Sina Q3 revenue, earnings beat estimates
* Q3 adjusted EPS 34 cents vs. Street view 31 cents
* Q3 revenue $96.4 mln vs. Street view $94.5 mln
* Sees Q4 rev $106 mln-109 mln, including real estate ads
* Rev estimate beats Street view of $99.5 mln
* Shares up 2.5 pct
SAN FRANCISCO, Nov 16 - Sina Corp <SINA.O>, China's largest Web portal, posted a lower third-quarter profit but delivered a stronger-than-expected revenue forecast, pointing to improvements in the advertising market.
Shares of Sina rose 2.5 percent in after-hours trade on Monday.
Including advertising revenue from its real estate business, which was recently merged with another company, the revenue forecast for the fourth quarter is $106 million to $109 million. That tops the average $99.5 million forecast from analysts, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.
After excluding that business the revenue will range between $93 million to $96 million.
"We are seeing strong signs of a recovery in the advertising market in China in the second half of this year," Sina Chief Executive Charles Chao said in a statement, adding that he expected the momentum to continue as the Chinese economy improves.
China's online advertising market has taken a hit this year as uncertain economic conditions forced companies to slash their advertising and marketing budgets, but activity has picked up recently as the government's $585 billion economic stimulus package trickles into consumer spending.
In the third quarter, ending Sept. 30, Sina said its advertising revenue fell 16 percent year over year, but rose 10 percent sequentially to $63.8 million. The company had projected advertising revenue between $60 million and $62 million.
Net profit fell to $16.7 million, or 29 cents a share, from $18.85 million, or 31 cents a share, a year earlier, as net revenue fell nearly 9 percent to $96.4 million.
Profit per share excluding one-time items was 34 cents, above the average analyst expectation of 31 cents, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S. Had had expected revenue of $94.5 million for the third quarter.
Sina's shares, which are up roughly 83 percent this year, rose $1.09, or 2.5 percent, to $44 after closing at $42.906 on Nasdaq. (Reporting by Alexei Oreskovic and Melanie Lee; Editing by Gary Hill and Carol Bishopric)