FENG

Day. Thank you for standing by. Welcome to Phoenix New Media First Quarter 2026 earnings call. At this time, I'll put the second on a listen-only mode. After the speaker's presentation, there'll be a question-and-answer session. To ask a question during the session, you need to press star 11 on your telephone. You will then hear an automated message advising your hand is raised. To withdraw your question, please press star 11 again. Please be advised 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.

Thank you, operator. Welcome to Phoenix New Media's earnings conference call for the first quarter of 2026. Today's call will start with an overview of our quarterly results, followed by a Q&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 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 here today are our CEO, Mr. Yusheng Sun, and our CFO, Mr. Edward Lu. I will now pass the call to Mr. Sun for his opening remarks. I will provide translation as needed. [Non-English content]

[Non-English content] I will provide translation. Thank you all for joining today's call.

In the first quarter, we stayed focused on strengthening our core capabilities, leveraging major domestic and international events to improve both our brand influence and user engagement. Our ability to respond quickly to breaking news and deliver structured coverage of key events reflects solid execution and content competitiveness. We also continue to integrate technology into our content operations to improve efficiency. Finally, we achieved revenue growth and narrowed operating losses, with overall performance improving year-over-year. Next, I would like to invite Edward to pre-present specific highlights and achievements of Q1.

In Q1, we continued to capitalize on major domestic and international events to reach more audiences, increase the impact of our content, and strengthen our brand and the long-term user engagement. In major event coverage, the biggest highlight this quarter was our strong execution. During the U.S.-Israel-Iran conflict, we responded quickly and coordinated well across teams and formats. We delivered real-time updates, live broadcasts, in-depth commentary and feature stories at key moments with both speed and accuracy. Our timeline products and multilingual reporting system played a key role, supported by fact-checking and on-the-ground reporting. Our diary reports from Tehran added a strong sense of immediacy. We were the first to conduct an in-depth exclusive interview with the Chinese seafarers stranded in the Strait of Hormuz. This showed our ability to deliver international news directly from the field.

Overall, what mattered most was not any single viral piece, but the entire process. It proved that our international news reporting system is now at industry leading level of maturity and responsiveness. During the Two Sessions, we combined structured interviews with delegates with targeted issue-based content planning. This helped us reach a wider audience. Several short videos on public policy topics made it onto trending lists, showing we can balance authoritative mainstream reporting with content that appeals to the general audience. In vertical content, sports coverage performed very well during major events. Around the Milan Winter Olympics and other key tournaments, we used the full platform coordination to significantly increase exposure and engagement. Total Winter Olympics exposure exceeded 250 million. Our Abu Dhabi Masters coverage achieved full integration across Phoenix TV, PC, mobile app, and the third-party video platforms.

It attracted over 1.2 million live viewers with 3 topics entering 6 trending lists, generating more than 15 million total reads. We also saw once again that high quality human-centered content can still stand out in today's crowded information environment. Our Journey Series is a good example. One recent episode alone reached over 80 million views and triggered follow-up reports from major national media outlets. This kind of impact is hard to replicate and remains one of our core strengths. On the commercialization front, we made solid progress through our in-depth participation and the coverage at major international exhibitions. In Q1, through our active media coverage of CES, MWC, and AWE, both our client numbers and the revenue in tech sector grew substantially.

This success validated our business model of international exhibitions plus premium content plus monetization in the tech sector, and give us valuable experience that can be applied to other vertical fields. On the product side, our mobile app saw a clear increase in user engagement driven by major news events. To meet users need for both speed and better understanding, we improved our content structure and distribution. We added new sections such as On the Scene and World Affairs, which made it easier for users to find content and helped improve retention. Overall, our direction remains unchanged. We are building a more stable and scalable content system, one that can deliver reliable output during major news cycles, create strong original content, and adapt to new technologies. At the same time, we are steadily accelerating commercialization.

Looking ahead, we will keep focusing on content quality, strengthening our IP portfolio, improve operational efficiency, and pursue steady and sustainable growth. This concludes our CEO, Mr. Sun's prepared remarks. I will now walk you through our financial performance for the first quarter of 2026. All figures mentioned will be in RMB. Our total revenues were CNY 108.8 million, representing a 21.6% increase year-over-year from CNY 155.2 million. Specifically, net advertising revenues were CNY 125.3 million, representing a 4% increase year-over-year from CNY 120.5 million. Paid services revenues were CNY 63.5 million, representing an 83% increase year-over-year from CNY 34.7 million, primarily driven by revenue generated from our digital reading services offered through mini programs on third-party applications.

