Bilibili (NASDAQ:BILI) executives told investors the company closed fiscal 2025 with accelerating user growth, expanding margins, and its first full year of GAAP profitability, citing stronger demand for “high-quality” longer-form content and continued improvements in advertising efficiency. Management also outlined a plan to integrate artificial intelligence more deeply across content discovery, creator tools, and ad targeting, while maintaining disciplined cost control.
Community growth and engagement hit new highs
Chairman and CEO Rui Chen said 2025 was a “marquee year” as user growth regained momentum throughout the year and engagement set new records. Daily active users (DAUs) increased 10% year-over-year in the fourth quarter to 113 million, while monthly active users (MAUs) grew 8% to 366 million.
Management highlighted category-level momentum, including fourth-quarter watch time growth of more than 30% for lifestyle content, 56% for Chinese anime, and 24% for game-related content. The company also pointed to the July 2025 launch of a “Video Podcast” initiative, noting that total watch time for video podcasts exceeded 8 billion minutes in the second half of 2025.
Monetization rose alongside user maturity
Chen emphasized that as users spend more time on the platform, their willingness to spend has increased. Monthly paying users (MPUs) rose 21% year-over-year to a record 36 million, and the company said the average age of users reached 26.5 by the start of 2026, which management framed as a tailwind for purchasing power and commercial opportunities.
The company also provided creator ecosystem metrics. In the fourth quarter, the number of creators with more than 1,000 followers increased by more than 30% year-over-year. For 2025, Bilibili said nearly 3 million creators earned income through advertising and value-added services (VAS) channels, with average income per creator up 21% year-over-year. The company added that more than 10 million users supported creators and high-quality PUGV content through fan charging during the year.
Other community indicators included an average of more than 90 creators followed per active user in the fourth quarter, up from 81 a year earlier. By the end of 2025, Bilibili reported more than 284 million official members, with a 12-month retention rate “stable at around 80%.”
Advertising was a fourth-quarter standout, with AI a growing driver
Management said advertising revenue exceeded expectations in the fourth quarter, rising 27% year-over-year to RMB 3.0 billion. Full-year advertising revenue increased 23% to RMB 10.1 billion. The company said its top five ad verticals in the quarter were games, digital products and home appliances, internet services, e-commerce, and automotive.
Executives highlighted several factors behind the results:
- Expanded ad inventory beyond the feed, with search, PC, and OTT scenarios driving ad revenue in those areas up more than 60% year-over-year; management said some scenarios grew more than 200%.
- Improved ad efficiency from deeper AI integration in commercial algorithms, including smart ad delivery and AI-powered creative tools.
- Growth in conversion-focused spending; the company said ad spend aimed at deeper conversions rose more than 40% year-over-year, while negative user feedback fell by over 50%.
The company also called out home decoration as a “standout,” with ad spend up more than 80% year-over-year, which management tied to an aging and more lifestyle-focused user base. AI-related advertising budgets climbed nearly 180% year-over-year in the fourth quarter, and management said momentum continued into 2026. In response to analyst questions about outlook, the company said it remained confident about advertising growth in the first quarter and full year 2026, citing rising user value and room for further efficiency gains.
Games: mixed quarterly comparison, pipeline discussed
Game revenue declined 14% year-over-year in the fourth quarter to RMB 1.5 billion, which management attributed to a high base from “San Mou” (Three Kingdoms: Strategy) in the year-ago period. Despite the quarterly decline, full-year game revenue increased 14% to RMB 6.4 billion.
Management said season 11 of San Mou “held steady” in the fourth quarter and that the company’s focus is extending the game’s lifecycle by elevating the user experience and maintaining balanced monetization. The company launched a traditional Chinese version in January and plans to expand into more Asian markets later in the year; in Q&A, management said it had already launched in Hong Kong, Macau, and Taiwan and plans to roll out to additional Asian markets such as Korea and Japan.
Bilibili also highlighted the performance of its self-developed title “Escape From Duckov,” calling it a “dark horse” that sold over 3 million copies in the first three weeks after its October debut and became the best-selling domestic single-player game of the year, ranking among the top three of all time. Management said it is moving Duckov to consoles and mobile.
Looking forward, executives described a pipeline that includes an exclusive casual card game “NCard,” with another round of paid beta testing planned for March and an anticipated mid-year rollout, and a self-developed simulation game “Lumi Master,” with paid beta testing planned in the second quarter and a global launch planned within the year.
Financial results: first full year of GAAP profitability and margin expansion
Chen said Bilibili achieved its first full year of GAAP profitability in 2025, reporting total revenue of RMB 30.3 billion, up 13% year-over-year, and GAAP net profit of RMB 1.2 billion. In the fourth quarter, total revenue rose 8% year-over-year to RMB 8.3 billion, with the revenue mix described as approximately 39% VAS, 37% advertising, 18% mobile games, and 6% IP derivatives and other businesses.
CFO Sam Fan reported fourth-quarter gross profit of RMB 3.1 billion, up 11% year-over-year, and gross margin of 37.0%, up from 36.1% a year earlier, marking the 14th consecutive quarter of margin expansion. Operating expenses declined 3% year-over-year to RMB 2.6 billion, led by a 9% decrease in sales and marketing expenses due mainly to reduced game marketing. Operating profit increased 299% year-over-year to RMB 504 million, while adjusted operating profit was RMB 838 million, translating to a 10.1% adjusted operating margin (up from 6.0% a year earlier). Net profit was RMB 514 million versus RMB 89 million in the prior-year quarter, and adjusted net profit was RMB 878 million.
Fan said the company generated approximately RMB 1.8 billion in operating cash flow in the fourth quarter and RMB 7.1 billion for the full year. As of Dec. 31, 2025, Bilibili had RMB 24.2 billion (about $3.5 billion) in cash and cash equivalents, time deposits, and short-term investments. Under its $200 million share repurchase program approved in November 2024, the company repurchased 0.6 million shares in the fourth quarter for $14.7 million; cumulative repurchases totaled 7.0 million shares for $131.2 million, leaving $68.8 million available.
For 2026, management reiterated mid- to long-term targets of 40%–45% gross margin and a 15%–20% adjusted operating margin. Fan said the company expects gross profit to improve slightly quarter-over-quarter in the first quarter and adjusted operating margin to improve year-over-year in Q1, while also noting Bilibili plans to “modestly increase” AI investment and reinvest part of incremental profits into AI applications aligned with core business priorities.
About Bilibili (NASDAQ:BILI)
Bilibili (NASDAQ: BILI) is a leading Chinese online entertainment platform renowned for its focus on animation, comics and games (ACG) content. The company operates a video-sharing website where users can view, upload and comment on a wide range of content, from full-length anime episodes to user-generated short videos. In addition to on-demand streaming, Bilibili offers live broadcasting services that connect creators with fans through real-time interaction features such as “bullet comments” that flow across the screen.
Beyond its core video community, Bilibili generates revenue through multiple value-added services.
