Bilibili (BILI / 9626.HK) released its financial results for the first quarter of 2026 on May 19. Total quarterly revenue reached 7.47 billion yuan ($1.08 billion), marking a 7% year-on-year increase. Advertising revenue came in at 2.59 billion yuan, up 30% year-on-year — making it the fastest-growing business segment. Revenue from value-added services totaled 2.91 billion yuan, up 4% year-on-year; mobile gaming revenue was 1.52 billion yuan, down 12% year-on-year due to a high base effect from the game Three Kingdoms: Strategy in the same period last year. Revenue from IP merchandise and other segments stood at 448 million yuan, down 4% year-on-year. The gross margin hit 37.1%, up from 36.3% in the same quarter last year, representing the 15th consecutive quarter of improvement. GAAP net profit amounted to 202 million yuan; last year the company posted a net loss of 10.7 million yuan, thus turning a profit. Non-GAAP net profit totaled 585 million yuan ($84.9 million), a 62% year-on-year jump; the non-GAAP net profit margin reached 7.8%, up from 5.2% in the same quarter last year.
In terms of user metrics, average daily active users (DAU) reached 115.2 million, up 8% year-on-year; monthly active users surpassed 376 million. Average daily usage time per user was 119 minutes, an increase of 11 minutes year-on-year, while total user usage time grew 19% year-on-year. CEO Chen Rui noted that AI is accelerating the growth cycle of the platform across multiple areas, including content creation, distribution, and operational efficiency. CFO Fan Xin stated that while maintaining profitability, the company will prudently ramp up AI-related investments; R&D spending rose 9% year-on-year to 921 million yuan, primarily driven by expanded AI initiatives. Financially, under a two-year $200 million buyback plan approved in 2024, Bilibili spent $60.3 million this quarter to repurchase 2.5 million shares; the entire plan has now been completed, with a total of 9.9 million shares bought back. As of March 31, cash, cash equivalents, time deposits, and short-term investments totaled 24.19 billion yuan ($3.51 billion).