HUYA (HUYA) Q1 2024 Earnings Call Transcript

HUYA (HUYA 7.13%)
Q1 2024 Earnings Call
May 13, 2024, 8:00 a.m. ET

Contents:

• Prepared Remarks
• Questions and Answers
• Call Participants

Prepared Remarks:

Hanyu Liu

Good day and good evening, and thank you for standing by. Welcome to Huya’s first quarter 2024 earnings webinar. I am Hanyu Liu from Huya’s investor relations. At this time, all participants are in listen-only mode.

Please be advised that today’s webinar is being recorded. The company’s financial and operational results were issued earlier today and are posted online. You can also view the earnings press release by visiting the IR website at ir.huya.com. A replay of the call will be available on the IR website in a few hours.

Participants of management on today’s call will be Mr. Junhong Huang, Huya’s acting co-CEO and senior vice president; and Ms. Ashley Wu, acting co-CEO and vice president of finance. Management will begin with prepared remarks, and the call will conclude with a Q&A session.

Before we continue, please note that today’s discussion will contain forward-looking statements made on the safe harbor provisions of the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements involve inherent risks and uncertainties. As such, the company’s results may be materially different from the views expressed today.

Further information regarding this and other risks and uncertainties is included in the company’s prospectus and other public filings, as filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. The company does not assume any obligation to update any forward-looking statements except as required under applicable law. Please also note that Huya’s earnings press release and this conference call include discussions of unaudited GAAP financial information, as well as unaudited non-GAAP financial measures.

Huya’s press release contains a reconciliation of the unaudited non-GAAP measures to the unaudited most directly comparable GAAP measures. With that, I am pleased to turn the call to our co-CEO and SVP, Mr. Huang. Please go ahead.

Junhong Huang — Acting Co-Chief Executive Officer and Senior Vice President

OK. Thank you, Hanyu. Hello, everyone. Thank you for joining our earnings conference today.

We are pleased to deliver first quarter results featuring a healthy user base expansion, growth in game-related services, and a more stable overall revenue trend. We also improved our profitability, with non-GAAP net income reaching approximately RMB 92 million. With 2024 off to a good start, I’d like to share some details about the year’s key strategies and recent developments, including our strategic transformation and commercialization-focused content and platform ecology upgrades and technology and product advancements. Let me start with an update on our strategic transformation.

We are making encouraging progress in the commercialization of our game-related services, driven by the rapid growth of revenues from game distribution and advertising services, as well as in-game item sales. Our game-related services, advertising, and other revenues, formerly known as advertising and other revenues, reached RMB 244 million for the first quarter, representing growth of 137.6% year over year and 30.7% quarter over quarter. This growth reflects a strong and engaged base of high-value gamer users on our platform and validates our new direction’s potential. In terms of game distributions, we are broadening our coverage to include more games, both upcoming and existing titles.

Our gamer user tend to have high commercial value potential, with users average spending level through Huya’s distribution channel performing well, particularly in the MMO and SLG categories. We are also refining our operations to capitalize on their value as we develop game distribution services. For in-game item sales, we offer a diverse range of popular game props for a growing number of games. Additionally, we are expanding our offering of broadcaster-customized in-game virtual items to help strengthen connections between broadcasters and their fans.

With regard to game advertising services, we are working with more game companies and carrying out innovative broadcaster promotion activities and campaigns. We are also actively preparing the upcoming launch of eagerly awaited DnF Mobile game to seize related opportunities in game distribution and promotion. In addition to providing rich livestreaming content and more comprehensive services related to this game for our users and the game studio, we will leverage this game to grow our game-related service revenues. In addition, I want to point out that we typically recognize revenues from game distribution and in-game item sales after revenue sharing with the game companies.

That is on a net basis. That means game-related services’ actual total transaction value is much higher than its revenue. Game-related services’ strong and rapid growth this quarter reinforces our confidence that this business revenue will continue to scale. Also, as game-related services tend to offer higher gross margins, this business should accelerate improvements in our overall gross margin and profitability as its contribution to total revenues increase.

