Q1 2026 earnings call transcript

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how we understand videos, how we recommend them, and how we help creators build them. Ultimately, we are not just evolving with AI; we are using it to reinforce the very thing that makes Bilibili unique.

Having said that, we remain very disciplined with our capital. Although AI requires an upfront investment, the returns in engagement and monetization are already tangible. At the same time, AI is driving meaningful efficiencies across our operations, which is directly supporting our margin expansion. By combining the heart of our community with the power of our technology, we are creating lasting value for our users and shareholders.

With that, let me walk you through our core pillars of content, community and commercialization.

Starting with content and community.

As content options multiply, users are becoming even more selective. They're coming to

Bilibili for high-quality PUGV content and a unique community experience that they can't find anywhere else.

Across our content categories, ACG remains our cultural anchor. In the first quarter, watch time for Games and Chinese Anime grew 27% and 20% year over year, respectively, proving our enduring appeal to the younger generation. Beyond our ACG legacy, knowledge-based content, including AI-related information, grew 20% year over year, as users turned to us for deeper insights. Music categories also saw robust growth with a 25% year-over-year increase in time spent, largely driven by AIGC music. Consumption-related categories kept rising, with watch time for parenting and early education, and outdoor-related categories surging by more than 50% year over year.

The breadth of our content library is only one part of the story. Our deeper competitive moat lies in the ‘humanity’ of the community. Every month, our users generate over 17 billion real human interactions. In an AI-driven world, they are the most authentic human signals available. While high-quality data is becoming a global scarcity, our hundreds of billions of organic interactions provide us with the gold standard for understanding true human preferences. This profound insight is what fuels our engagement and loyalty. In the first quarter, total user time spent rose 19% year over year, and 291 million official members maintained an 80% 12-month retention rate.

Meanwhile, we continue to see AI as an amplifier for our ecosystem's flywheel. On the supply side, the unique creative spirit of our community has found new momentum through the AI- powered tools that scale creativity across the platform. By lowering the barriers to entry and boosting productivity, we have seen a significant influx of creators and content. In Q1, the number of daily active creators and daily submissions grew by 6% and 19% year over year, respectively. But this isn’t just a game of volume. With AI assisting the creative process, more talent is producing high-quality, breakout content right out of the gate. Our recent AI

Creation contest is a perfect example

we attracted the most talented creators to join our platform, creating nearly 150 breakout works with over a million views each.

By deepening our comprehension of both content and user behavior, we’ve made content discovery more efficient, directly accelerating growth for our creators. In the first quarter, the number of creators with over 1,000 followers grew by more than 30% year over year, and those with 10,000, 100,000 and 1 million or more followers each grew over 20%.

Naturally, as their audiences grow, earnings follow. Average income per creator rose 24% this quarter, creating a powerful virtuous cycle.

Now let’s take a closer look at our commercial businesses and their progress.

First, our advertising business once again delivered standout results in Q1. Revenues grew

30% year over year, reaching RMB2.6 billion. This ongoing acceleration reflects the value of our community that we continue to unlock and how we are turning user engagement into real results for advertisers.

In Q1, our top 5 ad verticals were games, internet services, digital products & home appliances, e-commerce, and automotive. Game ads delivered strong incremental revenue growth this quarter. In the internet services sector, AI advertisers kept scaling, with ad budgets surging over 170% year over year. At the same time, our maturing user base is also capturing more advertisers’ budgets. Ad revenues from digital products & home appliances, and automotive, both grew over 30% year over year in Q1. Home decoration was a particular standout, with ad spending jumping more than 130% year over year.

Using AI to improve efficiency and drive ad business is a core priority this year. By integrating AI more deeply into our algorithms, we’ve gained much sharper insights into user interests and long-term patterns. This clarity has meaningfully optimized how we match users with ads, resulting in a 25% year-over-year increase in CTCVR of performance-based ads this quarter. Furthermore, our AIGC tools are streamlining creative production and crafting ads that resonate with users, helping advertisers connect with our community more effectively and drive higher click-through rates.

We are also unlocking growth across diverse platforms and touchpoints. In the first quarter, ad revenues from PC and OTT platforms grew by over 50% year over year, while new scenarios like search and mini-programs more than doubled. We're exploring new integrated formats within video player, finding new ways to turn user time into commercial value. With expanding traffic, diverse new scenarios, and continuous efficiency gains, we remain confident in the sustained momentum of our ad business.

Now turning to our games business.

Game revenues were RMB1.5 billion, down 12% year over year and flat quarter over quarter.

