about the relevant business areas in order to provide more information and greater transparency about Qihoo 360's business model and operations.

_____________________________

BEIJING, Dec. 22, 2011 /PRNewswire-Asia/ -- Qihoo 360 Technology Co. Ltd. ("Qihoo 360" or the "Company") (NYSE: QIHU), a leading Internet company in China as measured by active user base, today announced that it will meet with investors at the following upcoming investor conferences in January 2012:

On January 9, 2012, Qihoo 360 will present and meet investors at the UBS Greater China Conference 2012 in Shanghai, China. The conference will be held at the Pudong Shangri-la Hotel in Shanghai, China.

On January 10 - 11, 2012, Qihoo 360 will present and meet investors at the Deutsche Bank Access China Conference 2012 in Beijing, China. The conference will be held at the Grand Hyatt Hotel in Beijing, China.

Investors who are interested in attending these conferences and meeting with Qihoo 360 should contact their sales representatives at the respective banks.

Company Rebuttal

Thu, 08 Dec 2011 05:00:00 GMT

BEIJING, December 8, 2011 /PRNewswire-Asia/ -- Qihoo 360 Technology Co. Ltd. ("Qihoo 360" or the "Company," NYSE: QIHU), the leading Internet company in China as measured by active user base, once again rejects a series of allegations made since November 1, 2011 by Citron Research who has admitted that it stands to profit from a drop in the share price of the Company.

Qihoo 360 stands by all of the information contained in its filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. The Company reiterates that Citron's commentary contained numerous errors of fact and groundless speculations and lacked understanding of China's internet sector and of the Company's business model.

Qihoo 360 is dedicated to continuing open and transparent communications with investors, security analysts and the public. The Company welcomes opportunities for direct dialog with all parties that are genuinely interested in gaining a better understanding of the Company's business model, operations, or the Chinese internet industry.

Qihoo 360 intends to protect its reputation and the interests of its shareholders, and reserves legal rights against any deliberately false accusation or personal attack.

Company Rebuttal

Tue, 06 Dec 2011 05:00:00 GMT

BEIJING, December 6, 2011 /PRNewswire-Asia/ -- Qihoo 360 Technology Co. Ltd. ("Qihoo 360" or the "Company") (NYSE:QIHU), the leading Internet company in China as measured by active user base, today responded to a follow-up report that appeared on the Citron Research homepage. The Company believes the article contains numerous errors of fact and misleading speculations. The Company would like to highlight certain key errors contained in the story.

Undercounted advertising links on hao.360.cn:

In the third quarter of 2011, there were a total of 125 to 130 paid advertising links on the front page of hao.360.cn, varying insignificantly from month to month, compared to Citron's claim of 60 to 65 links.
The Company charges its advertising customers on a per-link basis, not per-customer basis. Therefore, certain customers' multiple links on the front page should not be viewed as duplicates. There are approximately 30 such "duplicated" links that were eliminated in the Citron report.
Tracking URL is just one of many ways that advertisers use to measure the performance of advertising links. There are approximately 40 paid advertising links on hao.360.cn's front page that do not contain tracking URLs. Some long-term advertising customers choose not to use tracking URLs because they feel comfortable with the website's traffic pattern and also because a tracking URL may slow down users' browsing experience in some cases.

Comments & Business Outlook

Wed, 16 Nov 2011 05:00:00 GMT

Third Quarter 2011 Highlights (1)

Revenues were a record $47.5 million, an increase of 207% from $15.5 million in the third quarter of 2010.
Net income attributable to Qihoo 360 was $10.9 million, an increase of 186% from $3.8 million in the third quarter of 2010.
Net income attributable to Qihoo 360 excluding share-based compensation ("non-GAAP")(1) was $19.5 million, an increase of 306% from $4.8 million in the third quarter of 2010.
Diluted earnings per ADS(2) (EPADS) attributable to Qihoo 360 were $0.09.
Diluted EPADS attributable to Qihoo 360 excluding share-based compensation (non-GAAP)(1) were $0.16 vs. $0.06.
User penetration of Qihoo 360's browsers reached a record 57% in September 2011(3).
Average daily clicks on the Company's 360 Personalized Start-up Pages were 185 million in September 2011.

"We are very pleased to report our third consecutive quarter of robust growth since becoming a public company as we set a number of new records in financial and operating metrics," commented Hongyi Zhou, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Qihoo 360. "Our success was driven by our continued focus on product and technology innovation and customer satisfaction. Despite continued global economic uncertainty and capital markets volatility, growth in China's Internet sector remains healthy and we continue to outgrow the market by a wide margin.

Business Outlook

For the fourth quarter of 2011, the Company expects revenues to be between $55 million and $56 million, representing a year-over-year increase of 178% - 183% and a sequential increase of 16% - 18%.

For the full year 2011, the Company expects revenues to be between $160 million and $161 million, representing a year-over-year increase of 177% - 179%. These estimates reflect the Company's current and preliminary view, which is subject to possible material changes.

Company Rebuttal

Wed, 02 Nov 2011 04:00:00 GMT

BEIJING, November 2, 2011 /PRNewswire-Asia/ -- Qihoo 360 Technology Co. Ltd. ("Qihoo 360" or the "Company") (NYSE: QIHU), the No. 3 Internet company in China as measured by active user base, today announced that it strongly disagrees with a recent story that appeared on the Citron Research homepage.

