Huya Inc. Q4 Revenue Growth Turns Positive Year-over-Year, Expected to Resume Growth in 2026

How does the AI advertising business flywheel drive revenue diversification?

21st Century Business Herald Reporter Luo Yiqi

2025 is a turning point for Joyy Inc. The latest financial report shows that the company’s revenue rebounded in the fourth quarter, with the second curve business also growing steadily.

Data indicates that Joyy achieved $581.9 million in revenue in Q4 2025, a 5.9% year-over-year increase and a 7.7% quarter-over-quarter increase. Under non-GAAP measures, the company reported an operating profit of $40.8 million, slightly down from $41 million in the previous quarter, and down 12.1% year-over-year, signaling a quarterly inflection point.

For the full year, Joyy’s total revenue reached $2.12 billion, a 5.1% decline year-over-year, but operating profit for the year was $150.8 million, a 10.8% increase compared to 2024.

Joyy’s Chairman and CEO Li Ting stated that Q4 marked the first year-over-year revenue growth since the second half of 2024. This signifies a key turning point in the company’s revenue trajectory and strategic transformation. Live streaming business revenue has increased for three consecutive quarters, and advertising business shows significant growth momentum. The company is expected to resume growth in 2026.

From a segment perspective, the group’s live streaming business generated $394.4 million in Q4, down 6.6% year-over-year but up 1.5% quarter-over-quarter, marking three consecutive quarters of quarter-over-quarter growth.

In Q4, BIGO contributed $371.8 million in live streaming revenue, up 1.1% quarter-over-quarter, continuing its growth streak. Revenue from developed countries and regions increased by 3.4% quarter-over-quarter. BIGO’s paying users increased by 1.5% quarter-over-quarter to 1.54 million; average revenue per paying user (ARPPU) grew modestly to $222.8.

In Q4, the company’s global average mobile monthly active users (MAUs) reached 272.1 million, up 3.4% year-over-year and 2.2% quarter-over-quarter.

This demonstrates the effectiveness of operational strategies. The company explained that it continues to promote streamer incentive mechanisms and content ecosystem development, while also advancing AI applications in content distribution, user experience, and VIP paid user experiences. For example, leveraging AI to improve recommendation accuracy and distribution efficiency has increased Bigo Live’s average viewing time by 5.6% quarter-over-quarter.

For the full year, the company’s live streaming revenue was $1.5297 billion, still down 14.4% year-over-year. However, with continuous improvement in quarter-over-quarter data, management expects that in 2026, live streaming will return to positive year-over-year growth and continue to strengthen profits and cash flow.

Since 2022, the company has been diversifying revenue sources by developing new businesses such as advertising technology. This is also viewed as the company’s second growth curve.

In Q4, the company’s total non-live streaming media revenue reached $187.5 million, up 47.6% year-over-year, accounting for 32.2% of total revenue, compared to 23.1% in the same period in 2024.

Overall advertising revenue for the period was $145.4 million, up 62.4% year-over-year and 29.3% quarter-over-quarter. BIGO Ads is a key driver. The financial report shows that Q4 revenue from this segment grew 61.5% year-over-year and 23.3% quarter-over-quarter, reaching $128.1 million. In terms of regional distribution, revenue in developed markets increased by over 21% in North America and 46% in Western Europe quarter-over-quarter.

According to management analysis during the earnings call, the core driving force behind this growth is the diversification of advertiser budgets and the continuous reinforcement of the flywheel effect among traffic, ad technology, and placement strategies.

Looking long-term, for BIGO Ads, the company plans to integrate more SDK traffic and aggregation platforms, accelerate penetration in key markets like North America and Europe, and expand into more niche advertising segments such as lead generation. The platform will continue to optimize algorithms, data, and vertical models.

In 2025, the company’s advertising revenue totaled $442.7 million, a 37.1% increase year-over-year. BIGO Ads’ full-year revenue was $398.5 million, up 38.5%.

For Q1 2026, management expects revenue to grow 8.8% to 10.9% year-over-year, reaching $538 million to $548 million. Live streaming is expected to return to positive year-over-year growth in Q1, and BIGO Ads will achieve double-digit growth.

Management pointed out that, looking ahead, under refined operational strategies, live streaming will return to steady growth; advertising will maintain double-digit year-over-year growth driven by traffic expansion, broader advertiser coverage, and ongoing algorithm optimization. As live streaming recovers, cost structures are also continuously optimized, and overall live streaming profit is expected to remain stable and grow.