In the long term, this transformation will not only enhance our revenue mix but could also enhance our revenue scale and profit levels. Turning to content and platform ecology. Strengthening our cooperation with various platforms and products to enhance our platform ecology is a key strategy for us in 2024. In the first quarter, we hosted the New Year’s Esports All-Star event in cooperation with three other major game livestreaming platforms, featuring League of Legends, Honor of Kings, and Peacekeeper Elite competitions broadcast on multiple livestreaming and content platforms.

With an array of celebrities and popular broadcasters from each platform participating, the event was well received by users during the Chinese New Year period and went viral beyond the esports audience. Its success also marked a major breakthrough for the game livestreaming industry in terms of content co-creation. Through deep cooperation with our partners, we overcame platform barriers for the first time to mutually benefit from our complementary content. We believe this more open environment offers vast opportunities for Huya to create win-win outcomes for platforms of all kinds.

As an industry leader and barrier-breaking pioneer, our goal is to become a central hub within a more open content ecosystem. We are currently working with several livestreaming platforms on professional-generated content production, broadcaster cross-platform streaming, and commercialization. We also are embracing the short-form video sector by bringing our video and livestreaming content to these platforms. In addition, as we further enhance our cooperation with Tencent group, our high-quality content is being featured on various product lines within the Tencent ecosystem such as WeChat channels, Tencent Video, QQ, and an array of game products, touching a wider range of users.

Thus, initiatives like these, we believe, we can better meet users’ needs, increase the Huya platform’s influence, and create future opportunities. Strategically, we are building a tiered pyramid of esports tournaments and event content. At the top are licensed professional esports tournament. Our extensive coverage of top-tier licensed tournaments showcases our content quality while helping us improve our event operations capabilities.

The middle tier is our premium self-produced events and programs, leveraging our leading position in the esports market and our abundant broadcaster and professional player resource. We are offering more and more influential self-produced content. Finally, the bottom tier comprised esports events we recognize targeting massive participation from local communities, which also help to broaden the audience for esports content. Ashley will provide more details on our Q1 content activities later.

In terms of technology and product advancements, we upgraded the Huya Live mobile application to Version 12 in February. This release features enhanced esport information community content and game-related service functions, as well as new interactive features on game live channels. For example, a new dedicated event [Audio gap] of esport categories and upgraded event live information reports. In the community section, we optimized the integration of game information and strategies for various games and added an esports encyclopedia tab with comprehensive data on events, teams, and players.

All of these enhancements are designed to better meet users’ needs for professional game and esports content. On a related note, several new features we mentioned on our last call, including AI-powered customized commentary, real-time game status information, and intelligent editing for highlight replays, also became available with this integration. We remain dedicated to technology and product advancement, leveraging Huya’s trends in game data and AI to bring users a unique, superior, interactive experience in terms of real-time interaction. Watching while playing and deliberate content creation, in turn, these differentiated experiences will deepen our competitive moat.

In summary, we will continue to embrace changes in user demand and industry dynamics as the industry and market evolve. Through innovation across content, platform ecology, technology, products, and commercialization, as well as deepened cooperation with industry partners and content creators, we aim to propel Huya’s business growth. As we fortify our leading position in the game livestreaming market and expand our presence in the game value chain, we will also drive the future development of the livestreaming and game industries. With that, I will now turn the call over to our acting co-CEO and VP of finance, Ashley Wu, to share more details on our results.

Ashley, please go ahead.

Ashley Wu — Acting Co-Chief Executive Officer andVice President of Finance

Thank you, Vincent, and hello, everyone. I’ll provide some updates on our operating metrics and financials. On the user side, we continue to solidify our user base despite the first quarter being the usual low season for livestreaming activities. Upgrades to the Huya Live app and innovative cross-platform esports events and operational activities drove Huya Live’s average mobile MAUs to 82.6 million for the first quarter, up from 82.1 million for the same period last year.

Also, the expansion of our game-related services and users paying for in-game virtual items contributed to a slight sequential increase in paying users on Huya Live, reaching 4.4 million. Moving on to our professional content initiatives. On the licensed content front, we broadcasted over 65 licensed professional esports tournaments in the first quarter of 2024, with the spring speed of LPL, KPL, and CFPL attracting the most viewers. Major Copenhagen for Counter-Strike 2 and Masters Madrid for Valorant also emerged as it hits on our platform.

