JOYY Q2 Earnings Call Highlights

JOYY delivered broad-based growth in Q2 2026: Revenue rose 16.3% year over year to $591 million, while non-GAAP operating income increased 28.2% to $49 million. The company raised its full-year non-GAAP operating-income growth outlook to approximately 20%. Advertising and commerce were key growth engines: BIGO Ads revenue surged 53.1% to $134 million, while Shopline revenue grew 28.6% to $34 million, driven partly by strong cross-border merchant growth and rapidly expanding traffic from AI channels. JOYY is increasing capital returns while investing for expansion: The company had $3.06 billion in net cash and returned $359 million to shareholders through Aug. 21. Its board authorized a new $1.5 billion shareholder-return program through the end of 2028. JOYY NASDAQ: YY reported second-quarter 2026 revenue growth of 16.3% from a year earlier as its social entertainment, advertising technology and Shopline commerce businesses all expanded, while non-GAAP operating profit rose faster than revenue. Total revenue reached $591 million, up 6.3% sequentially. Non-GAAP operating income increased 28.2% year over year to $49 million, while non-GAAP EBITDA rose 18.1% to $57 million. Operating cash flow was $65 million, and the company reported $3.06 billion in net cash as of June 30. Chairperson and CEO Ting Li said the quarter reflected progress in JOYY's effort to develop a “multi-engine global technology company” spanning social entertainment, programmatic advertising and omnichannel commerce. She said non-live-streaming revenue exceeded 31.8% of total revenue during the quarter and that the company expects those segments to approach half of total revenue and operating profit by 2028. Social Entertainment Returns to Growth Social entertainment revenue totaled $423 million, rising 7.4% year over year and 5.6% from the prior quarter. Live-streaming revenue increased 7.3% from a year earlier and 5.9% sequentially, supported by growth in both paying users and average revenue per paying user. Vice President of Finance Alex Liu said core live-streaming paying users increased 3.9% year over year, while ARPPU rose 2.4%. Revenue from developed markets increased 11.8% from a year earlier. Global average mobile monthly active users reached 277 million, up 5.5%, with the company’s instant-messaging product accounting for 82% of total MAUs. Li attributed Bigo Live’s improved momentum to changes in streamer incentives, content ecosystem development, localized operating campaigns and AI-powered improvements in content distribution and payment experiences. Average daily active streamers rose 4.4% sequentially, while newly signed streamers increased 5.4%. The company also said AI-generated content and interactive virtual gifts represented 34.3% of total virtual-gift consumption in May. Revenue from JOYY’s new voice-product portfolio rose more than 400% from a year earlier and 39% sequentially. For the third quarter, JOYY expects social entertainment revenue to grow at a moderate single-digit year-over-year rate. Management said it expects the segment to produce full-year revenue growth in 2026. Advertising Business Posts Strong Gains BIGO Ads generated $134 million in second-quarter revenue, up 53.1% year over year and 7.1% sequentially. The third-party BIGO Audience Network business grew 74.1% from a year earlier and 9.3% from the preceding quarter. Management said the growth reflected expanding traffic, a broader advertiser base, increased demand across multiple advertising verticals and improvements in algorithms. SDK traffic increased 37.7% year over year. Web-based advertising demand, primarily from lead generation and e-commerce, rose 91.7%, while management said in-app advertising.