Cost of revenues decreased by 5.1% to CNY 87.8 million from CNY 92.5 million in the same period of last year. Gross margin for the first quarter improved to 53.5% from 40.4% in the same period of last year. Total operating expenses were CNY 130.9 million, reflecting a 29.5% increase year-on-year from CNY 101.1 million. This increase was primarily due to higher sales and the marketing expenses incurred for the digital reading services mentioned earlier. Loss from operations was CNY 29.9 million, compared to CNY 38.4 million in the same period of last year. Net loss attributable to ifeng was CNY 16.8 million, compared to CNY 29.7 million in the same period of last year. Moving on to our balance sheet.

As of March 31, 2026, the company's cash and cash equivalents, term deposits, short-term investments, and restricted cash totally CNY 955.8 million, or approximately $138.6 million. Finally, I'd like to provide our business outlook for the second quarter of 2026. We forecast total revenues to be between CNY 195.7 million and CNY 210.7 million. For net advertising revenues, we project between CNY 141.8 million and CNY 151.8 million. While for paid service revenues, we project between CNY 53.9 million and CNY 58.9 million. This forecast reflect 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.

Thank you. First question comes from Alice Tang of First Shanghai. Please go ahead.

Good morning. Thank you for taking my question. We saw that the company achieved year-on-year revenue growth in Q1. Could you please share the highlights and challenges in advertising revenue and your views on the near to medium-term outlook, please? Thank you.

Hi. Morning, Alice. Actually in Q1, we did see some budget adjustment pressure in certain categories. We are happy to see that several high potential consumption and service sectors delivered solid growth, which helped offset the pressure. Areas like liquor, internet services, automotive, home appliances, finance, and retail all grew year-over-year. We are especially encouraged by the strong momentum in emerging AI application sectors. Our deeper involvement in international sports events and exhibitions also performed well and really showcases our progress in international marketing. We are seeing a clear shift in brand marketing. It's moving away from just chasing traffic toward building deeper emotional connections with users and creating lasting brand value. This plays directly to our strengths in content marketing.

In the near to medium term, we think macro headwinds and budget pressure may continue for a while. We will keep optimizing our client mix and focus on areas with stronger resilience and better growth prospects. We will also push on internationalization to sharpen our competitive edge. Overall, I think we will make steady progress through 2026. Thank you, Alice.

Thank you.

Thank you. I see no further questions at this time. I will now turn back to Muzie for closing remarks.

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

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

Investor day and thank you for standing by. Welcome to Phoenix New Media fourth quarter 2025 earnings call. At this time, all participants are in a listen-only mode. After the speaker's presentation, there will be a question-and-answer session. To ask a question during the session, you will need to press star one one on your telephone. You would then hear an automated message advising your hand is raised. To withdraw your question, please press star one one again. Please be advised that today's conference is being recorded. I'd now like to turn the conference over to your first speaker today, Muzi Guo from Investor Relations. Please go ahead.

Thank you. Welcome to Phoenix New Media's earnings conference call for the fourth quarter of 2025. Today's call will start with an overview of our quarterly results, followed by a Q&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, I would also like to point to the safe harbor statement in our earnings press release, which also 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, Mr. Yusheng Sun, and our CFO, Mr. Edward Lu. I will now pass the call to Mr. Sun for his opening remarks. I will provide translation as needed. Thank you all for joining today's call.

Over the past quarter, we have continued to increase our inputs in in-depth reporting, professional commentary, and the planning of major thematic coverage with the aim of enhancing the quality and influence of our core columns and flagship products. At the same time, we have optimized and upgraded key events and branded initiatives, promoting greater integration between our content and product formats. In an environment characterized by information overload and increasingly similar traffic-driven content, the value of professional, in-depth, and credible journalism becomes even more important. We will stay focused on our core strength and long-term strategy while managing risks prudently and advancing our transformation in a disciplined and steady manner to build a more sustainable foundation for the future growth. Now, I would hand over to Edward for a more detailed update on our business progress and financial results.

Okay. Thank you, Muzo. In the first quarter, influenced by macroeconomic environment, the overall market competition remained intense. Against this backdrop, we focused on strengthening our core capabilities, reinforcing our positioning as a mainstream media outlet, refining our original content system, and advancing our technology and collaboration initiatives. In terms of content reporting, we maintained high frequency professional coverage, further reinforcing our influence on major political and current affair topics. With outstanding performance in coverage of events such as the Maduro incident and the development of U.S.-Iran conflict. In addition, at the historic moment of China's Fujian aircraft carrier entering service, we delivered an expert live broadcast that attracted over 1.8 million views and produced in-depth analytical content on the technological development, strengthening our voice in professional commentary. We have always focused on social issues, fulfilling the public value of media through continuous observation and reporting.

