Bilibili shares bounce up after losses narrow 29% in Q4

Photo credit: Koroti K / Shutterstock

Shanghai-based Bilibili reported a fourth-quarter loss of US$217.1 million, which was 29% narrower than in the same period last year.

This helped send the video-sharing website’s stock up about 9.6% on Thursday.

The firm also saw growth across the board in average daily users, monthly active users, and paying users – seeing a spurt of 29%, 20%, and 15%, respectively, year on year. Meanwhile, the company’s net revenue for the quarter stood at US$890.6 million – a modest 6% bump year-on-year.

According to the company’s investor presentation, the Gen Z+ population – those aged 35 and below – remains its core user base. The company also said that the demographic made up 73% of the audience for China’s entire video-based industry in 2022.

In the company’s earnings call, CEO Rui Chen said the top objective for 2023 was to grow its topline and shrink losses while pursuing higher-quality user growth.

“Nowadays, the changing market environment calls for increased adaptability. As such, we have taken steps to tighten our expenses and streamline our organization to further prioritize commercialization,” he said in a statement.

As per its presentation, Bilibili’s other areas for monetization include its premium membership system, live broadcasting services, comics platform, and audio-drama platform.

It’s also been active in the gaming space, looking to launch two titles in China and six titles worldwide soon.

Last year, the company reportedly had to shutter Qing Video, its competitor to ByteDance’s version of TikTok in China.