Longtop shares rise after earnings report(2)

U.S.-listed shares of Chinese financial software developer Longtop Financial Technologies Ltd. surged Monday after it reported results that beat expectations for its latest quarter.

The stock rose $2.82, or 9.1 percent, to $33.86 in afternoon trading.

On Saturday, the Hong Kong-based company said it earned $6 million, or 10 cents per share in its fiscal fourth quarter, which ended March 31. That was down from $8.8 million, or 17 cents per share, a year earlier.

Excluding stock-based compensation, amortization some acquisition-related charges, earnings were $16.3 million, or 28 cents per share, up 48 percent from a year earlier. Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters had expected earnings of 27 cents per share on that basis.

Longtop's revenue was $43.1 million, up 66 percent from last year and above the analyst forecast of $40 million.

For the current fiscal year, Longtop expects revenue of $225 million and earnings of $1.64 per share. Analysts were expecting revenue of $219 million and earnings of $1.61 per share.

Kaufman Bros. analyst Karl Keirstead said Longtop's revenue projection was likely conservative, since it projected a higher growth rate for the current quarter. He affirmed a "Buy" rating and $45 price target on the stock in a morning note.