For example, one of our reports focused on Regent International in Hangzhou, known as the first building for mass influencer leasing, and a typical example of the rapid growth of live streaming e-commerce. By systematically analyzing the structural changes behind it, we published an in-depth report, which garnered over 100,000 views and prompted an official government response, contributing to broader public discussion. In original content, deeply reported human-centered stories remained the strongest foundation for our brand and audience engagement. For example, one episode of our program, The Journey, tells the story of a father who, after his son's suicide, joined an online chat group to reach out to other struggling young people and help them find hope again, garnering 120 million views. Another episode featured ongoing coverage of public figure Cai Lei's battle with ALS, capturing the resilience of human spirit.

With a single episode reaching 145 million views. These and other programs form a key part of our broader content portfolio, which is structured as a complementary metrics. Different formats and themes support one another, elevating brand value and providing a more stable foundation for monetization. Beyond content production, we also strengthened our presence in high-end events. Through cooperation with platforms such as World Chinese Entrepreneurs Convention, we integrated the key resources to enable synergy between content and offline events. Our Action League charity gala marked its 10th anniversary, receiving coverage from major outlets, including CCTV and other TV stations, and bringing together leaders from multiple national level foundations. Further reinforcing our organizational capability and social influence in the public welfare space. In content distribution, our presence across major platforms continue to expand.

On Douyin, average likes per post increased by 54% quarter-over-quarter, with total followers growing to 18.9 million. Our WeChat video account also saw strong follower growth, bringing the total to over 6 million. On our app, AI applications now support content aggregation and trending topic operations, improving distribution efficiency and user engagement. Interaction volume increased by over 10%, and average time spent per user rose 8% quarter-over-quarter. Meanwhile, our cooperation within Huawei's HarmonyOS ecosystem provide us with a more stable traffic entry point and deeper technological collaboration. Looking ahead to 2026, we will continue to prioritize capability building and structural optimization. We remain focused on developing original content as our core asset, leveraging technology as an efficiency driver, and steadily advancing our business upgrade. This concludes our CEO, Mr. Yusheng Sun's prepared remark.

I will now walk you through our financial performances for the first quarter of 2025. All figures mentioned will be in RMB. Our total revenues were CNY 222.0 million, representing a 1.9% increase year-on-year from CNY 218.1 million. Specifically, net advertising revenues were CNY 181.1 million, compared to CNY 189 million in the same period of last year. Paid services revenue were CNY 41.2 million, representing a 41.6% increase year-on-year from CNY 29.1 million, primarily driven by revenue generated from our digital reading services, offering through mini programs on third-party applications. Cost of revenues decreased by 18.6% to CNY 98.6 million from CNY 121.1 million in the same period of last year.

Gross margin for the first quarter improved to 35.6% from 44.5% in the same period of last year. Total operating expenses were CNY 99.2 million, reflecting a 9.9% increase year-on-year from CNY 90.3 million. This increase was primarily due to higher sales and the marketing expenses incurred for the digital reading services mentioned earlier. Income from operations increased by 265.7% to CNY 24.5 million from CNY 6.7 million in the same period of last year. Net income attributable to Phoenix New Media was CNY 45.0 million, compared to net loss attributable to Phoenix New Media of CNY 3.6 million in the same period of last year. Moving on to our balance sheet.

As of December 31st, 2025, the company's cash and cash equivalents, term deposits, short-term investments, and restricted cash totaled CNY 1.02 billion, or approximately $135.6 million. Finally, I'd like to provide our business outlook for the first quarter of 2026. We forecast total revenue to be between CNY 160 million and CNY 175 million. For net advertising revenues, we project between CNY 111.2 million and CNY 121.2 million. While for paid service revenues, we project between CNY 48.8 million and CNY 33.8 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're now ready for questions. Operator, please go ahead.

Thank you. As a reminder, to ask a question, please press star one one on your telephone and wait for a name to be announced. To withdraw your question, please press star one one again. We will now take our first question from Alice Tang of Shanghai. Please ask your question. Alice, your line is now open.

Good morning, management. What are the key challenges the company is currently facing, and how do you view the outlook for the advertising market in 2026? Thank you.

Hi, Alice. Thank you for the question. Actually, in Q4, advertising budgets declined among major internet platforms, while the automotive and liquor sectors were relatively weak. At the same time, we achieved growth in consumer categories such as personal care, tourism and entertainment, and home appliances, partially offsetting declines in traditional sectors and reflecting opportunities arising from industry shifts. In the near term, market challenges persist, and we will focus on optimizing our client mix while exploring new growth drivers. Internationalization has become a key differentiator for us. In the fourth quarter, the Light of Chinese event, launched alongside the World Chinese Entrepreneurs Convention, strengthened our connections with overseas business communities and enhanced both brand influence and collaboration potential.

