Earnings call transcript: Phoenix New Media Q1 2025 sees revenue rise, net loss

Phoenix New Media Limited (FENG) reported its Q1 2025 earnings, reflecting a mixed financial performance. The company recorded a 3% year-over-year increase in total revenues, reaching RMB 218.1 million. Despite this growth, Phoenix New Media reported a net loss of $3.6 million, a significant decline from the previous year’s net income of $8.1 million. The company’s stock price closed at $2.16 in the aftermarket session, unchanged from its previous close. According to InvestingPro analysis, FENG appears undervalued based on its Fair Value calculation, with the stock trading at a notably low Price/Book multiple of 0.16.

Key Takeaways

• Total revenues increased by 3% year-over-year.
• Net advertising revenues saw a slight decline.
• Paid services revenues surged by 96.6%.
• The company reported a net loss of $3.6 million.
• Cash reserves remain strong at $143.3 million.

Company Performance

Phoenix New Media demonstrated resilience in a challenging online advertising market by increasing its total revenues by 3% compared to the previous year. The growth was primarily driven by a substantial increase in paid services revenues, which jumped by 96.6%. However, net advertising revenues experienced a slight decrease, highlighting the competitive pressures in the digital advertising space. InvestingPro data reveals the company maintains strong financial health with a current ratio of 2.75, indicating robust liquidity. Additionally, FENG holds more cash than debt on its balance sheet, providing financial flexibility in challenging market conditions.

Financial Highlights

• Total revenues: RMB 218.1 million (3% YoY increase)
• Net advertising revenues: $189 million (slight decrease YoY)
• Paid services revenues: $29.1 million (96.6% YoY increase)
• Gross margin: 44.5% (up from 43.1%)
• Income from operations: $6.7 million (down from $22.9 million)
• Net loss: $3.6 million (compared to net income of $8.1 million last year)
• Cash and equivalents: $143.3 million

Outlook & Guidance

For the upcoming quarter, Phoenix New Media forecasts total revenues between $147 million and $162 million. Net advertising revenues are expected to range from $110 million to $122 million, while paid service revenues are projected to be between $35 million and $40 million. These projections suggest a cautious yet optimistic outlook, reflecting the company’s strategic initiatives to expand its digital services and content offerings. With a market capitalization of $26.47 million and an overall Financial Health Score of "FAIR" according to InvestingPro, investors can access comprehensive analysis and additional ProTips through InvestingPro’s detailed research reports, which provide deep-dive analysis for over 1,400 US equities.

Executive Commentary

Yushong Sun, CEO of Phoenix New Media, emphasized the company’s commitment to delivering high-quality content and maintaining its social responsibility. "We will continue striving to deliver higher quality content to users, creating sustainable social and commercial value," he stated. CFO Edward Du highlighted the focus on profit contribution and performance evaluation, indicating a strategic approach to future growth.

Risks and Challenges

• Online Advertising Market: The company faces challenges in a competitive and evolving digital ad space.
• Economic Conditions: Macroeconomic pressures could impact consumer spending and advertising budgets.
• Content Innovation: Continuous innovation is required to maintain engagement and market relevance.
• Regulatory Changes: Potential changes in digital media regulations could affect operations.
• International Expansion: Expanding into new markets carries inherent risks and uncertainties.

Phoenix New Media’s earnings call highlighted its strategic focus on enhancing content offerings and expanding digital services. While the company faces challenges in the advertising sector, its strong cash position and innovative initiatives provide a foundation for potential growth in the coming quarters.

Full transcript - Phoenix New Media Ltd (FENG) Q4 2024:

Conference Operator: Please be advised that today’s conference is being recorded.

I would now like to turn the conference over to your speaker today, Muzhi Guo from Investor Relations. Please go ahead.

Muzhi Guo, Investor Relations, Phoenix New Media: Thank you, operator. Welcome to Phoenix New Media’s earnings conference call for the fourth quarter of twenty twenty four. On today’s call, we will begin with an overview of our fourth quarter results followed by a Q and A session. You can find our quarterly financial results and the webcast of this conference call on our website at ir.ifeng.com. Before we continue, please note our Safe Harbor statement included in the earnings press release, which also applies to any forward looking statements made on this call.

