Phoenix New Media Q2 2026 Earnings Call Transcript

Quartr
Provided by Quartr
August 11, 2026

Key Takeaways

  • Positive Sentiment: Q2 revenue rose 15.8% year over year to RMB 216.7 million, while gross margin improved to 57.3% from 49.2% and the company returned to attributable net income of RMB 6.5 million.
  • Positive Sentiment: Paid services revenue more than doubled to RMB 69.8 million, driven primarily by digital reading services offered through Mini Programs on third-party applications; management expects this segment to remain near current levels in Q3.
  • Negative Sentiment: Net advertising revenue declined 4.2% year over year to RMB 146.9 million, with delayed Chinese liquor contract renewals weighing on the quarter. Total operating expenses increased 30.4%, largely because of higher sales and marketing spending for digital reading services.
  • Positive Sentiment: Management highlighted strong commercial traction from premium content, including more than 75 million impressions and over 10 leading brand participants for its World Cup-related sports content, as well as over 100% year-over-year revenue growth in its technology channel.
  • Positive Sentiment: Phoenix New Media held RMB 990 million in cash, deposits, short-term investments, and restricted cash at quarter-end, and guided for Q3 revenue of RMB 220.9 million to RMB 235.9 million, implying continued year-over-year growth.
AI Generated. May Contain Errors.
Earnings Conference Call
Phoenix New Media Q2 2026
00:00 / 00:00

Transcript Sections

Skip to Participants
Operator

Please be advised that today's conference is being recorded. I would now like to turn the conference over to your first speaker today, Muzi Guo from Investor Relations. Please go ahead.

Muzi Guo
Muzi Guo
Manager of Investor Relations at Phoenix New Media

Thank you, operator. Welcome to Phoenix New Media's earnings conference call for the second quarter of 2026. Today's call will begin with an overview of our quarterly results, followed by a Q and A session. Our quarterly financial results and the webcast of this conference call are available on our website at ir.ifeng.com. Before we continue, please note the safe harbor statement included in our earnings press release, which applies to any forward-looking statements made during this call. Unless otherwise stated, all figures mentioned are in RMB. Joining me today are our CEO, Li Qi, and our CFO, Edward Lu. I will now pass the call to Mr. Li for his opening remarks. I will provide translation as needed.

Li Qi
Li Qi
CEO at Phoenix New Media

[Non-English content]

Muzi Guo
Muzi Guo
Manager of Investor Relations at Phoenix New Media

Hello, everyone, and welcome. I am Li Qi, the new CEO of Phoenix New Media. It is my pleasure to join you for the first time in this role.

Muzi Guo
Muzi Guo
Manager of Investor Relations at Phoenix New Media

I look forward to maintaining ongoing communication with our investors. Together with the management team, I will continue to focus on Phoenix's core strengths, including our professional content capabilities, brand influence, and commercial capabilities. We will continue to improve operational efficiency, strengthen our business foundation, and enhance long-term value for our shareholders.

Muzi Guo
Muzi Guo
Manager of Investor Relations at Phoenix New Media

Next, I would like to invite our CFO, Edward, to walk you through our business performance and key developments during the quarter.

Edward Lu
Edward Lu
CFO at Phoenix New Media

Okay. Thank you, Muzi. In Q2 2026, we saw continued strong demand from brand advertisers for high-quality content. As information become more fragmented and the user attention becomes harder to capture, high-quality content that effectively connects brands with audiences has become increasingly valuable. Leveraging our longstanding content expertise, we are deepening our strategy of driving business value through quality content. This quarter, several major international events demonstrated our ability to produce high-quality content and respond quickly. During President Trump's visit to China, Phoenix provided full live coverage of the key activities and captured the critical moments in real time. Our video, "Who Were the Chinese Company Representatives at Trump's Welcome Dinner?" achieved over 40 million views on Douyin and WeChat Channels, while also leading to additional business opportunities with major brand clients. This is a good example of how premium journalism can translate into commercial value.

Edward Lu
Edward Lu
CFO at Phoenix New Media

Our systematic approach to major event coverage, from preparation and live reporting to follow-up analysis, continue to differentiate us. During the Iran conflict, we delivered fast, high-quality coverage through breaking live broadcasts and special programs. For the 2026 FIFA World Cup hosted by Canada, Mexico, and the United States, we built comprehensive content and marketing products around the tournament. Our original sports content IP generated more than 75 million impressions across the web, attracted over 10 leading brands, and achieved significant commercial growth. In addition, our reporting on the Shanxi Qinyuan mine accident demonstrated our investigative capabilities and journalistic expertise in major public events, with multiple exclusive stories being republished by mainstream media. Our original content IPs continue to demonstrate long-term value. Programs such as "Journey" and "Endless Conversations" have built strong audience engagement and brand influence through authentic storytelling and in-depth conversations.

Edward Lu
Edward Lu
CFO at Phoenix New Media

We believe premium branded content creates value beyond product promotion by connecting brands with meaningful social issues and compiling stories. Our flagship interview IP, "Shuiduo Wisdom Talk," has operated for eight seasons and maintained eight consecutive years of brand partnerships. The advertiser base of this premium IP has expanded from traditional liquor brands into industries such as automobiles and technology demonstrating that strong content IPs are not only effective audience acquisition tools, but also long-term commercial assets with repeat monetization potential. As our content capabilities continue to build, commercial value is being unlocked across key verticals. Following the shift toward more in-depth original vertical videos on WeChat Channels, our tech channel achieved quarterly revenue growth of over 100% year-over-year.