The year-over-year decline was mainly due to the high base set by San Mou三国：谋定天下 in the same period last year, while the latest seasons of San Mou performed steadily quarter over quarter. We're focused on the game's long-term lifecycle, keeping the experience balanced and the IP strong. Meanwhile, our evergreen titles, FGO and Azur Lane, remain stable and continue to provide a solid revenue base.

In 2026, we're building on San Mou's success and expanding our presence in the Three

Kingdoms IP. In April, we soft-launched NCard 三国：百将牌, a lighter, casual card game that has received positive feedback on its core gameplay. We’re iterating the product and optimizing user acquisition as we prepare for its official launch this July. Meanwhile, our new

SLG title, San Wang 三国志：王道天下, began initial testing in late March. Built on the original 三国志 IP with enhanced 3D visuals, San Wang targets a differentiate group of SLG fans and complements San Mou.Early user feedback was encouraging, and we plan to roll the game out late this year.

Beyond NCard and San Wang, our self-developed simulation game Lumi Master闪耀吧！噜

咪 entered its paid testing in May. It has been well received for its cozy art style and accessible gameplay, and we plan to bring it to global gamers in Q4 this year. Our jointly operated pipeline for the coming quarters is also expanding into more genres, giving us broader player coverage and a more balanced portfolio.

Turning to our VAS business, VAS revenue grew by 4% year over year to RMB2.9 billion in

Q1. We kept refining our live broadcasting operations, delivering a stable performance with improved gross margin.

Premium members reached 24.8 million by the end of the first quarter, up 5% year over year.

Around 80% are on annual or auto-renewal plans. Our fan charging program also kept growing at a healthy pace. Revenue was up over 50% year over year, driven by stronger creator-user relationships and users' growing willingness to directly support content they love.

In April, we published our 2025 ESG report, outlining our continued focus on high-quality content, healthy community development, and steady improvements in governance and operations. Given our reach and influence among China's young generation, we take this responsibility very seriously, and we have maintained our "A" rating by MSCI, reflecting our consistent approach to long-term, sustainable growth.

To close, we believe great content and a strong community bring people together. The value we've built is just beginning to show its potential. With AI as the accelerator, our community and commercial ecosystems are reinforcing each other more than ever. We'll stay focused on strengthening that flywheel and investing in areas that support long-term growth, taking

Bilibili to the next level. We're excited about what's ahead.

With that, I will turn the call over to Sam to walk through our financials in more detail. Sam?

Sam Fan - Bilibili Inc. - Chief Financial Officer

Thank you, Mr. Chen. Hello, everyone. This is Sam.

In the interest of time, on today’s call, I will review our first-quarter highlights. We encourage you to refer to our press release issued earlier today for a closer look at our results.

Total revenues for the first quarter was RMB7.5 billion, up 7% year over year. Our total revenues breakdown by revenue stream for Q1 was approximately 39% VAS, 35% advertising, 20% mobile games, and 6% from our IP derivatives and other businesses.

Our cost of revenues increased by 5% year over year to RMB4.7 billion in the first quarter, while our gross profit rose 9% year over year to RMB2.8 billion. Our gross profit margin reached 37.1% in Q1, up from 36.3% in the same period last year, marking our 15th consecutive quarter of margin expansion.

In the first quarter, we continue to improve monetization efficiency with disciplined spending. Our total operating expenses were up 3% year over year to RMB2.6 billion. Sales and marketing expenses decreased by 1% year over year. G&A expenses increased by 3%, and R&D expenses increased by 9%, primarily due to expanded AI investments and partially offset by efficient spending control.

Our operating profit was RMB167 million, up over 10 times year over year. Our adjusted operating profit reached RMB524 million, and our adjusted operating profit margin reached

7.0% in the first quarter, versus 4.9% in the same period a year ago.

Net profit was RMB202 million, versus an RMB11 million net loss in Q1 2025. Our adjusted net profit was RMB585 million, up 62% year over year. And our adjusted net profit margin was 7.8%, improved from 5.2% in the same period a year ago.

As of March 31, 2026, we had cash and cash equivalents, time deposits and short-term investments of RMB24.2 billion, or US$3.5 billion.

In Q1, we repurchased 2.5 million shares for a total cost of US$60.3 million under our US$200 million share repurchase program. As of today, we have completed this share repurchase program, purchasing a total of 9.9 million shares. We remain committed to enhancing long- term shareholder return, and our board is considering renewing the share repurchase program at an appropriate time.

Thank you for your attention. We would now like to open the call to your questions. Operator, please go ahead.