The Company believes the article contains numerous errors of fact and is riddled with unsupported speculations. The Company would like to highlight certain key errors in fact contained in the story. Full article

Comments & Business Outlook

Mon, 26 Sep 2011 04:00:00 GMT

BEIJING, September 26, 2011 /PRNewswire-Asia/ -- Qihoo 360 Technology Co. Ltd. ("Qihoo 360" or the "Company") (NYSE: QIHU), the No. 3 internet company in China as measured by active user base, today announced that it has launched "Kouxin" ("Message" in Chinese), a free, real-time cross-platform mobile messaging application for Android, iOS and Symbian smart phones.

Kouxin offers many innovative and convenient features, to:

Support cross-platform mobile devices, including iOS, Android and Symbian based smart phones and tablets.
Send/receive text, picture and voice messages free of SMS/MMS charges.
Expand trusted mobile social relationships through mobile phone address book, "Weibo" invitation and "smart" recommendation.
Offer group chat and text functions enabling friends, relatives and co-workers to easily communicate with each other.
Support location sharing among users that enables future Location Based Services (LBS).
Optimize data communications to ensure fast and effective message delivery through Wi-Fi and mobile data networks.
Provide intelligent contact list search functions and cloud-based contact list sharing and back-up services.

Kouxin is available for free download at http://www.Kouxin.com.

"We are excited to continue to expand our mobile product offerings, with the addition of Kouxin product" commented Mr. Hongyi Zhou, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Qihoo 360, "We believe Kouxin represents a crucial step as we seek to establish and expand our mobile social networking systems, with its key features such as multi-media messaging, group communications, and location based services. This is also a significant piece of our overall mobile strategy."

Comments & Business Outlook

Wed, 17 Aug 2011 04:00:00 GMT

Second Quarter 2011 Highlights(1)

Revenues hit a record $35.1 million, an increase of 176.6% from $12.7 million in the second quarter of 2010.
Net income attributable to Qihoo 360 was a record at $11.1 million, an increase of 411.5% from $2.2 million in the second quarter of 2010.
Net income attributable to Qihoo 360 excluding share-based compensation ("non-GAAP")(1) was $13.2 million, an increase of 328.4% from $3.1 million in the second quarter of 2010.
Diluted earnings per ADS(2) (EPADS) attributed to Qihoo 360 were $0.09.
Diluted EPADS attributed to Qihoo 360 excluding share-based compensation (non-GAAP)(1) was$0.11 vs. $0.04.
Monthly active users of Qihoo 360's products and services reached 378 million as of June 2011, an increase of 10% from 345 million at the end of March 2011(3).
Qihoo 360's products and services' user penetration rate among all Chinese internet users reached 92% as of June 2011, the highest level in the Company's history(3).
360 Safe Browser's user penetration reached a record 52% as of June 2011, compared with 48% at the end of March 2011(3)

"We are pleased to report another period of strong growth in the second quarter as we set a number of new records in terms of our performance," commented Hongyi Zhou, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Qihoo 360. "Our strong results were driven by our continued focus on product and technology innovation and customer satisfaction. While global economic uncertainty and volatility in the capital markets in recent months appear to have caused some concern around the world, the growth and development of the Internet sector in China and our business fundamentals remain strong. As we continued to solidify our dominant market position in China's Internet security industry, we also expanded our market penetration in some key product areas, such as our web browser. Our user base and user penetration rates both hit record highs during the quarter. This is particularly encouraging as it shows the level of trust our users have in us and the strong brand recognition we carry in the market."

Business Outlook

For the third quarter of 2011, the Company expects revenues to be between $41 million and $42 million, representing a year-over-year increase of 165% - 172% and a sequential increase of 17% - 20%. These estimates reflect the Company's current and preliminary view, which is subject to possible material changes.

Liquidity Requirements

Thu, 09 Jun 2011 04:00:00 GMT

We believe that our current levels of cash and cash flows from operations and financing activities will be sufficient to meet our anticipated cash needs for at least the next twelve months. However, we may need additional cash resources in the future if we experience changed business conditions or other developments. We may also need additional cash resources in the future if we find and wish to pursue opportunities for investment, acquisition, strategic cooperation or other similar actions.

Comments & Business Outlook

Wed, 25 May 2011 04:00:00 GMT

First Quarter Results:

Revenues were $22.9 million, an increase of 136.5% from $9.7 million in the first quarter of 2010.
Net loss attributable to Qihoo 360 was $21.4 million, compared with a net loss attributable to Qihoo 360 of $1.5 million in the first quarter of 2010, mainly due to the recognition of $26.7 million share-based compensation expenses related to the options and nonvested shares ("share awards") vested upon the company's listing on NYSE and the re-measurement of value of the share awards granted to consultants at quarter end.
Net income attributable to Qihoo 360 excluding share-based expenses (non-GAAP) was $6.6 million, compared with a net loss attributable to Qihoo 360 excluding share-based expenses (non-GAAP) of $585,000 in the first quarter of 2010.

"We are pleased to report our first quarterly results as a public company," commented Hongyi Zhou, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Qihoo 360. "Our strong growth in the first quarter was driven by our unwavering commitment to cutting-edge product innovation and user-oriented product design. We are also benefiting from a booming internet market in China, where we see particularly strong business and investment activities. We see strong momentum across our major business segments during the quarter as we reached new highs in monthly active users for most of our main products. With our recent successful IPO on the New York Stock Exchange, we are even better positioned to attract new users, engineering talent and business partners to our powerful platform as we continue to build and expand our trusted brand among internet users in China."

For the second quarter of 2011, the Company expects revenue to be in the range of $28 million and $30 million, representing a year-over-year increase of 120% - 136% and sequential growth of 22% - 31%. These estimates reflect the company's current and preliminary view, which is subject to possible material changes.