During the quarter, our licensed tournaments spent over 20 titles, and the broad coverage of these popular esports games further enhanced our content competitiveness. In addition to licensed esports content, we broadcasted 14 self-organized esports tournaments and entertainment PGC shows during the quarter. Many of these performed quite well, even though the first quarter is traditionally the off-season for large events. In addition to the cross-platform New Year’s Esports All-Star event that we just mentioned, Huya Champions Cup for CrossFire Mobile and the commentary program for Major Copenhagen event also captured viewer attention.

Furthermore, we hosted the second stop of our Village Game series, the Youth Qujiang Village Games for Honor of Kings in Qujiang, Zhejiang province. This event was a big success, advancing our efforts to expand the influence of esports content while also promoting local culture and village revitalization. In terms of our financial performance, revenues from game-related services, advertising, and other businesses increased rapidly, partially offsetting a decline in livestreaming revenues. The game-related services, advertising, and other segment accounted for 16% of our total revenues in Q1, up from 12% last quarter and 5% a year ago, due to game-related services’ increasing contribution.

As game-related services enjoy a higher gross margin, their increased contribution to total revenues also contributed to our gross margin improvement this quarter, lifting gross margin to 14.7%, in combination with our cost optimization efforts. As this segment’s revenue continues to grow, we expect our overall gross margin to benefit further. We also reduced total operating expenses by 17.8% year over year, with double-digit savings in all three opex line items. We were pleased to achieve a meaningful profitability improvement in the first quarter.

Let’s move on to our Q1 financial details. Our total net revenues were RMB 1.5 billion for Q1, compared with RMB 1.96 billion for the same period last year. Livestreaming revenues were RMB 1.26 billion for Q1, compared with RMB 1.86 billion for the same period last year, primarily due to the continuous soft macroeconomic and industry environment, as well as our proactive business adjustments to support our strategic transformation and prudent operations. Game-related services, advertising, and other revenues were RMB 244 million for Q1, compared with RMB 103 million for the same period last year, primarily due to increased revenues from game distribution and advertising services and in-game item sales.

Cost of revenues decreased by 24% year over year to RMB 1.28 billion for Q1, primarily due to decreased revenue sharing fees and content costs, as well as bandwidth costs. Revenue sharing fees and content costs decreased by 25% year over year to RMB 1.12 billion for Q1, primarily due to the decrease in revenue sharing fees associated with the decline in livestreaming revenues, as well as lower costs related to esports content. Bandwidth costs decreased by 36% year over year to 60 million for Q1. This was primarily due to improved bandwidth cost management, favorable pricing terms, and continued technology enhancement efforts.

Gross profit was RMB 221 million and gross margin was 14.7% for Q1. Excluding share-based compensation expenses, non-GAAP gross profit was RMB 225 million and non-GAAP gross margin was 14.9% for Q1. Research and development expenses decreased by 12% year over year to RMB 135 million for Q1, primarily due to decreased share-based compensation expenses. Sales and marketing expenses decreased by 26% year over year to RMB 76 million for Q1, primarily due to decreased marketing and promotion fees, as well as personnel-related expenses.

General and administrative expenses decreased by 18% year over year to RMB 60 million for Q1, primarily due to decreased share-based compensation expenses. Other income was RMB 12 million for Q1, compared with RMB 4 million for the same period last year, primarily due to higher government subsidies. As a result, operating loss was RMB 39 million for Q1, compared with RMB 57 million for the same period last year. Interest income was RMB 117 million for Q1, compared with RMB 96 million for the same period last year.

Net income attributable to Huya Inc. was RMB 71 million for Q1, compared with RMB 40 million for the same period last year. Excluding the share-based compensation expenses and amortization of intangible assets from business acquisition, net of income tax, non-GAAP net income attributable to Huya Inc. was RMB 92 million for Q1, compared with RMB 85 million for the same period last year.

