Key Takeaways:
Yeahka's gross payment value surged 50% in the third quarter compared with the previous three months
The payment services provider's stock trades at a forward price-to-earnings ratio around 30 times, signaling a premium valuation
Yeahka Ltd. (09923.HK), the electronic payments services company once favored by star stock picker Cathie Wood, was a stock superstar earlier this year, more than doubling from a mid-January low to an intraday high of HK$16.58 in late June. But it's been downhill since then, with the stock now trading at just half that level. The stock briefly regained some of its mojo last week, rising 7.4% in a single day after the company issued a business update reporting strong gains for its overseas business in the third quarter.
Yeahka has quite the pedigree, founded in 2011 by Liu Yingqi, a former general manager of Tencent's payment arm, who secured an early strategic investment from his former employer in 2012. The company established its Leshua Technology payment unit in 2013, and obtained a coveted license to process bank card payments from China's central bank in 2014, renewing the license five years later.
Evolving from its origins in payment processing using point-of-sale (POS) terminals, Yeahka has gone on to become China's largest independent non-bank provider of such services for a newer generation of QR code-based payments. It also operates an in-store e-commerce business. Liu Yingqi remains its largest shareholder with a 35% stake.
As its China business matures, its younger overseas unit has become Yeahka's newest growth engine. That unit was a star in the ...
