NetEase (NASDAQ: NTES) is down 6.6% in pre-open trade Thursday after the company reported Q1 EPS of $1.61, $0.36 worse than the analyst estimate of $1.97. Revenue for the quarter came in at $2.3 billion versus the consensus estimate of $2.18 billion.

"We believe the advancements we made across our business segments in the first quarter put us on track for a successful year. We are excited by the longevity of and player loyalty to our flagship games, the strong performances of our new titles launched in the first quarter, and the continued rapid expansion of our e-commerce business, as well as the healthy development of our advertising services," said Mr. William Ding, Chief Executive Officer and Director of NetEase.

"We continue to dominate China's MMORPG market with our new chart-topping title, Chu Liu Xiang, which modernized MMOPRG gameplay," Mr. Ding continued. "Our strategy to introduce games in non-MMORPG genres is also beginning to bear fruit. Monetization for Knives Out andTerminator 2 is ramping up smoothly, and Identity V, our very first ABA game, attracted a huge fan base immediately following its launch in April.

"We are committed to executing on our game diversification strategy, and we are becoming more adept at reaching non-MMORPG users. As we work to expand our award-winning portfolio of online games, we expect our marketing costs will normalize going forward, compared with our marketing expenses in the first quarter of 2018. For 2018, we will work to ensure that each of our business lines continues to thrive, and we remain focused on creating additional value for all of our stakeholders," concluded Mr. Ding.

For earnings history and earnings-related data on NetEase (NTES) click here.