JOYY Reports Second Quarter 2025 Financial Results: Ad Tech Business Gained Momentum, with Non-livestreaming Revenue Growing 25.6% YoY

Rhea-AI Summary

JOYY Inc. (NASDAQ: JOYY) reported strong Q2 2025 financial results, with total revenue reaching US$507.8 million, up 2.7% quarter-over-quarter. The company's non-livestreaming revenue grew 25.6% year-over-year, contributing 26.1% of total revenues, while livestreaming revenue increased 1.1% quarter-over-quarter to US$375.4 million.

Key financial metrics showed solid performance with non-GAAP EBITDA of US$48.2 million (up 25.7% YoY) and GAAP net profit of US$60.8 million (up 16.8% YoY). The company maintained a strong financial position with US$3.3 billion in net cash and announced a three-year dividend policy totaling approximately US$600 million plus a US$300 million share repurchase program from 2025 to 2027.

BIGO Ads demonstrated significant growth potential, with global MAUs reaching 262.5 million. The platform expanded its advertising reach through new integrations and achieved notable growth across multiple regions, particularly in North America and Europe.

Positive

• Non-livestreaming revenue grew 25.6% YoY, showing successful diversification
• Non-GAAP EBITDA increased 25.7% YoY to US$48.2 million
• Strong balance sheet with US$3.3 billion in net cash
• Substantial shareholder returns with US$600 million dividend policy and US$300 million buyback program
• BIGO's livestreaming paying users grew 3.7% QoQ
• Global MAUs reached 262.5 million with positive growth momentum
• Operating income increased 155.4% YoY to US$5.8 million

Negative

• Overall revenue growth was modest at 2.7% QoQ
• Livestreaming revenue showed minimal growth of 1.1% QoQ
• Heavy dependence on livestreaming revenue (73.9% of total revenue)

Insights

Financial Analyst

JOYY delivered moderate topline growth with impressive ad tech expansion, while maintaining strong profitability and shareholder returns.

JOYY's Q2 2025 results reveal a company successfully executing its diversification strategy. The 2.7% QoQ revenue growth to $507.8 million might appear modest, but the composition is changing meaningfully. The non-livestreaming segment, primarily advertising technology, grew an impressive 25.6% year-over-year and now constitutes 26.1% of total revenue - signaling a strategic shift beyond JOYY's traditional livestreaming roots.

Profitability metrics are particularly strong. Non-GAAP EBITDA increased 25.7% YoY to $48.2 million, while GAAP net profit rose 16.8% YoY to $60.8 million. The company's $3.3 billion net cash position demonstrates exceptional financial resilience, representing approximately 180% of its quarterly revenue annualized.

JOYY's user metrics show encouraging momentum. Mobile MAUs reached 262.5 million with renewed sequential growth. Bigo Live's paying users increased 3.7% QoQ, while their instant messenger product added 3.4 million MAUs with 12.8% YoY growth in daily time spent - creating valuable inventory for ad monetization.

Geographic diversification is evident, with Bigo Live's revenue in Europe rebounding 6.5% QoQ and Southeast Asia growing 3.9% QoQ. Meanwhile, BIGO Ads is gaining traction in North America (up 24.2% in H1 2025 vs H2 2024) while beginning European expansion.

The shareholder return program remains robust, with $135 million allocated to dividends and buybacks in H1 2025, part of a three-year commitment totaling approximately $900 million. This signals management's confidence in sustainable free cash flow generation despite ongoing investments in growth initiatives.

SINGAPORE, Aug. 26, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- JOYY Inc. (NASDAQ: JOYY) ("JOYY" or the "Company"), a global leading technology company, announced its unaudited financial results for the second quarter of 2025.

In the second quarter of 2025, JOYY's revenue reached US$ 507.8 million, representing 2.7% quarter-over-quarter growth. Its livestreaming revenue grew 1.1% quarter over quarter, while non-livestreaming revenue achieved 25.6% year-over-year growth, contributing 26.1% of total revenues. The Company's non-GAAP¹ EBITDA reached US$48.2 million, growing by 25.7% year over year and 19.3% quarter over quarter. JOYY's GAAP and non-GAAP¹ net profit in the second quarter increased approximately 16.8% and 3.9% year-over-year to US$60.8 million and US$77.0 million, respectively. Operating cash flow reached US$57.6 million in the second quarter. As of June 30, 2025, JOYY maintained US$3.3 billion in net cash on the balance sheet, a sign of the Company's strong financial resilience.