On the innovation front, demand for short-form video continues to grow, and we will enhance content differentiation and conversion capabilities through our social media metrics. At the same time, AI technologies are being increasingly applied to content production and data analytics to improve marketing efficiency, and this will remain a key focus going forward. As consumption continues to upgrade, we will prioritize sectors with stronger budget potential, including home appliances, transportation, and daily consumer goods, while aligning with things such as technological innovation and green consumption. Supported by our credibility and authoritative platform, we remain an important partner for brands seeking differentiated communication. Thank you, Alice.

Thank you. There are no further questions, and this concludes the Q&A session. I'll now turn the conference back to Muzi Guo for her closing comments.

Thank you. We have now come to the end of our conference call and Q&A session. If you have any further questions, please feel free to contact us. Thank you for joining us today and have a great day.

Thank you for your participation in today's conference. This does conclude the program. You may now disconnect your line.

Good day, and thank you for standing by. Welcome to Phoenix New Media Third Quarter 2025 Earnings Call. [Operator Instructions] Please be advised that today's conference is being recorded. I'd now like to turn the conference over to your speaker today, Muzi Guo from Investor Relations. Please go ahead.

Thank you, operator. Welcome to Phoenix New Media's Earnings Conference Call for the third quarter of 2025. Today's call will begin with an overview of our quarterly results, followed by a Q&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 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, Mr. Yusheng Sun; and our CFO, Mr. Edward Lu. I will now pass the call to Mr. Sun for his opening remarks. I will provide translation as needed.

[Foreign Language]

[Interpreted] Thank you for joining today's call. This quarter, we stayed focused on both quality content and brand impact. Our reports around major social and cultural moments continue to perform well across platforms, while flagship events also achieved strong market response. From trending coverage to large-scale campaigns, we helped clients amplify their presence and connect with audiences in meaningful ways. These efforts reflect our ability to combine storytelling, marketing and innovation, keeping our brand relevant and resilient in a cautious ad market. Now I'll hand over to Edward for a more detailed update on our business progress and financial results.

