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    BILI
    Earnings call· Mar 2026(Q1 FY26)

    Bilibili Q1 FY26 earnings call BILI

    May 19, 2026 Source

    Executive summary

    Bilibili Q1 FY26 — Strong Growth in Community, Commercialization, and Profitability Driven by AI

    Bilibili delivered a strong first quarter, demonstrating robust growth across its community, commercialization efforts, and profitability. The company highlighted the increasing leverage of AI in enhancing content creation, user engagement, and advertising efficiency, which is translating into tangible financial benefits and margin expansion. Management remains focused on strengthening its ecosystem flywheel and investing in long-term growth areas, with a commitment to shareholder returns through potential share repurchase renewals.

    Highlights

    5

    • Total revenues grew 7% year-over-year to RMB 7.5 billion.

    • Advertising revenue grew 30% year-over-year to RMB 2.6 billion, accelerating from 2025.

    • Adjusted net profit grew 62% year-over-year to RMB 585 million, with margin expanding to 7.8%.

    • Gross margin reached 37.1%, marking the 15th consecutive quarter of expansion.

    • DAUs grew 8% year-over-year to 115 million, and average daily time spent reached a new high of 119 minutes, up 11 minutes year-over-year.

    Concerns

    2

    • Mobile games revenue decreased 12% year-over-year to RMB 1.5 billion, primarily due to a high base from San Guo: Mou Ding Tian Xia in the prior year.

    • VAS revenue growth was modest at 4% year-over-year, reaching RMB 2.9 billion.

    Guidance & targets

    10
    CategoryTargetConfidence
    Mid- to long-term gross margin target
    45%
    high materiality
    High
    Mid- to long-term operating profit ratio target
    15% to 20%
    high materiality
    High
    Full-year AI-related CapEx increase
    RMB 1 billion
    medium materiality
    High
    Full-year AI-related CapEx P&L impact
    RMB 500 million
    medium materiality
    High
    Q2 advertising revenue growth
    rapid growth
    high materiality
    High
    Q2 gross margin
    steadily improving
    medium materiality
    High
    Q2 net profit margin
    further room to increase
    medium materiality
    High
    NCard, San Guo: Bai Jiang Pai official launch
    July this year
    medium materiality
    High
    San Guo: Mou Ding Tian new SLG title rollout
    late this year
    medium materiality
    High
    Lumi Master, Caoba, Lumi global launch
    Q4 this year
    medium materiality
    High

    Segment performance

    3
    SegmentRevenueYoYQoQMargin
    VAS (Value-Added Services)
    Refined live broadcasting operations delivered stable performance with improved gross margin. Premium members and fan charging program showed healthy growth.
    Premium members: 24.8 millionPremium members growth YoY: 5%Premium members on annual/auto renewal: ~80%Fan charging program revenue growth YoY: >50%
    		RMB 2.9 billion4%—improved gross margin
    Advertising
    Delivered standout results with accelerating growth, reflecting the value of the community and effective AI integration. Strong performance across diverse verticals and new ad scenarios.
    Consecutive quarters of double-digit growth: 13thTop 5 ad verticals: games, Internet services, digital products and home appliances, e-commerce, automotiveAI advertisers budget surging YoY: >170% (Internet services sector)Digital products and home appliances ad revenue growth YoY: >30%Automotive ad revenue growth YoY: >30%Home decoration ad spending jump YoY: >130%CTCVR of performance-based ads increase YoY: 25%Automated ad spending penetration: ~85%PC and OTT ad revenues growth YoY: >50%Search and mini programs ad revenues growth: >100%
    		RMB 2.6 billion30%——
    Mobile Games
    Year-over-year decline mainly due to a high base from San Guo: Mou Ding Tian Xia in the same period last year. Evergreen titles FGO and Azur Lane remained stable.
    		RMB 1.5 billion-12%0%—

    Operational metrics

    16
    Total revenues
    RMB 7.5 billion7% year-over-year
    Q1 FY26

    Overall revenue performance for the quarter.

    Gross profit
    RMB 2.8 billion9% year-over-year
    Q1 FY26

    Gross profit for the quarter.

    Gross profit margin
    37.1%up from 36.3% in Q1 FY25
    Q1 FY26

    Achieved 15th consecutive quarter of margin expansion.

    Operating profit
    RMB 167 millionover 10x year-over-year
    Q1 FY26

    Significant increase in operating profit.

    Adjusted operating profit
    RMB 524 million
    Q1 FY26

    Non-GAAP operating profit.

    Adjusted operating profit margin
    7.0%versus 4.9% in Q1 FY25
    Q1 FY26

    Expansion in adjusted operating profit margin.

    Net profit
    RMB 202 millionversus RMB 11 million net loss in Q1 FY25
    Q1 FY26

    Return to net profit from a loss in the prior year.

    Adjusted net profit
    RMB 585 million62% year-over-year
    Q1 FY26

    Strong growth in non-GAAP net profit.

    Adjusted net profit margin
    7.8%improved from 5.2% in Q1 FY25
    Q1 FY26

    Expansion in adjusted net profit margin.

    Cost of revenues
    RMB 4.7 billion5% year-over-year
    Q1 FY26

    Cost of revenues for the quarter.

    Total operating expenses
    RMB 2.6 billion3% year-over-year
    Q1 FY26

    Overall operating expenses, showing disciplined spending.

    Cash and cash equivalents, time deposits and short-term investments
    RMB 24.2 billion
    as of March 31, 2026

    Total liquidity at the end of the quarter.

    Average daily time spent
    119 minutesup 11 minutes year-over-year
    Q1 FY26

    Reached a new high, contributing to increased total user time spent.