JOYY continued to deliver competitive, consistent shareholder returns. From January 1, 2025 through June 30, 2025, the Company has allocated US$135 million to quarterly dividends and share buybacks.

The Company previously announced a three-year quarterly dividend policy with a total amount of approximately US$600 million, and a share repurchase program under which the company may repurchase up to US$ 300 million worth of shares, from 2025 to 2027.

Ms. Ting Li, Chairperson and Chief Executive Officer of JOYY, commented, "Our multi-engine growth strategy yielded positive results, as evidenced by the impressive revenue growth of BIGO Ads. We are making substantial progress on all fronts, including expansion of our traffic, and rising advertiser demand across channels and verticals. As we grow in scale, we are accelerating the training and optimization of our algorithms to further improve our campaign performance and ROI, which we believe in turn will drive further growth in advertisers' demand and publisher traffic, fostering a self-reinforcing strategic flywheel. With our global operational capabilities, tech infrastructure, and vibrant ecosystem, we are confident in building a meaningful and lasting presence in the advertising technology industry while delivering sustained, long-term value for our shareholders."

Second Quarter 2025 Financial Highlights

• Net revenues in the second quarter of 2025 were US$507.8 million.
• Operating income was US$5.8 million in the second quarter of 2025, compared to US$2.3 million in the corresponding period of 2024, representing a 155.4% year-over-year increase.
• Non-GAAP¹ EBITDA was US$48.2 million in the second quarter of 2025, compared to US$38.4 million in the corresponding period of 2024, representing a 25.7% year-over-year increase.
• Net income from continuing operations attributable to controlling interest of JOYY was US$60.8 million in the second quarter of 2025, compared to US$52.1 million in the corresponding period of 2024, representing a 16.8% year-over-year increase.
• Non-GAAP¹ net income from continuing operations attributable to controlling interest and common shareholders of JOYY was US$77.0 million in the second quarter of 2025, compared to US$74.0 million in the corresponding period of 2024, representing a 3.9% year-over-year increase.

Second Quarter 2025 Business Highlights

Livestreaming Business

In the second quarter, the Company's livestreaming revenue reached US$375.4 million, with BIGO livestreaming revenue at US$355.3 million, both delivering a sequential growth.

Fueled by ROI-driven user acquisition and an ever-improving user experience, JOYY's global average mobile MAUs were 262.5 million, resuming sequential growth in the second quarter. Bigo Live's MAUs numbers increased by 2.3% quarter over quarter and 30‑day ROI from new devices improved by 4.4% sequentially. The company's instant messenger product (IM) continued to achieve strong organic user growth attributable to an enhanced user experience. High-frequency usage and strong user stickiness, fueled by enhanced features such as HD audio‑video calling and rich media messaging, have been pivotal to IM's organic expansion. In the second quarter, MAUs of IM increased by 3.4 million during the quarter, with average daily user time spent up by 12.8% year over year. A large and engaged user base provided a foundation of high-quality global traffic that drove sustained monetization across livestreaming and advertising.

JOYY enhanced content quality and refined the paying user experience during the second quarter, which drove higher user engagement and conversion efficiency. As a result, BIGO's overall livestreaming paying users grew 3.7% quarter over quarter. Specifically, the Company optimized Bigo Live's cross-regional content distribution algorithms and real‑time AI translation. These changes significantly improved global content consumption and drove continued growth in cross‑regional tipping, particularly across Europe and the Americas. Bigo Live launched the Streamer Academy, which offers tiered training, enhanced broadcast tools, and operational support to help streamers improve quality and reach. This fueled a 1.6% quarter-over-quarter increase in the number of streamers on Bigo Live. Bigo Live also introduced refined tiered incentives and exclusive privileges, which drove a 13% quarter-over-quarter increase in premium paying users. In the second quarter, Bigo Live's livestreaming revenue in developed countries returned to positive quarter-over-quarter growth. In particular, Bigo Live's revenue in Europe rose 6.5% quarter over quarter, marking a significant rebound in the region. Bigo Live's livestreaming revenue in Southeast Asia also rose 3.9% quarter over quarter.