Okay. Thank you, Muzi. In the third quarter, through high-quality original content, innovative product experiences and influential offline events, we further strengthened our influence and reputation in the media industry while achieving solid progress in both commercialization and user engagement. Our newsroom once again demonstrated its agility and depth in covering major news and breaking events. During the highly anticipated September 3 military parade, our 5-hour live broadcast on Phoenix military channel drew over 32 million total views across platforms, underscoring the strong audience trust in our in-depth coverage. During Typhoon Huajiasha, our live stream delivered continuous 3D reporting where our Tang Bohu column reported the natural disaster with sharp investigative storytelling that inspired public reflection and trended widely on Weibo, achieving both depth and broad reach. On the international front, the Phoenix Insights column provided balanced analysis of the U.S.-Russia Summit through exclusive interviews with leading experts from the U.S., Russia and Ukraine. The series was reported by influential publications such as Beijing Culture Review, earning strong recognition among professional and academic readers. Our media influence and the capabilities to integrate resources also supported significant growth in the public and the regional sectors. In early September, as the exclusive media partner and co-organizer, we successfully hosted the Shanxi Culture and Tourism Development Promotion Event centered on integration, collaboration and consumption. The 2-day event generated more than 2 billion online impressions in 29 trending mentions across major platforms, rejuvenating Shanxi's culture tourism brand with a modern image. Also in September, we hosted the Phoenix Bay Area Finance Forum 2025 in Guangzhou. The forum achieved over 720 million total impressions and appeared on 3 trending lists. It trended simultaneously on Weibo, Kuaishou and Douyin, highlighting its strong brand influence. The [ Phoenix Star Awards ] also triggered enthusiastic organic promotion from awardees and broad coverage from mainstream business and finance media outlets, creating a second wave of dissemination. Our key IP programs continued to deliver both impact and reputation throughout Q3. Our mini documentary journey continued to resonate emotionally through human-centered storytelling. Its feature on the sausage vendor angle experimented with a new program plus live stream commerce model, trending on Weibo with over 30 million total views. [ RizTalk ] maintained its premium standards with every original piece entering trending charts. The feature interview with cancer survivor and the vlogger, [indiscernible] was especially noted for its worth and humanity, earning widespread praise as one of the most moving stories of the quarter. Meanwhile, [ Key Talk Alliance ] expanded its international footprint through participation in global events such as EFA Berlin, empowering brands across markets and effectively transforming content influence into commercial value. While our flagship event generated large-scale offline buzz, our daily operations continued converting that momentum into sustained user engagement. The number of our followers grew steadily across multiple platforms. For instance, our Phoenix video accounts gained nearly 0.5 million new followers this quarter alone, showing strong traction on video platforms. Our presence on RedNote also continued to build consistently expanding our reach among younger audiences. From a product standpoint, we further optimized the APP experience around reading, interaction and seamlessly integration with the HarmonyOS ecosystem. Our strategic cooperation with HarmonyOS began to bear fruit. Phoenix news app was showcased as one of few premium apps at Huawei's new product launch. Together with Huwei's Xiaoyi team, we co-developed an AI news feature and launched the Phoenix TV highlights app. Our quick news product will go live soon, completing our HarmonyOS product suite. In summary, in the third quarter, we strengthened our core advantages in authoritative reporting and brand events while achieving measurable progress in user engagement, commercial innovation and ecosystem expansion. Looking ahead, we will continue to prioritize content innovation and IT creation, enhance brand influence, diversify monetization channels and improve operational efficiency to drive sustainable long-term growth. This concludes our CEO, Mr. Sun's prepared remarks. I will now walk you through our financial performance for the third quarter of 2025. All figures mentioned will be in RMB. Our total revenues were RMB 200.9 million, representing a 22.3% increase year-on-year from RMB 164.3 million. Specifically, net advertising revenues were RMB 159.3 million, representing a 7.3% increase year-on-year from RMB 148.4 million. Paid services revenues were RMB 41.6 million, representing a 161.6% increase year-on-year from RMB 15.9 million, primarily driven by revenue generated from our digital reading services offered through mini programs on third-party applications. Cost of revenues increased by 3.1% to RMB 105.2 million from RMB 102 million in the same period of last year. Total operating expenses were RMB 109 million, reflecting a 23.6% increase year-on-year from RMB 88.2 million. This increase was primarily due to higher sales and marketing expenses incurred from the digital reading services mentioned earlier. Loss from operations was RMB 13.3 million compared to RMB 25.9 million in the same period of last year. Net loss attributable to iFeng was RMB 4.9 million compared to RMB 18.5 million in the same period of last year. Moving on to our balance sheet. As of September 30, 2025, the company's cash and cash equivalents, term deposits, short-term investments and restricted cash totaled RMB 1 billion or approximately USD 140.5 million. Finally, I'd like to provide our business outlook for the fourth quarter of 2025. We forecast total revenues to be between RMB 205.9 million and RMB 220.9 million. For net advertising revenues, we project between RMB 171.4 million and RMB 181.4 million, while for paid service revenues, we project between RMB 34.5 million and RMB 39.5 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 Instructions] We will now take our first question from the line of Alice Tang from First Shanghai.

The company's advertising business managed to grow in the third quarter despite market pressure. Could you please share how this was achieved? And what's your outlook for the ad market in Q4?

Thank you, Alice. It's a good question. Actually, achieving growth in advertising revenue under current conditions was not easy. Many clients are still very cautious with their budgets and their marketing is changing faster than before. This brought more challenges for us. Actually, we focus on 2 main areas. First, each client industry sales unit now works more closely with related content teams, sharing insights and taking joint responsibilities for business results. This helped us respond to clients faster and more precisely. Second, we followed the marketing trends and used our media influence to connect with more key clients. For example, in Q3, we organized the Shanxi Culture and Tourism promotion event, which involved the provincial government and multiple partners, strengthening our ability to serve public sector clients. Another highlight is our [ Star Anchor ] program. It started last year and has tripled its revenue this year. The program helps brand fans and train new generation hosts, meeting the rising demand for strong content creator. These efforts show how we are securing our position in the market. In the fourth quarter, competition will remain intense and cost control will stay critical, but we will keep focusing on innovation, improving our service capabilities and doing our best to maintain steady performance.

Thank you, there are no further questions at this time. I'll now turn the conference back to Muzi Guo for her closing comments.

Thank you. We have now come to the end of our earnings conference call for the third quarter of 2025. If you have any additional questions, please don't hesitate to reach out to us. Thank you for joining us today, and have a nice day.

Thank you for your participation in today's conference. This does conclude the program. You may now disconnect your lines.

Good day, and thank you for standing by. Welcome to Phoenix New Media's Second Quarter 2025 Earnings Call. [Operator Instructions] Please be advised that today's conference is being recorded. I would now like to turn the conference over to your speaker today, Muzi Guo from Investor Relations. Please go ahead.

Thank you, Amber. Welcome to Phoenix New Media's Earnings Conference Call for the second quarter of 2025. Today's call will begin with an overview of our quarterly results, followed by a Q&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 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, Mr. Yusheng Sun; and our CFO, Mr. Edward Lu. I will now pass the call to Mr. Sun for his opening remarks. I will provide translation as needed.

