Smartphone Giant Xiaomi Jumps After Joining China Buyback Wave

tech.hindustantimes.com:

Xiaomi Corp. jumped as much as 6.3% after posting better-than-expected results and declaring it will begin buying as much as HK$10 billion ($1.3 billion) of its own shares.

The world’s No. 3 smartphone maker joins Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. and other Chinese giants in accelerating repurchases after a brutal tech selloff. The announcement came after the world’s No. 3 smartphone maker posted a quarterly profit that beat analysts’ estimates, defying industry-wide component shortages thanks to a busy holiday season.

Xiaomi’s shares rose as much as 6.3% in early trading in Hong Kong. Investors anticipate more Chinese companies will take advantage of depressed valuations after Alibaba on Tuesday ramped up its share buyback program to $25 billion. The move also fueled hopes Beijing is easing off an internet crackdown that wiped out hundreds of billions of dollars of market value.

Xiaomi managed to grow its worldwide smartphone shipments by 3.9% in the December quarter, helped by models with upgraded camera features and software. Rivals from Apple Inc. to Oppo lost ground as global shipments fell 3.2% in the period, according to International Data Corp.

It reported a 40% jump in adjusted net income to 4.47 billion yuan ($702 million) in the last three months of 2021. Analysts estimated 4.2 billion yuan on average, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Sales increased 21% to 85.6 billion yuan, beating the average prediction of 81.5 billion yuan. That’s despite faced prolonged component shortages and fluctuating producer prices in the second half of 2021. Xiaomi’s Results Strong, Firm Can Outperform Peers: Street Wrap Russia’s invasion of Ukraine hindered the company’s overseas business, although the impact will be