Edward Lu
Edward Lu
CFO at Phoenix New Media

Our ifeng car research lab established differentiated expertise with potential content such as Xiaomi EV side airbag testing, and delivered strong revenue growth through event marketing around the Beijing Auto Show. Meanwhile, our large-scale event IPs also performed well. The Her Power Weibo topic approached 200 million reads, and the Greater Bay Area Finance Forum achieved over 100 million impressions and was republished by industry organizations. AI is now integrated into our content workflow. We use AI to support content preparation, production, and post-production. This allows us to maintain high quality while improving efficiency and optimizing costs. We are also enhancing content distribution, user reach, and operational precision to maximize content value and commercial conversion. Looking ahead, our priorities remain clear.

Edward Lu
Edward Lu
CFO at Phoenix New Media

Continue investing in trusted content, deepen the use of AI across our workflow, expand monetization opportunities in key verticals, and strengthen the connection between our content capabilities and commercial value. We believe these efforts will further reinforce ifeng's position as a trusted media company and support sustainable long-term growth. This concludes our CEO, Mr. Li's prepared remarks. I will now walk you through our financial performance for the second quarter of 2026. All figures mentioned will be in RMB. Our total revenues were RMB 216.7 million, representing a 15.8% increase year-on-year from RMB 187.1 million. Specifically, net advertising revenues were RMB 146.9 million, compared to RMB 153.3 million in the same period of last year. Paid services revenues were RMB 69.8 million, representing a 106.5% increase year-on-year from RMB 33.8 million, primarily driven by revenue generated from our digital reading services offered through Mini Programs on third-party applications.

Edward Lu
Edward Lu
CFO at Phoenix New Media

Cost of revenues decreased by 2.6% to RMB 92.6 million from RMB 95.1 million in the same period of last year. Gross margin for the second quarter improved to 57.3% from 49.2% in the same period of last year. Total operating expenses were RMB 129.4 million, reflecting a 30.4% increase year-on-year from RMB 99.2 million. This increase was primarily due to higher sales and marketing expenses incurred for the digital reading services mentioned earlier. Loss from operations were RMB 5.3 million, compared to RMB 7.2 million in the same period of last year. Net income attributable to ifeng was RMB 6.5 million, compared to net loss attributable to ifeng of RMB 10.4 million in the same period of last year. Moving on to our balance sheet.

Edward Lu
Edward Lu
CFO at Phoenix New Media

As of June 30, 2026, the company's cash and cash equivalents, term deposits, short-term investments, and restricted cash totaled RMB 990 million, or approximately $ 145.9 million.

Edward Lu
Edward Lu
CFO at Phoenix New Media

Finally, I'd like to provide our business outlook for the third quarter of 2026. We forecast total revenues to be between RMB 220.9 million and RMB 235.9 million. For net advertising revenues, we project between RMB 151.9 million and RMB 161.9 million. While for paid service revenues, we project between RMB 69 million and RMB 74 million. This forecast reflects our current and preliminary view, which is subject to change and substantial uncertainties. This concludes the prepared portion of our call. We are now ready for questions. Operator, please go ahead.

Operator

Thank you very much. As a reminder, to ask a question, please press star one one on your telephone and wait for your name to be announced. To withdraw your question, please press star one one again. Please stand by as we compile the Q and A roster. First question comes from Alexander Lu from First Shanghai.

Alexander Lu
Analyst at First Shanghai

Thanks management for taking my question and congratulations for this quarter's achievement. My question is related with advertising. The company achieved year-on-year revenue growth this quarter, we are looking at the advertising business more broadly. The picture seems more nuanced. Can you walk us through the dynamics, what's creating pressure and what's giving you all confidence, and how you see the near to medium term trajectory?

Edward Lu
Edward Lu
CFO at Phoenix New Media

Thank you, Alexander. The advertising environment was mixed this quarter. In some categories, such as Chinese liquor, the timing of certain contract renewal for outside Q2, which had an impact on the quarter. We do not see any fundamental change in the underlying demand. At the same time, we saw growth in several other areas. It is coming from deeper vertical content, event-based campaigns that help brands reach a larger audience, and branded content IPs that support long-term client relationships. We are seeing these models work across a range of categories, including technology, automotive, finance, and consumer brands. We believe this is more of a structural shift rather than just a short-term thing. Going forward, we think that content-driven monetization will be an important area of growth.

Edward Lu
Edward Lu
CFO at Phoenix New Media

Our focus is to extend the models that have worked well for us, build relationships with clients who see things as a content partner rather than just a media channel. We are also expanding into new advertiser segments where our lightweight, fast turn campaigns have proven effective. I hope I have answered your question, Alexander. Thank you again.

Operator

Thank you. I see no further questions at this time. I will now turn the conference back to Muzi.

Muzi Guo
Muzi Guo
Manager of Investor Relations at Phoenix New Media

Thank you. This concludes our Q and A session and conference call. If you have any further questions, please feel free to contact us. Thank you for joining us, and have a great day.

Operator

This concludes today's conference call. Thank you for participating. You may now disconnect.

Executives
    • Muzi Guo
      Muzi Guo
      Manager of Investor Relations
    • Li Qi
      Li Qi
      CEO
    • Edward Lu
      Edward Lu
      CFO
Analysts
    • Alexander Lu
      Analyst at First Shanghai
Powered by Quartr