SOHO China stock has drifted lower again, finishing at HK$0.315 after a weak few months, yet the latest half year results point to a different story in the income statement. The headline is not a turnaround. It is that the loss has narrowed sharply while revenue remains in the hundreds of millions of renminbi.

For a company long viewed as a chronic loss maker with stretched valuation questions, this half brings a smaller earnings hit and a reminder that the market price still reflects deep pessimism. The gap between sentiment and the actual earnings run rate is now the key factor to watch.

Love that SOHO China is still generating hundreds of millions of renminbi in revenue but concerned the stock price looks like a deep value trap while…