At a time when the global tech sector has rallied after a terrible 2022, the MENA-based social networking and gaming company Yalla Group Ltd. (YALA.US) is on a bit of cruise control, including in terms of its share price. As global internet giants like Facebook parent Meta (META.US) and Tencent (0700. HK) have price-to-earnings (P/E) ratios in the solid double-digit range, Yalla’s ratio of 8.62 seems quite low for a company that looked like a strong high-growth bet at the time of its September 2020 IPO.
Its 52-week share price increase of 2.95% lags the S&P 500, and its revenue of $73.5 million in the first quarter ticked up by a modest 1.6% above the first quarter of 2022, according to its latest quarterly results announced on May 16.
Yalla’s shares rose about 5% in the two days after the announcement, indicating investors were cautiously optimistic about the company’s prospects as it takes steps to breathe new life into its top line revenue.