[Foreign Language]

[Interpreted] Thank you all for joining today's call. The past quarter has been marked by external challenges, but we managed to maintain steady momentum. Our team remained focused on a few key priorities, enhancing the depth and impact of our content while also exploring more diversified opportunities for collaboration and monetization. We are pleased to see these efforts gradually translating into tangible results, reflected in positive user feedback and business growth. In particular, during the second quarter, we made meaningful progress in content dissemination, social responsibility and brand influence. These achievements have laid a solid foundation for our next phase of development. Now I'll hand over to Edward for a more detailed update on our business progress and financial results.

In the past quarter, amid a rapidly evolving global geopolitical and economic landscape, we continue to strengthen our leadership in global Chinese language media through high-quality original content and innovative business initiatives. In recent months, events such as the India-Pakistan air conflict, U.S.-China tariff tensions and the Israel-Iran hostilities captured global attention. We responded with timely professional and in-depth reporting, helping our users make sense of the geopolitical forces behind this development. For example, our Tang Bohu column published 7 original deep dive articles on the Israel-Iran conflict with several pieces surpassing 100,000 reads on WeChat. Our military channels live broadcast U.S. strikes on 3 Iranian nuclear facilities demonstrated our expertise in analyzing global flash points and garnered over 10 million views across platforms. During the India and Pakistan conflict, our Phoenix Insight series was reposted by leading academic platforms, highlighting our credibility as a professional media voice. Meanwhile, our finance channel stood out in coverage of U.S.-China trade frictions with 43 articles on WeChat, each surpassing 100,000 reads, solidifying our position in the top tier of the industry. These achievements not only boosted user engagement, but also laid a solid foundation for future monetization. Our content reach continued to grow steadily. The Phoenix News video accounts surpassed 5 million followers with annual views exceeding 2 billion and projected revenue growth approaching 50%. Our tech channels video account also grew to over 3 million followers with commercial revenue tripling year-over-year, fueled by signature programs like Phoenix Auto Lab and unexpected manufacturing, which have emerged as popular and influential series in the hard tech space. Over the past 2 years, we sharpened our focus on international content dissemination and brand marketing. In 2024 alone, we helped our clients boost brand visibility at major global events, including the Paris Olympics, CES in Las Vegas, IFA in Berlin, Paris Fashion Week and both the French and Australian Opens. At the same time, we showcased the brand's overseas achievements to Chinese consumers and investors, creating a powerful 2-way communication loop. Building on that momentum, in June 2025, we hosted the 2025 China Enterprise Global Expansion Summit, citing a new industry benchmark. The event featured an address by former UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon and brought together industry leaders and global investors for in-depth dialogue. Regional breakout sessions focused on the Middle East and Asia Pacific building a policy business capital ecosystem. On the content side, our integrated strategy of live streams, special features and trending topic engagement led to impressive visibility, 40 trending chart appearances, 9 separate Weibo hot searches and a dedicated Douyin [indiscernible] entry created for the summit. The event significantly expanded our industry influence and marked our transformation from a content creator to a full-fledged resource integrator. Our international partnerships are also growing. At the 2025 AIM Global Summit in the UAE, we signed a strategic agreement with the Organizing Committee of the China International Investment and Trade Fair, CIIE. As our flagship invest in China initiative, CIIE will draw on our global communication network and integrated service capabilities to evolve from a regional platform into a global hub for investment and innovation. For us, this collaboration enables deeper connection with global enterprises, leveraging our Chinese-speaking users across the globe, 300 million social media followers and regional resources to help international brands connect with Chinese audiences and establish a strong foothold in the market. In an increasingly complex world, we remain committed to our role as a responsible and innovative media company. We will continue to leverage our strength as a global leader in Chinese language media rooted in professional journalism and guided by an international perspective to deepen integration across content and commerce and drive sustainable development amid uncertainty. This concludes our CEO, Mr. Sun's prepared remarks. I will now walk you through our financial performance for the second quarter of 2025. All features mentioned will be in RMB. Our total revenues were RMB 187.1 million, representing an 11.2% increase year-on-year from RMB 168.3 million. Specifically, net advertising revenues were RMB 153.3 million compared to RMB 154.7 million in the same period of last year. Paid services revenues were RMB 33.8 million, representing a 148.5% increase year-on-year from 13.6 million, primarily driven by revenue generated from our digital reading services offered through mini programs on third-party applications. Cost of revenues decreased by 7.6% to RMB 95.1 million from RMB 102.9 million in the same period of last year. Total operating expenses were RMB 99.2 million, reflecting a 33.5% increase year-on-year from RMB 74.3 million. This increase was primarily due to higher sales and marketing expenses incurred for the digital reading services mentioned earlier. Loss from operations was RMB 7.2 million compared to RMB 8.9 million in the same period of last year. Net loss attributable to iFeng was RMB 10.4 million compared to RMB 5.5 million in the same period of last year. Moving on to our balance sheet. As of June 30, 2025, the company's cash and cash equivalents, term deposits, short-term investments and restricted cash totaled RMB 982.3 million or approximately USD 137.1 million. Finally, I'd like to provide our business outlook for the third quarter of 2025. We forecast total revenues to be between RMB 203.4 million and RMB 218.4 million. For net advertising revenues, we projected between RMB 168.4 million and RMB 178.4 million, while for paid service revenues, we projected between RMB 35 million and RMB 40 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 Instructions] We will now take our first question from the line of Alice Tang from First Shanghai.

