Citi Bumping Up Price Target On NetEase (NTES)

Citi Investment Research raised its price target on NetEase.com, Inc. NTES to $51 from $50, and is keeping its Buy rating on the stock. In a research report sent to clients, Citi writes, "NetEase reported better-than-expected 3Q results with top line beating Street by 2% driven by solid FWJ momentum and strength in advertising revs due to Asian Games sponsorship. Looking forward, 4Q10 and 2011 momentum should remain strong driven by 1) solid traction of WoW's WLK, 2) steady performance from core games; 3) increasing advertising traction to its more refined portal and 4) upcoming launch of SCII. Our Buy thesis remains unchanged. We see NetEase demonstrating its efforts to put emphasis on high quality game development and paying attention to gamers' feedback yielding more steady and sustainable game performance. Its partnership with Blizzard will likely return further opportunities for licensing more world class games to China. Its commitment in turning around its portal business also starting to yield positive returns." Shares of NTES closed at $40.92 yesterday, a gain of $1.32 or 3.3%.