Additionally, unless otherwise specified, all figures mentioned are in RMB. Joining me here today are our CEO, Mr. Yushong Sun and our CFO, Mr. Edward Du. Now I will pass the call to Mr.

Sun for his opening remarks. I will provide the translation. Hello, everyone, and welcome. Over the past year, we remain committed to the professionalism and quality of our content. Thanks to the hard work and close collaboration of our teams, we achieved year on year revenue growth.

In the fourth quarter, we demonstrated both professionalism and speed in our news coverage, earning widespread recognition. Our original content IP continued to innovate. Our events showcased our social responsibility and our efforts in commercialization also made progress. These achievements have strengthened our influence and laid a solid foundation for our future development. Now, I will invite Edward to provide a more detailed summary of our fourth quarter performance on my behalf.

Edward Du, CFO, Phoenix New Media: In the fourth quarter of twenty twenty four, we showcased our professional expertise and innovative spirit across multiple business areas, delivering high quality content and services to users while staying competitive in the market. Our coverage of major news events showcased our rapid response and professional depth, particularly during the U. S. Election and South Korea’s Martial Law crisis. In November, we launched a real time world count product, becoming the first domestic online to announce the U.

S. Election results. Our swing states only feature and on the ground video series taking you inside The U. S. Election garnered millions of views and trended across the Internet.

In December, when South Korea declared martial law, we sprung into action immediately. We quickly supplemented event details and continuously compiled, edited and interpreted content to provide a fuller picture, while integrating live streaming, which attracted over 27,000,000 views across platforms. Our in-depth analysis about South Korea’s First Lady, Kim Kong Hee, earned praise from peers and gained strong traction online. We also distributed our exclusive interviews with the women who confronted the army across our channels, highlighting Fing’s distinct edge in global news reporting. During the quarter, our original columns and IPs delivered both excellent data and widespread press.

Tangbohu, our in-depth commentary series, broke down the Korean plane crash with technical precession, hitting two fifty million Rips on Weibo topics, topping the trending list a new high for the column. In finance, Cover Story landed an exclusive chat with Xpeng Motors’ CEO at the Paris Motor Show, racking up 19,000,000 views trending on Douyin, Total and beyond. Our video IP journey shared the inspiring story of a girl who lost her hearing in infancy and made a remarkable journey to become a postdoctoral fellow, totaling 67,000,000 views. Meanwhile, the Phoenix Reading WeChat accounts explored Nobel laureate Han Kang’s achievements in-depth, with the article widely responded and praised by industry peers. This quarter, we also put off several impactful events that reflected our cultural values and the commitment to social good.

The twenty twenty four China Power Person of the Year gala seemed the Technology for Good honored those using tech to better society and boost human well-being. The Action Alien Charity Gala seemed a cross border trust sustainability focused on the needs of underserved communities and social inclusion with philanthropists from various platforms sharing ideas and solutions, amplifying our influence in public welfare. Our strength in content distribution and brand value supported our advertising base, driving our revenue uptick for the year despite tough market conditions. We also pushed into paid services, launching a mini program driven novel business in Q4 that tapped into Douyin, Kuaishou and WeChat traffic ecosystems, fueling rapid growth. Overall, in Q4 twenty twenty four, we earned recognition from users and the industry through the professionalism, speed and the depth of our content, while laying the groundwork for future operations through commercial exploration.

We understand that Amedeo’s online value lies not only in sharing news, but also in its commitment to social responsibility. We will continue striving to deliver higher quality content to users, creating sustainable social and commercial value. This concludes our CEO, Mr. Xun’s prepared remarks. I will now walk you through our financial performance for the fourth quarter of twenty twenty four.