My question is regarding recent industry reports showing that the overall advertising market remained relatively flat for the first half of the year. How would that affect the company? Could you please share your views and outlook on this core business segment, please?

Okay. Thank you, Alice. Yes, of course, the overall ad market wasn't very strong in the first half of the year. Actually, in the second quarter, many of our advertising clients stayed cautious pretty much the same trend we saw in the first quarter. Looking at different client sectors, areas such as entertainment, tourism and retail performed well, but auto and alcohol real estate kept slowing down. For us, we were able to keep our ad business relatively stable in the second quarter. That's mainly because we have spent the past few years diving deep into understanding what our clients really need and using our strength to support them. Right now, many brands are trying to create new demand at home while also looking to grow overseas. Even in today's fragmented media landscape, we still play a strong role as a trusted mainstream outlet, which gives us an edge in brand credibility, whither through our content events or international marketing efforts, we've built a solid reputation with clients. One good example is our Global Expansion Summit in June, which received a lot of positive feedback. And at the end of the day, it's about focusing on what we are good at. That's what helps us stay competitive even in a tough market. Okay. Thank you, Alice.

I'm showing no further questions. I'll now turn the conference back to Muzi Guo for her closing comments.

Thank you. This concludes our Q&A session and conference call for today. If you have any additional questions, please don't hesitate to contact us. Thank you for joining us today. Have a great day.

Thank you for your participation in today's conference. This does conclude the program. You may now disconnect your lines.

Good day, and thank you for standing by. Welcome to Phoenix New Media First Quarter 2025 Earnings Call. [Operator Instructions] Please be advised that today's conference is being recorded. I would now like to turn the conference over to your speaker today, Muzi Guo from Investor Relations. Please go ahead.

Thank you, operator. Welcome to Phoenix New Media's earnings conference call for the first quarter of 2025. Today's call will begin with an overview of our quarterly results, followed by a Q&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 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 here today are our CEO, Mr. Yusheng Sun; and our CFO, Mr. Edward Lu. I will now pass the call to Mr. Sun for his opening remarks. I will provide translation as needed.

[Foreign Language]

Hello, everyone, and welcome. In Q1 2025, Phoenix New Media navigated complex global and regional events, consistently delivering authorative reporting with unmatched speed and depth, showcasing professional insight and reinforcing our industry leadership. Through sustained content innovation, we leverage our quality content creation and distribution capabilities to deliver value to users and advertising clients, unlocking new commercial partnerships. Looking to Q2, we will further deepen content innovation, expand commercial opportunities and enhance operational efficiency, remaining committed to delivering long-term value for investors. Now I will invite Edward to provide a more detailed summary of our first quarter performance on my behalf.