    Official members retention rate
    80%
    12-month

    High retention rate for official members.

    Automated ad spending penetration
    85%
    Q1 FY26

    High penetration of automated ad spending, indicating efficiency.

    Escape from Duckov copies sold
    4 million
    to date

    Record sales for a self-developed PC game.

    Industry KPIs

    6
    MetricValueDetails
    Family dap dau115 millionusers
    CAPEX compute commitmentsRMB 200 millionRMB
    Advertising revenue by segmentRMB 2.6 billionRMB
    Share buyback capital returnedUSD 60.3 millionUSD
    Ai feature adoption monetization—
    Custom silicon ai infrastructure—

    Product announcements

    3
    ProductTypeDetails
    NCard, San Guo: Bai Jiang Pailaunch
    San Guo: Mou Ding Tian (new SLG title)launch
    Lumi Master, Caoba, Lumilaunch

    Risks & headwinds

    2
    High base for mobile games revenueQ1 FY26

    Q1 FY26 mobile games revenue down 12% year-over-year

    Mitigation: Focus on long-term game life cycle for existing titles (e.g., San Guo: Mou Ding Tian Xia) and expanding pipeline with new titles (NCard, new SLG San Guo, Lumi Master) to diversify revenue sources and target different user groups.

    Upfront investment for AIFY26

    Full-year AI-related CapEx expected to increase by RMB 1 billion, with a P&L impact of RMB 500 million.

    Mitigation: Offsetting part of the impact by cutting certain OpEx expenses. Expecting returns in engagement, monetization, and meaningful efficiencies across operations, directly supporting margin expansion.

    What to watch in Q2 FY26

    5

    Q2 advertising revenue growth

    Q2 FY26
    Current30% YoY in Q1
    Targetrapid growth

    Why it matters

    Advertising is a key growth driver, and continued rapid growth, especially with AI contributions, is crucial for overall revenue and profitability.

    We expect Q2 advertising revenue to maintain rapid growth with the contribution from our AI initiatives with gross margin steadily improving and the net profit margin has further room to increase.

    Q&A highlights

    4

    How significant is AI in driving user acquisition and engagement, and what is its strategic role in Bilibili's content ecosystem?

    AI amplifies Bilibili's strengths by boosting content supply and quality, and enhancing community engagement. Daily active creators grew 6% YoY and daily submissions 19% YoY. AI tools enable higher quality content creation, as seen in music and film examples, and AIGC videos surpassing 1 million views. AI also improves content discovery, leading to significant growth in creator followers (e.g., >30% for creators with 1,000+ followers) and average creator income (+24% YoY). The company believes AI can make Bilibili 10x more valuable.

    “AI is not only helping us to increase supply, but we are seeing is bringing so much quality into our content offering.”

    asked by Lincoln Kong · answered by Juliet Yang

    2 min read5 chapters

    Detailed Narrative

    01

    AI as an Accelerator for Ecosystem Growth

    Bilibili is leveraging AI to reinforce its content ecosystem and community flywheel, focusing investments on video understanding, distribution, and creation. AI-powered tools have significantly boosted creator productivity, leading to a 6% year-over-year increase in daily active creators and a 19% increase in daily submissions in Q1. The company notes that AI is not only increasing content quantity but also quality, with AIGC videos achieving over 1 million views in recent contests, and creators with over 1,000 followers growing by more than 30% year-over-year.

    02

    Advertising Business Outperformance

    The advertising business delivered standout results, with revenues growing 30% year-over-year to RMB 2.6 billion, marking the 13th consecutive quarter of double-digit growth. This acceleration is attributed to the high value of Bilibili's maturing user base (average age 26.5 years) and deeper AI integration into advertising algorithms. AI has optimized ad matching, resulting in a 25% year-over-year increase in CTCVR for performance-based ads and improved click-through rates for AIGC creatives. The company is also expanding ad inventory across PC, OTT, search, and mini-programs.

    03

    Strategic Game Development and Pipeline

    While game revenues saw a 12% year-over-year decline due to a high prior-year base, Bilibili is actively expanding its game pipeline with a focus on long-term operations, segment leadership, and catering to young gamers. Key upcoming titles include NCard, San Guo: Bai Jiang Pai (casual card game launching July), and a new SLG title, San Guo: Mou Ding Tian (rolling out late this year). The self-developed simulation game Lumi Master is targeting a global launch in Q4. The company also highlighted the continued success of 'Escape from Duckov,' which has sold over 4 million copies.

    04

    Financial Performance and Margin Expansion

    Bilibili achieved strong financial performance with total revenues of RMB 7.5 billion (+7% YoY) and gross profit of RMB 2.8 billion (+9% YoY). Gross margin expanded to 37.1%, marking the 15th consecutive quarter of improvement. Adjusted net profit surged 62% year-over-year to RMB 585 million, with the adjusted net profit margin reaching 7.8%. Operating expenses were well-managed, increasing only 3% year-over-year, despite a 9% increase in R&D due to AI investments.

    05

    Capital Allocation and Shareholder Returns

    The company maintains a disciplined approach to capital, with cash and short-term investments totaling RMB 24.2 billion (USD 3.5 billion) as of March 31, 2026. Bilibili completed its USD 200 million share repurchase program, buying back 9.9 million shares, and the Board is considering renewing the program. AI-related CapEx increased 80% year-over-year in Q1 to approximately RMB 200 million, with a full-year forecast of an additional RMB 1 billion increase, impacting P&L by RMB 500 million, partially offset by OpEx cuts.

    AI-generated summary of the company’s earnings call. Not investment advice.