All figures mentioned will be RMB. Our total revenues were RMB218.1 million, representing a 3% increase year on year from RMB211.8 million. Dollars Specifically, net advertising revenues were $189,000,000 compared to $197,000,000 in the same period of last year. Paid services revenues were $29,100,000 representing a 96.6% increase year on year from $14,800,000 primarily driven by revenue generated from our new digital reading services offered through mini programs on third party applications. Cost of revenues was $121,100,000 slightly up from $120,500,000 year on year.

Gross margin for the fourth quarter improved to 44.5%, up from 43.1 in the same period of last year. Total operating expenses were RMB90.3 million, reflecting a 32% increase year on year from RMB68.4 million. This increase was primarily due to higher sales and marketing expenses incurred for the new digital reading services mentioned earlier. Income from operations was $6,700,000 compared to $22,900,000 in the same period of last year. Net loss attributable to iPhone was $3,600,000 compared to net income attributable to iPhone of $8,100,000 in the same period of last year.

Moving on to our balance sheet. As of 12/31/2024, the company’s cash and cash equivalents, term deposits, short term investments and the restricted cash totaled $1,050,000,000 or approximately $143,300,000 Finally, I’d like to provide our business outlook for the first quarter of twenty twenty five. We forecast total revenues to be between $147,000,000 and $162,000,000 For net advertising revenues, we project between 100 and and $12,000,000 and $122,000,000 while for paid service revenues, we project between $35,000,000 and $40,000,000 This focus reflects our current and preliminary view, which is subject to change and substantial uncertainties. This concludes the prepared portion of our call. We are now ready for questions.

Operator, please go ahead.

Muzhi Guo, Investor Relations, Phoenix New Media: Thank you.

Conference Operator: First question comes from Sijuan Zhang from 86Research. Please go ahead.

Sijuan Zhang, Analyst, 86Research: Thank you. Good morning, management. Thank you for taking my question. I have one question regarding the paid service revenue. We have observed a substantial increase in this revenue stream during the fourth quarter.

Could management please elaborate on the underlying factors contributing to this growth trajectory? Thank you.

Edward Du, CFO, Phoenix New Media: Okay. Actually, the growth in paid services revenue stems from our paid short story novel business launched on third party platform mini programs, Xiaochongxu, tapping into traffic ecosystems like Douyin, Kuaishou and WeChat. This brought in notable revenue gains. Related promotion fees have been recorded under sales and marketing expenses, keeping the overall profit margin actually very quite modest. As a newly launched venture, although we expect a strong year over year revenue growth in the near term, but the business remains small in scale.

We will focus on its profit contribution and keep evaluating its performance. Thank you.

Sijuan Zhang, Analyst, 86Research: Thank you.

Conference Operator: Just a moment for our next question, please. Next, we have Troy Hsu from First Shanghai. Your line is now open.

Troy Hsu, Analyst, First Shanghai Group: Good morning to the management team. My name is Troy from First Shanghai Group, and I appreciate the opportunity to ask your question. Over the past year, the company saw an increasing advertising revenue despite a broader slowdown in online advertising market. Could you please share the strategies used to attract advertisers? Thank you.

Edward Du, CFO, Phoenix New Media: Actually, overall, it was done through two key approaches. First, our sales team has shifted to industry specific divisions. This allowed us to focus on specific sectors, streamlined resource allocation and sped up innovation. For example, we achieved growth in the public sector, securing promotional budgets from local tourism and cultural bureaus. In the FMCG sector, an experienced leader led a skilled team using useful trendy content to boost our revenue.

Second, we have accelerated innovation in content resources and upgraded our marketing products to respond more quickly to market shifts. This includes tailoring international marketing strategies for companies expanding overseas and boosting content distribution on short video platforms. Yes, I hope I have answered your question. Thank you.

Conference Operator: Thank you. This concludes the Q and A session. I will now hand back to Mo Zhi.

Muzhi Guo, Investor Relations, Phoenix New Media: Thank you. This concludes our Q and A session and conference call. If you have any additional questions, please don’t hesitate to reach out to us. Thank you for joining us and have a great day.

Conference Operator: This concludes today’s conference call. Thank you for participating. You may now disconnect.

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