ATA Creativity Global (AACG) Stock in Decline After a Hefty Friday, Here’s Why

ATA Creativity Global (AACG), a company that provides educational services to individual students through its training centre network in China, has plunged 8.33% in aftermarket trading session. Consequently, AACG stock is trading at $2.42 at the time of the writing. The decline could be attributed to the profit-taking effect after the stock rocketed 33.33% during Friday’s regular trading session and closed the day at $2.64. The increase could be attributed to a huge volume of short-term trading, which is rampant with stock since the last month of the previous year.

Q3 2021 Operational Results

In early November, AACG released the operational results for the third quarter of the fiscal year 2021. The quarter ended on 30th September. The company generated net revenue of $8.58 million during the quarter. The gross profit for the period stood at $4.41 million, while the total operating expenses were estimated to be $7.85 million. The company suffered a loss of $3.4 million from the operations. The net loss for the three months stood at $4.08 million (or $0.07 per basic and diluted share).

AACG Financial Results

Alongside the operational results, AACG also released the financial results for the quarter. The company had cash and cash equivalents of $11.67 million on 30th September 2021. The total current assets in possession of the company on the said date were $12.46 million, while the total assets were estimated to be $81.33 million. On 30th September, the total current liabilities payable by the company were calculated to be $43.73 million, while the total liabilities were $51.2 million on the said date.

Executive Commentary

Mr. Kevin Ma, Chairman, and CEO of AACG, while commenting on the results said that the company is pleased to have achieved over 30% growth on the top line during the third quarter. The growth is primarily driven by the increased contributions from portfolio training and research-based learning services which is supported by steady enrollments across the major service lines. The company is committed to maintaining its leading position in creative arts education with a focus on positive outcomes.

Future Outlook for AACG Stock

The last month has seen AACG stock soaring by more than 85%. The rise is the result of massive short interest in the company. Analysts however believe that looking ahead, the long-term investment in the stock could not yield significant positive outcomes for the investors and could prove to be a risky scenario.