KUAISHOU's Q2 revenue and net profit both exceeded expectations, daily active users reached a new high, and KuaLing AI revenue surpassed 250 million | Financial Report Insights

On Thursday afternoon, KUAISHOU-W announced its Q2 2025 earnings report. The key points are as follows:

Financial Performance

• Q2 total revenue of 35.05 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 13.1%, and a quarter-on-quarter increase of 7.5%, exceeding the market estimate of 34.45 billion yuan
• Adjusted net profit of 5.62 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 20.1%, with a net profit margin of 16.0%, setting a new quarterly high, estimated at 5.06 billion yuan
• Adjusted EBITDA of 7.72 billion yuan, estimated at 7.2 billion yuan
• Gross margin of 55.7%, a slight year-on-year increase of 0.4 percentage points
• R&D expenditure of 3.4 billion yuan, estimated at 3.45 billion yuan
• Declared a first special dividend of 0.46 HKD per share, totaling approximately 2 billion HKD

Core Business Progress

• Keling AI Q2 revenue exceeded 250 million yuan, becoming a new growth engine
• Online marketing service revenue of 19.77 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 12.8%, with growth rate improving compared to Q1, estimated at 19.67 billion yuan
• Live streaming revenue of 10.04 billion yuan, estimated at 9.79 billion yuan
• Other service revenue of 5.24 billion yuan, estimated at 5.02 billion yuan
• Daily active users reached 409 million, a historical high, with a year-on-year increase of 3.4%

Profitability Hits New Highs, but Growth Momentum Faces Challenges

From the financial data, KUAISHOU-W's Q2 performance is indeed commendable. The total revenue of 35.05 billion yuan with a year-on-year growth of 13.1% is impressive in the current environment. More noteworthy is the improvement in profit quality—an adjusted net profit margin of 16.0% sets a new quarterly historical high, reflecting the company's continuous optimization of operational efficiency.

However, the sustainability of growth momentum still needs to be observed. The user growth data shows that the 409 million daily active users only increased by 3.4% year-on-year, indicating that KUAISHOU-W has entered a relatively mature stage in user scale expansion. Fortunately, user stickiness remains stable, with an average daily usage time of 126.8 minutes and a total usage time that increased by 7.5% year-on-year, indicating that the platform's appeal to existing users has not diminished.

Keling AI Becomes the Biggest Highlight, Commercialization Process Exceeds Expectations

Keling AI is undoubtedly the biggest surprise of this quarter. The Q2 revenue exceeding 250 million yuan far exceeded market expectations. From a technical perspective, the Keling AI 2.1 series model launched in May has shown significant improvements in dynamic performance, physical simulation, and semantic response, while the "Ling Canvas" feature released in July further enhanced the product matrix.

More importantly, Keling AI has shifted from a pure technology showcase to actual commercial applications. The jointly produced "New World Loading" with KUAISHOU-W's Xingmang Short Drama has accumulated nearly 200 million global views, setting a new benchmark for AI film and television content creation. This complete closed loop from technological breakthroughs to content creation and then to commercial monetization demonstrates KUAISHOU-W's differentiated advantages in the AI track.

Traditional Business Seeks Steady Progress, Structural Optimization Continues

In terms of online marketing services, the revenue of 19.8 billion yuan represents a year-on-year increase of 12.8%, with growth rate improving from 11.4% in Q1. It is worth noting that the application of AI technology in marketing scenarios has begun to yield actual results, generating marketing materials that interest users end-to-end, leading to low single-digit growth in online marketing service revenue E-commerce business continues to maintain rapid growth, with GMV increasing by 17.6% year-on-year. The fact that the share of general merchandise e-commerce exceeds 32% is particularly noteworthy—this indicates that KUAISHOU is transitioning from a purely live-streaming sales model to a more diversified e-commerce ecosystem. During the 618 shopping festival, the GMV of general merchandise e-commerce products increased by over 50% year-on-year, and the GMV of search e-commerce grew by over 140%, demonstrating the significant effectiveness of this strategic transformation.

Proper cost control, but R&D investment remains unchanged

From the cost structure perspective, KUAISHOU has shown good operational discipline. The proportion of sales costs to revenue decreased from 44.7% in the same period last year to 44.3%, and the proportion of sales and marketing expenses also fell from 32.4% to 30.0%, reflecting improvements in scale effects and operational efficiency.

At the same time, the continuous increase in R&D investment is commendable. In Q2, R&D expenses reached 3.4 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 21.2%, accounting for 9.7% of revenue. This approach of maintaining technological investment while improving profitability lays a foundation for the company's long-term competitiveness.

First special dividend sends positive signals

A special dividend of HKD 0.46 per share was declared, totaling approximately HKD 2 billion, marking KUAISHOU's first dividend since its listing. This move sends two important signals: first, the management's confidence in the company's cash flow stability and future growth prospects; second, the emphasis on shareholder returns.

From a financial perspective, KUAISHOU has sufficient cash reserves to support this decision. As of the end of Q2, the total available funds amounted to 101.9 billion yuan, providing ample assurance for dividends and future development.

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