Sohu Announces US$100 Million Stock Buy-back Plan

Aug. 29, 2011, Sohu.com Inc. (Nasdaq: SOHU)announced that its Board of Directors has authorized the company’s plan to buy back up to US$100 million of the outstanding American Depositary Shares (ADS) of Changyou.com Limited (Nasdaq: CYOU), Sohu’s online gaming subsidiary, and/or outstanding shares of common stock of Sohu over a one-year period from Sep.1, 2011 to Aug. 31, 2012.

In Aug.1, Sohu reported its Q2 2011 financial results, hitting record revenue of $198.7 million, which rose 36 persent year-over-year, and its net profit reached $ 42.7 million, helped by strong performance in its online games and brand advertising units. However, Sohu’s stock price actually fell 12% to close at $79.14 after the earnings release. Sohu CEO Charles Zhang condemned Wall Street’s “temporary blindness” on his microblog messages.

Charles Zhang said in one of his microblog message that, “The hot popularity  of DMD (Duke of Mount Deer) is ignored; Sohu Video is on track to become a leader, and Sogou is experiencing soaring growth, but none of these reflects in Sohu’s market value.”

According to Charles Zhang, “This program underscores our continued confidence in Changyou’s and Sohu’s long term growth prospects, as well as an ongoing commitment to increase Sohu shareholders’ value.” He also said that, “Our directors believe that this program represents a wise use of some of our abundant cash reserves while our healthy operating cash flow is sufficient to support our growth objectives.”