Bilibili submitted a significantly reduced third quarter report, but its revenue growth was almost stagnant.
On November 29th, Bilibili (Nasdaq: BILI, 09626. HK, hereinafter referred to as "Bilibili") released its financial report for the third quarter of 2023, with a revenue of 5.81 billion yuan, unchanged year-on-year, and an adjusted net loss of 860 million yuan, narrowing by 51% year-on-year.
In the conference call after the financial report, Bilibili executives talked about their confidence in achieving a breakeven in 2024, stating that they expect Bilibili to achieve a greater reduction in losses in the fourth quarter and a positive operating cash flow in this quarter, indicating that the company's operations have entered a virtuous cycle. It is expected that Bilibili will continue to achieve positive operating cash flow in the fourth quarter.
"Looking ahead to 2024, we will continue to increase gross profit and reduce losses, and we will continue to strive towards the goal of breaking even," said a Bilibili executive.
Chen Rui: Will focus on projects with market competitiveness
From a specific business perspective, in the third quarter of this year, Bilibili's live streaming business revenue grew rapidly, driving value-added service business revenue to reach 2.6 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 17%; The total advertising revenue reached 1.64 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 21%; The revenue from gaming business reached 990 million yuan, a year-on-year decrease of 33%; IP derivatives and other revenue amounted to 580 million yuan, a year-on-year decrease of 23%.
Among them, the decline in gaming revenue, which was once the core business of Bilibili, has attracted attention from the outside world. Bilibili stated that the year-on-year decrease was mainly due to the high base of "Time and Space Hunter 3" launched in June 2022, as well as lower than expected revenue for several new games in the third quarter of 2023.
During a conference call, Bilibili CEO Chen Rui admitted that the competition in the domestic gaming market is fierce, and the dividends of new game users have faded. They have entered a standard stock competition stage, and some market competition rules have changed.
In October, Xinyuan Interactive, the Guangzhou R&D studio of Bilibili, announced its dissolution, and CEO Ding Qianwei will leave the company. Except for a Japanese anime IP adaptation project, codenamed QQ13, which has been retained due to an external cooperation contract, all other projects have been cut off.
Chen Rui responded to this adjustment in a conference call. Regarding the changes in Bilibili's self-developed gaming business, he admitted that Bilibili has already cut off some projects, mainly those that do not meet market requirements and cannot make money, while retaining more competitive projects in the future. Resources will be more concentrated on these projects in the future.
Chen Rui said that Bilibili is still the video platform with the highest concentration of young people and the highest richness of game content in China. Bilibili has a natural advantage in the game track. "What we need to do is to turn this advantage into reality."
In terms of active user data, Bilibili's DAU (daily active users) increased by 14% year-on-year in the third quarter, reaching 103 million, and the average monthly active users also reached a new high of 341 million. The average daily usage time of the user exceeds 100 minutes for the first time.
In addition, highly anticipated AI technology content is also thriving on Bilibili, with daily views increasing by over 300% year-on-year.
Live streaming sales have become a new increment, with a year-on-year increase of over 250% in transaction volume on Double 11
In terms of external attention to UP revenue, Bilibili disclosed in its financial report that 1.68 million UP owners earned revenue from Bilibili in the third quarter, a year-on-year increase of 34%. Among them, the number of UP owners who earned revenue through video and live streaming sales increased by over 160% year-on-year.
In addition, the specific progress of Bilibili's entry into Double 11 has also become a focus of attention. From the perspective of business revenue, value-added services, including e-commerce, and advertising revenue have become the two driving forces behind Bilibili's revenue growth.
Li Ni, Vice Chairman and Chief Operating Officer of Bilibili, stated that the performance of Bilibili's "Double 11" this year exceeded expectations, mainly due to the year-on-year growth of over 80% in advertising revenue on e-commerce platforms. Bilibili will continue to deepen cooperation with major e-commerce platforms.
According to Li Ni in a conference call, during the "Double 11" period, the GMV (total transaction volume) of Bilibili's videos and live streaming sales increased by over 250% year-on-year. During the promotion period, the number of videos on Bilibili for sales increased by over 230% year-on-year, and the number of live streaming sessions for sales also increased by over 100% year-on-year. The cumulative payment amount for live streaming sales of Bilibili UP host "MR Dazzled" reached 1.68 billion yuan, with a year-on-year growth rate of over 400%.
Regarding the future loss reduction prospects of Bilibili, Bilibili executives responded that they will continue to increase gross profit and reduce losses. On the one hand, we have confidence in the development of high gross profit contribution businesses such as advertising, which will become the main driving force for reducing losses. On the other hand, with recent structural adjustments, the company expects operating expenses such as research and development to continue to decline in 2024, and will continue to strive towards the goal of breaking even.
As of the close on the 29th, the US stock market on Bilibili closed at $11.86, down more than 11%; The Hong Kong stock market on Bilibili closed at HKD 101, down 3.16%.