Advertising Business

In the second quarter, JOYY's second major growth engine demonstrated significant growth potential, with non-livestreaming revenue accounting for 26.1% of total revenues. Notably, BIGO's non-livestreaming business, primarily BIGO Ads, grew approximately 29% year over year and 9% quarter over quarter.

JOYY is building significant scale on the traffic side. Its reach spans roughly 262.5 million users through its own social apps, and it extends this reach substantially by seamlessly integrating premium global traffic across multiple channels. BIGO Ads has significantly scaled its third-party BIGO Audience network traffic through successful integrations with AppLovin MAX and Unity LevelPlay mediation platforms. Growing publisher SDK adoption has driven nearly 80% traffic growth versus the second half of 2024, while new integrations with multi-channel platforms further expanded its traffic reach, including CTV.

Meanwhile, BIGO Ads achieved robust growth across IAA, IAP, and Web‑based channels, with daily transaction volumes reaching record levels. Web-based lead‑generation verticals continued to post double‑digit gains, powered by model optimization, enriched data feedback, and improved bidding strategies. In IAA, double-digit QoQ growth of IAA advertising was driven by growing demand from top gaming companies.

Geographically, in the first half of 2025, North America achieved approximately 24.2% growth versus the second half of 2024. In Europe, where the platform kicked off its expansion during the second quarter, revenue grew by a high single‑digit percentage quarter over quarter.

The platform's proprietary user data asset, enhanced by customer feedback and multi-channel attribution, continuously improves its profiling and targeting precision. Deep synergies across its business segments, including accumulated vertical insights, data assets and established algorithm capabilities, together with experiences under cold-start scenarios, have given BIGO Ads a head start in developing specialized models tailored to each vertical. Additionally, JOYY's global network infrastructure and tech capabilities, originally built for its social entertainment businesses, offer significant cost advantages.

BIGO Ads has emerged as JOYY's second growth engine, unlocking significant long-term opportunities for the Company. The Company is developing its long-term capabilities, particularly as its data and algorithms, and establishing differentiated competitive advantages across various markets and verticals.

1.This press release includes certain non-GAAP financial measures as additional clarifying items to aid investors in further understanding the Company's performance and the impact that these items and events had on the financial results. The non-GAAP financial measures provided above should not be considered as a substitute for, or superior to, the measures of financial performance prepared in accordance with GAAP. For details of the non-GAAP measures, including the reconciliations of GAAP measures to non-GAAP measures, please refer to the press release titled "JOYY Reports Second Quarter 2025 Unaudited Financial Results" issued by the Company on August 27, 2025.

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SOURCE JOYY Inc.

FAQ

What were JOYY's Q2 2025 earnings highlights?

JOYY reported revenue of US$507.8 million, GAAP net profit of US$60.8 million (up 16.8% YoY), and non-GAAP EBITDA of US$48.2 million (up 25.7% YoY).

How much is JOYY's dividend and share buyback program worth?

JOYY announced a three-year dividend policy totaling US$600 million and a share repurchase program of up to US$300 million from 2025 to 2027.

What was JOYY's non-livestreaming revenue growth in Q2 2025?

JOYY's non-livestreaming revenue grew 25.6% year-over-year, contributing 26.1% of total revenues, primarily driven by BIGO Ads.

How many monthly active users (MAUs) does JOYY have globally?

JOYY reported 262.5 million global average mobile MAUs in Q2 2025, with positive sequential growth.

What is JOYY's cash position as of Q2 2025?

JOYY maintained US$3.3 billion in net cash on its balance sheet as of June 30, 2025.

How did BIGO's advertising business perform in Q2 2025?

BIGO's non-livestreaming business, primarily BIGO Ads, grew approximately 29% year-over-year and 9% quarter-over-quarter, with significant expansion in North America and Europe.