Qudian (NYSE: QD) reported Q3 EPS of $0.47, $0.05 worse than the analyst estimate of $0.52. Revenue for the quarter came in at $362.5 million versus the consensus estimate of $282.22 million.

Third Quarter 2019 Financial Highlights:

• Total revenues were RMB2,590.9 million (US$362.5 million), increased by 34.3% from same period last year, primarily due to the ramp up of the open-platform initiative
  • Loan facilitation income and other related income increased by 72.6% year-on-year to RMB583.3 million (US$81.6 million) from RMB337.9 million for the same period last year
  • Transaction services fee and other related income which relate to transaction services and traffic referral services provided by our open-platform, substantially increased to RMB993.3 million (US$139.0 million) from nil for the same period last year
  • Financing income decreased by 16.9% to RMB797.9 million (US$111.6 million) from RMB960.2 million for the same period last year as a result of a decrease in average on-balance sheet loan balance
• Net income increased by 52.6% year-on-year to RMB1,043.4 million (US$146.0 million), or RMB3.29 (US$0.46) per diluted ADS
• Non-GAAP net income[5] increased by 52.9% year-on-year to RMB1,061.8million (US$148.6 million), or RMB3.34 (US$0.47) per diluted ADS

"The third quarter marks our successful evolution to a balance sheet independent, technology services fee driven business. Our transaction services fee overtook as the largest in revenue scale and delivered staggering 150% growth from the previous quarter," said Mr. Min Luo, Founder, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Qudian.

"In the face of a complex and evolving regulatory framework over the past several years we have proven our ability to lead and innovate, creating China's leading regulatory compliant fintech company. Our past efforts in full compliance with Circular 141, restrained use of micro lending license, complete avoidance of P2P business model, 100% institutional funding base, disciplined approach to collection and respect of our customers' data privacy have all cumulated to our open platform solution. Our open platform where the licensed and regulated financial institutions lend and assume borrowers risk while QD provides a full suite of transaction services using cutting edge technologies to enhance analytics, user experience, reduce customer acquisition and engagement cost, is likely to be the ultimate form of regulatory compliant fintech in China."

Outlook

Due to recent strategy for the company to reduce risk-taking loan balance and focus on higher quality borrowers via open-platform, the Company has adjusted its expected total Non-GAAP net income for the full year of 2019 to RMB4.0 billion, which will represent an approximately 57% increase from RMB2.55 billion for 2018.

For earnings history and earnings-related data on Qudian (QD) click here.