China’s location-based social app Momo ranked first in the recently published Fortune’s 2019 edition of 100 fastest-growing companies worldwide, which takes account of earnings per share (EPS) growth rate, revenue growth rate and three-year annualized return.
Momo, founded in March 2011, started as a dating app but has diversified to offer a more comprehensive social experience that integrates live streaming and gaming. The Chinese social networking platform registered 114.4 million monthly active users in March 2019, compared to 103.3 million in March 2018.
The Beijing-headquartered company’s reported revenues increased by 141% yearly on average in the past three years, ranking first among all 100 companies in this indicator. Its EPS in the three years that ended on June 28 raised 193% each year on average, ranking second. Total stock return for three years grew 53% each year on average, ranking 14th.
Overall, tech companies lead Fortune’s list. Netflix ranks fifth, Nvidia seventh, while Amazon ranks 11th and Facebook 22nd.
Online news portal Sina, one of China’s oldest internet companies and its affiliated social media platform Weibo, are both on the list, ranking 85th and 13th respectively.
China’s e-commerce site Baozun ranks 42nd and live streamer YY ranks 48th. Autohome, China’s online vehicle information portal, ranks 50th.
To qualify for the Fortune’s list, companies need to trade on a US stock exchange and have a market cap of at least USD 250 million.
However, the past three-year track record of being a high achiever does not guarantee a fast-growing future.
Momo’s net revenues in the first quarter of this year increased 35% year-on-year to RMB 3.7 billion (USD 554.7 million). Sina booked RMB 3.28 billion (USD 475.1 million) in the first quarter, up 8% year-on-year.
Weibo reported USD 399.2 million in net revenues in the first quarter of this year, increasing 14% year-on-year.