Non-GAAP net margin was 6.1% for Q1. Diluted net income per ADS was RMB 0.3 for Q1. Non-GAAP diluted net income per ADS was RMB 0.39 for Q1. As of March 31, 2024, the company had cash and cash equivalents, short-term deposits, short-term investment, and long-term deposits of RMB 9.4 billion, compared with RMB 9.9 billion as of December 31, 2023.

Finally, let me provide an update on our shareholder returns. Under our up to $100 million share repurchase program that began in August 2023, we have repurchased 15.2 million Huya ADS, with a total aggregate consideration of $48.5 million as of the end of March 2024. We also announced a special cash dividend declaration totaling approximately $150 million in March 2024. These initiatives are expected to return an aggregate value of nearly $200 million to our shareholders.

We will continue to focus on improving our financial and operational performance while building long-term shareholder value. With that, I would now like to open the call to your questions.

Hanyu Liu

Thank you, Ashley, and hello, everyone. [Operator instructions] Today’s first question comes from Lei Zhang from Bank of America. Lei, your line is open. Please go ahead.

Lei Zhang — Bank of America Merrill Lynch — Analyst

Hi. [Foreign language] Thanks, management, for taking my question. My question is regarding the game-related business. Now, can you give us some updates here? And we also noticed some new game to launch such as the DnF Mobile.

And will this bring more opportunity to us? Thank you.

Junhong Huang — Acting Co-Chief Executive Officer and Senior Vice President

OK. [Foreign language] We started our strategic transformation last August, focusing on commercialization upgrading and providing more game-related services. At present, we have made positive progress in the commercialization of game-related services. Through the rapid growth of revenue from game distribution and advertising services and in-game items sales, the revenue of our game-related services, advertising, and other segments in Q1 reached 244 million, up by 137.6% year on year and 30.7% quarter over quarter.

This growth not only reflects the high-quality gamer user base on Huya platform but also validates the development potential of our new business direction. OK. [Foreign language] Specifically, in terms of game distribution, we are constantly expanding the coverage of games to include more new and existing titles. This year, we have covered the distribution of popular games, including Honor of Kings, Battle of Golden Spatula, and performed very well.

For the new games we participated in before such as Demi-Gods and Semi-Devils 2 Mobile and DreamStar, Huya distribution channels have also achieved leading results, especially by ARPU of users in a game, which proves that the gamer users on Huya platform have high commercial potential. In this regard, we are constantly optimizing our operations in order to make better use of this advantage. [Foreign language] In terms of sales of game props, we provide a variety of popular props for more games, which have covered dozens of games at present. At the same time, we are also cooperating with the companies to customize props for broadcasters, which helps to strengthen the relationship between the broadcasters and fans.

For example, one of our previous broadcasters achieved a transaction value of more than 10 million yuan when selling personal customized game skins in just one streaming session, reflecting the potential of this business model. In terms of advertising services, we are collaborating with more different game companies and carrying out innovative broadcaster promotion activities to seize the opportunity of new games and mini games promotion in the market. [Foreign language] At present, the game license permits are released normally, with more new titles appearing in the market. This not only can bring more rich live game content but also bring more opportunities for us to develop game-related services.

For example, we are now actively preparing for the upcoming DnF Mobile, working closely with the game studio. We are also recruiting broadcasters for livestreaming and doing promotion work for the launch of exclusive props and gifts. We have also set up a special pre-download area in the Game Center section of Huya Live. Based on the long-term large-scale audience of DnF content in Huya platform, we hope that DnF Mobile games will also be popular on our platform and help the growth of game-related services revenue.

OK. [Foreign language] Finally, in addition, I want to point out that we typically recognize revenues from game distribution and in-game item sales after revenue sharing with the game companies on a net basis. So, that means game-related services’ actual total transaction value is much higher than its revenue and growing more rapidly. Game-related services’ strong and rapid growth in this quarter reinforces our confidence that this business revenue will continue to scale up.

Also, as game-related services tend to offer higher gross margins, this business should accelerate the improvements in our overall gross margin and profitability as its contribution to total revenues increases. In the long term, that — this transformation will not only enhance our revenue mix but also enhance our revenue scale and profit levels.

