By Michael Dabaie

iQIYI Inc. ADRs rose 10.5% to $13.98 in late morning trading.

The online entertainment service in China earlier reported first quarter revenue of 8 billion yuan, or $1.2 billion, up from CNY7.6 billion a year earlier. FactSet consensus was for $1.19 billion.

Net loss was CNY1.3 billion, or $193.4 million, the company said, narrower than a loss of CNY2.9 billion in the same period in 2020. Per-ADS loss was CNY1.61, or 25 cents, compared to a year earlier loss of CNY3.92. FactSet consensus was for a loss of 31 cents.

The number of subscribing members was 105.3 million as of March 31 and 104.3 million excluding individuals with trial memberships.

Membership services revenue was RMB4.3 billion, or $658.1 million, a 7% decrease from the same period in 2020, the company said. The decrease was primarily due to the decline of subscribing members from 118.9 million as of March 31, 2020--which was a high base due to the impact of Covid-19--to 105.3 million as of March 31, 2021, the company said.

"We kicked off the year with a solid quarter across the board" said Dr. Yu Gong, founder, director, and chief executive of iQIYI. "We had 3.6 million more subscribing members in the first quarter and our membership services revenue grew by 12% quarter-over-quarter, recording the peak level in terms of absolute dollar amount over the past year."

The company cited its content launch across various of categories including dramas, variety shows and films during the quarter.

"Our total revenue in the first quarter has exceeded our previous guidance, recording healthy growth on both quarter-over-quarter and year-over-year basis," Chief Financial Officer Xiaodong Wang said.

For the second quarter, iQIYI said it expects revenue of CNY7.21 billion, or $1.10 billion, to CNY7.65 billion, or $1.17 billion, a 3% decrease to a 3% increase on year.

Write to Michael Dabaie at michael.dabaie@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

05-18-21 1201ET