Aug 25, 2026 earnings call — Revenue growth across Social, Ads, Shopline
JOYY reported total revenue of $591 million, up 16.3% year-on-year.
Revenue $0.6B (est $0.6B) · EPS $1.24 (est $1.14) · Next-quarter revenue outlook $0.6B–$0.6B
Key quotes
"We will continue to strengthen the growth momentum and profitability of our core products while accelerating the build-out of our social product portfolio."
"In Q2, BIGO Ads generated $134 million in revenue, up 53.1% year-on-year and 7.1% Q-o-Q."
"Last quarter, we reported Shopline as a stand-alone segment for the first time and defined it as AI-native, one-stop omnichannel commerce infrastructure, what we offer merchants is not simply a storefront-building tool, but a fully open, connectable and extensible omnichannel retail operating system."
Analyst Q&A 5
live streaming growth outlook
Q (Xueqing Zhang · CICC): Analyst asked whether the live streaming revenue recovery is sustainable and what the longer-term outlook is.
A: Management said Q2 live streaming grew 5.9% sequentially and 7.3% year-over-year, driven by paying users and ARPPU. They said operations optimizations and AI improvements helped paying conversion and that Q3 guidance expects moderate single-digit year-over-year social entertainment growth, and they are confident full year 2026 revenue growth will be achieved.
"In the second quarter, our live streaming business grew 5.9% sequentially with year-on-year growth further accelerating to 7.3% driven by growth in both paying users and ARPPU." — Ting Li (CEO·CHAIR)
third-party advertising growth and margins
Q (Qi Chen): Analyst asked how to view third-party advertising growth in H2 and its margin profile.
A: Management said Q2 third-party advertising revenue rose 74.1% year-over-year and 9.3% quarter-over-quarter, driven by more traffic, advertiser budgets and better algorithms. They said they are expanding traffic partnerships and advertiser verticals, saw web demand up 91.7% and IAA spending up 70.6% year-over-year, and expect continued strong growth; they also said the business needs investment now but has healthy unit economics and margins should improve over the medium term.
"In the second quarter, our third-party advertising business sustained its strong growth momentum with revenue increasing 74.1% year-over-year and 9.3% quarter-over-quarter, exceeding our previous expectations." — Ting Li (CEO·CHAIR)
2026 revenue and profit guidance
Q (Thomas Chong · Jefferies): Analyst asked for comments on 2026 revenue and profit guidance across segments.
A: Management gave Q3 guidance of 11.4% to 15.2% year-over-year total revenue growth. They detailed segment guidance: social entertainment moderate single-digit Q3 and steady full-year growth; BIGO Ads strong double-digit Q3 and strong mid-double-digit full-year growth; Shopline more than 25% Q3 and exceeding 20% full-year; they expect full year non-GAAP operating profit to grow around 20% year-over-year in 2026 and noted unrealized foreign exchange losses from a weakening U.S. dollar are not operational.
"We expect our full year non-GAAP operating profit to achieve around 20% year-over-year growth in 2026." — Fuyong Liu
Shopline breakeven roadmap
Q (Brian Gong · Citi): Analyst asked for an update on Shopline's growth drivers and the path to profit breakeven in 2028.
A: Management said AI and a fragmented e-commerce landscape increase demand for Shopline as an omnichannel commerce platform. They noted subscription plus value-added services drive revenue, cross-border merchant revenue grew 73.5% year-over-year in Q2, R&D expense has largely stabilized, and they are confident Shopline will narrow losses in 2026 and reach operating breakeven by 2028.
"With gross profit continuing to grow and operating expenses remaining relatively stable, we are confident that Shopline will further narrow its losses in 2026 and reach operating breakeven by 2028." — Ting Li (CEO·CHAIR)
share buybacks and capital allocation
Q (Sardonna Fong · UBS): Analyst asked about the pace of future buybacks and how the company balances growth investments with shareholder returns.
A: Management said they have bought back USD 216 million of shares year-to-date to August 21 and USD 128 million under the new program. They said the company has a strong net cash position (USD 3.06 billion at the end of Q2), sees no inherent trade-off between growth investment and buybacks, will continue active returns, and expects greater returns as operating profit grows.
"Firstly, we held a net cash position of USD 3.06 billion on our balance sheet at the end of the second quarter." — Fuyong Liu