Hanyu Liu

Thank you. And our next question comes from Yiwen Zhang from China Renaissance. Yiwen, please go ahead.

Yiwen Zhang — China Renaissance — Analyst

[Foreign language] Thanks for taking my question. So, this year is the second year of our two-year road map laid out early, and then can you give us an update on, you know, 2024 revenue and the profitability outlook? Thank you.

Ashley Wu — Acting Co-Chief Executive Officer andVice President of Finance

[Foreign language] In the first quarter, our total revenue was 1.5 billion yuan, and the rapid growth of revenue from game-related services, advertising, and others partially offset the decline in live broadcast revenue. Therefore, although Q1 is usually an off-season for live broadcast business due to the influence of less large-scale events and more holidays during the Spring Festival for broadcasters, our total revenue only decreased by 1.7% compared with Q4 last year and the overall revenue tend to be quite stable. In terms of revenue mix, game-related services, advertising, and others accounted for 16% of the total Q1, up from 12% in the previous quarter and 5% in the same period last year. [Foreign language] On profit, due to the high gross margin of game-related services, advertising, and other segments, the increase of their contribution to total revenue also pushed up gross margin in this quarter.

With our continuous efforts in cost optimization, Q1 gross profit margin increased to 14.7% from 13.7% in the same period last year. We also reduced the total operating expenses by 17.8% year over year, and all the three opex line items achieved double-digit year-on-year decline. On the whole, the profit level in Q1 achieved an effective improvement, of which GAAP net profit increased by about 79%. [Foreign language] As for this year’s revenue, we expect that, in Q1, live revenue from a year-over-year point of view will continue to be affected by last year’s strategic transformation of internal resources allocation and more prudent operation.

However, compared with the first quarter, the revenue level is expected to continue to be stable and more so in the following quarters. As for the game-related services, advertising, and others, we expect that the following quarters of the year will see a relatively fast growth, which will lead to a gradual recovery of our overall revenues from the previous quarter. [Foreign language] As of just — as mentioned just now, most of the revenue from game-related services is recognized after revenue sharing with the game companies as the net revenue. So, despite the rapid growth of the business scale, we recognized value not as that much.

And at the same time, given the nature of the business, we think that it would lead to a higher level of gross margin — gross profit margins. From a full year perspective, due to the changes in revenue mix brought about by the new business growth, the proportion of higher gross margin business in total revenue will gradually increase. We will continue to optimize our event content costs and broadcasters’ costs. So, compared to 2023, we expect the gross profit margin for the year will continue to improve.

Gross margin is also an indicator that we are now placing greater emphasis on — on the operational side, we’ll continue to be more prudent in our spending, particularly on selling expenses and labor costs. Overall, we will continue to maintain our expectation of a full year profitability in 2024 and profit growth over 2023.

Hanyu Liu

Thank you. Our next question comes from Ritchie Sun from HSBC. Ritchie, please go ahead.

Ritchie Sun — HSBC — Analyst

Vincent, Ashley [Foreign language] Thank you, management, for taking my questions. I have a question about cash usage. We have 1.3 billion cash on hand and we’re halfway through the buyback program, so any updated plans in terms of, say, the buyback program to extend it or even increase the quota, as well as any plans for any dividend down the road? Thank you very much.

Ashley Wu — Acting Co-Chief Executive Officer andVice President of Finance

[Foreign language] We announced a share repurchase program of up to $100 million in mid-August last year. And in the first quarter of this year, we repurchased nearly 20 million worth of our stock. As of the end of March, we had repurchased a total of $48.5 million. And in March, we announced a special cash dividend totaling approximately $150 million.

So, in total, these initiatives have returned nearly $200 million to Huya’s shareholders. [Foreign language] At the end of March 2024, the company held cash, cash equivalents, and deposits totaling approximately $1.3 billion. The change compared to the number at the end of last December is a result of share repurchase expenses and payments from operations. After the completion of the current cash dividend payment of $150 million, we expect to have over $1.1 billion in cash, cash equivalents, and deposits.

Shareholder returns are a key focus of the management, and we will continue to carry out our shareholder return initiatives in a manner that aligns with the market conditions and the company’s operations in order to reward the shareholders for their support and to enhance the company’s efficient use of cash.