Okay. Thank you, Muzi. In the first quarter of 2025, we showcased strong momentum by leading breaking news, driving content innovation and unlocking new commercial opportunities. Our content team excelled amid global trade volatility, regional political turbulence, natural disasters and the rapid rise of artificial intelligence, consistently delivering authoritative reporting with unparalleled speed and depth. Across major Q1 events from South Korea's political upheaval to Trump's tariff escalation and the new energy vehicle safety concerns, we were frequently first to break the story, setting the pace for industry coverage. Our approach goes beyond guidelines, diving into the courses, personal stories and critical details that resonate with audiences while fostering active user engagement through interactive formats. For instance, our investigative series on Trump's tariffs and their impact on Asian markets alongside exposed on NEV fire risks and DeepSeek's AI breakthroughs sparkled vibrant discussions ranking high on major social media platforms. Meanwhile, we advanced content innovation by developing unique IPs that deliver exceptional value to users and brands. A key highlight was the launch of KCA Link, a creation model blending professional and user-generated content. Partnering with leading KOLs and KOCs in finance and tech, we crafted immersive experiences from trade show tours and factory deep dives to industrial park visits that highlight corporate innovation, operational strength and strategic vision, significantly boosting brand trust and visibility. Equally compelling is our new column, Why It Is, which targeted with an in-depth look at PopMart's artistic industrialization model and global ambitions, resonating strongly with brands seeking innovative frameworks. The launch garnered over 100,000 WeChat reads and widespread shares on social media, reflecting robust engagement and social impact. We are confident this series will continue to gain momentum, establishing a benchmark in its category. These content innovations translated directly into commercial success, showcasing our ability to convert creative excellence into business value. A prime example is our tech channels, Tesla's FSD China rollout. Within 3 hours, we connected with car owners and broadcast our first-to-market live test. With exclusive footage driving viral attention and endorsements from industrial leaders on X. Building on this, our live plus short video plus trending topic strategy fueled a comparative test of automakers' intelligent driving systems, sparking cross-platform bus, including retweets from the CEO of top-tier NEV makers. This approach allowed us to swiftly secure branding partnerships with top industry players. Beyond high-profile tech events, we also unlocked value through authentic storytelling in routine coverage. During the 2 sessions, we captured the authentic story of a prominent industry leader, the Chairman of a leading global corporation in a short video that went viral, reaching over 60 million views. This search elevated their personal brand, boosting their company's visibility and sales. It highlights a growing opportunity using our content expertise to craft compelling entrepreneur IPs. As businesses prioritize authentic leader-driven narratives, clients are turning to us to amplify these stories, creating new branding resources. Looking to Q2 2025, we will deepen our commitment to content innovation, creating more viral IPs to bolster user loyalty and brand influence. We will keep delivering tailored high-impact solutions for advertisers, expanding commercial avenues while sharpening operational efficiency. This concludes our CEO, Mr. Sun's, prepared remarks. I will now walk you through our financial performance for the first quarter of 2025. All figures mentioned will be in RMB. Our total revenue were CNY 155.2 million, representing a 1.4% increase year-on-year from CNY 153 million. Specifically, net advertising revenues were CNY 120.5 million compared to CNY 138.6 million in the same period of last year. Paid services revenues were CNY 34.7 million, representing a 141% increase year-on-year from CNY 14.4 million, primarily driven by revenue generated from our digital reading services offered through mini programs on third-party applications. Cost of revenues decreased by 15.1% to CNY 92.5 million from CNY 109 million in the same period of last year. Total operating expenses were CNY 101.1 million, reflecting a 25.6% increase year-on-year from CNY 80.5 million. This increase was primarily due to higher sales and marketing expenses incurred for the digital reading services mentioned earlier. Loss from operations was CNY 38.4 million compared to CNY 36.5 million in the same period of last year. Net loss attributable to ifeng was CNY 29.7 million compared to CNY 26 million in the same period of last year. Moving on to our balance sheet. As of March 31, 2025, the company's cash and cash equivalents, term deposits, short-term investments and restricted cash totaled CNY 984.5 million or approximately USD 135.7 million. Finally, I'd like to provide our business outlook for the second quarter of 2025. We forecast total revenues to be between CNY 182.1 million and CNY 197.1 million. For net advertising revenues, we project between CNY 148.7 million and CNY 158.7 million, while for paid service revenues, we project between CNY 33.4 million and CNY 38.4 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 Instructions] Our first question comes from Alice Tang of First Shanghai.

I was wondering, could you please share some insights on the trends and outlook for the company's advertising business in Q1 2025, please?

Thank you very much for the question. Actually, in Q1 2025, our advertising business faced severe challenges, but our team responded actively, showing strong resilience. First, while the number of existing clients remained steady, they spending – their spending became more cautious, reducing average revenue per client. To address this, we focused on attracting new clients and their revenue grew significantly, balancing the decline from existing clients. Second, some industries had seasonal fluctuations. For example, alcohol advertising dropped sharply, but we expanded quickly in finance, e-commerce, consumer goods and electronics, achieving good progress. Also, certain clients had strong demand, but their projects required high investment and cost. So we focused on refining our creative content resources and events to increase our pricing premium. Looking to Q2, advertisers are still cautious with marketing spending, but are improving compared to Q1. Based on market research, advertisers are focusing more on brand value and media influence. We will continue to use our strength as a leading Internet media platform, offering high-quality content and campaigns to create value for clients. Besides growing new industries and domestic clients, we are also exploring marketing partnerships with overseas companies in China. Our team is dedicated to staying competitive in this market. Thank you, Alice.

Thank you for the questions. This concludes the Q&A session. I will now pass the conference back to Muzi.

Thank you. We have now come to the end of our Q&A session and conference call. If you have any additional questions, please don’t hesitate to reach out to us. Thank you for joining us, and have a great day.

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