Hanyu Liu

Thank you. Now, we will take our last question today from Thomas Chong from Jefferies. Thomas, please go ahead. Thomas, please unmute yourself.

Thomas Chong — Jefferies — Analyst

[Foreign language] Thanks, management, for taking my question. My question is about the livestreaming industry trend. How should we think about the competitive landscape or the relationship among different livestreaming platforms? And how should we think about these changes, you know, affect Huya users, as well as the hosts? Thank you.

Junhong Huang — Acting Co-Chief Executive Officer and Senior Vice President

OK. [Foreign language] From the industry’s point of view, the overall environment has become more open, and we believe that the platforms are no longer isolated or purely competitive to each other. The game live broadcasting industry has entered into a new paradigm of growth that features both cooperation and competition. In this new market environment, we also believe that it brings broader opportunities to platforms to complement one another and share content and resources, thus creating more win-win possibilities.

Therefore, Huya, as the leader in this industry, is also striving to break down platform barriers and meet multiple needs of the users and seize business growing opportunities. [Foreign language] Strengthening cooperation and linkage with various platforms and products and upgrading the platform ecology is one of our important strategies this year. On the one hand, we are cooperating more with some live broadcasting platforms in professional content production, cross-platform broadcasting, and commercialization. The New Year’s Esports All-Star events hosted by Huya in February this year is the first all-star events event for which we have broken down the industry barriers.

It also marks a major breakthrough in content co-creation in the live game industry. At present, we have a number of cross-platform self-made events and activities in preparation. In addition to the broadcasters and signed esports players on Huya platform, these events will also invite players from other platforms to participate in them so as to achieve in-depth cooperation on multiple platforms. For example, the upcoming Huya LoL Legend Cup will bring together outstanding retired players and active esports players from the whole network for competition.

The players’ selection and forming of teams have attracted widespread interest from League of Legends players and esports viewers on multiple platforms, and this response has been very enthusiastic, which demonstrates Huya’s brand influence, as well as its strengths, in tournament production and operation. [Foreign language] In addition, we are also embracing the field of short video. Based on Huya’s rich broadcasters resources and broadcast operational experiences, we will introduce our video and live content into these platforms, helping the broadcasters and Huya to obtain more opportunities for commercialization. At the same time, with further strengthening our cooperation with Tencent group, we are delivering high-quality content to various product lines within the Tencent ecosystem such as Tencent Video, QQ, and multiple game products so as to reach larger user groups.

In terms of the platform ecology, we hope to become a more open ecological hub and promote a revolution in the industry by strengthening cooperation with live broadcasters and video platforms and game companies. [Foreign language] Under the new business model, our service recipient will not only be limited to users on Huya Live but also to the larger user group on more platforms throughout the wider network, so that we can also participate in a larger market. For existing users on Huya, they will get more exciting content, which is conducive to enhancing user loyalty and activity. In addition, we are taking advantage of Huya’s technology and product advantages in live games and create a differentiated user interaction experience on Huya platform through game data capabilities and AI capabilities.

Through our efforts in ecological upgrading, our broadcasters will also have the opportunity to expand their popularity and enjoy wider sources of revenue. Our more diversified cooperation with game companies and innovative game-related services initiatives will also help the broadcasters to expand their revenue channels, so as to — cements the relationship between Huya and broadcasters community and enhance the attraction of Huya platform to broadcasters.

Hanyu Liu

OK. Thank you. Thank you once again for joining us today. If you have further questions, please feel free to contact Huya’s investor relations through the contact information provided on our website or Piacente Financial Communications.

[Operator signoff]

Duration: 0 minutes

Call participants:

Hanyu Liu

Junhong Huang — Acting Co-Chief Executive Officer and Senior Vice President

Ashley Wu — Acting Co-Chief Executive Officer andVice President of Finance

Lei Zhang — Bank of America Merrill Lynch — Analyst

Yiwen Zhang — China Renaissance — Analyst

Ritchie Sun — HSBC — Analyst

Thomas Chong — Jefferies — Analyst

More HUYA analysis

All earnings call transcripts