On May 28, Weibo released its financial report for the first quarter of 2026. The total revenue for the quarter was $421.3 million (approximately 2.901 billion yuan), representing a 6% year-over-year increase. Advertising revenue accounted for $369.8 million (approximately 2.544 billion yuan), up 9% compared to the same period last year. The adjusted operating profit for the quarter was $119.8 million (approximately 818 million yuan), with an adjusted operating profit margin reaching 28%.
In terms of user metrics, as of the end of the first quarter, Weibo's monthly active users reached 562 million, while daily active users reached 254 million.
For 2026, Weibo continues to prioritize user value, focusing on enhancing user experience and long-term retention growth. The company adheres to the principle of balancing traffic operational efficiency with quality, aiming to improve the health of the platform's ecosystem and its long-term competitiveness.
Video content consumption showed significant growth, and AI tools have stimulated creators' enthusiasm for secondary content creation. Video services were a key driver for increasing user engagement time and retention on Weibo in 2026. In the first quarter, total consumption time on video playback pages achieved double-digit year-over-year growth and also increased sequentially. Notably, the average consumption time per user on video playback pages saw more pronounced growth.
During the quarter, Weibo's video business focused on advancements in both distribution and content supply. On the distribution side, the platform continuously optimized the recommendation conversion efficiency of videos in core scenarios such as the homepage information feed and trending topics feed. Simultaneously, it reduced the distribution weight of repetitive, low-quality, and overly commercialized content, ensuring that growth in video watch time stems more from high-quality content and genuine user engagement. On the supply side, efforts were intensified to provide more premium video content, with increased resources allocated to expand the pool of high-quality video creators and encourage their production. In the first quarter, both the number of top-tier creators (referred to as Gold V bloggers) publishing original videos and the volume of original video releases achieved double-digit year-over-year growth.
Leveraging the continuous iteration of its video AI large model, Weibo capitalized on its strengths in vertical IPs during the quarter. The platform opened its AI creation tools to bloggers, supporting them in creating secondary video content and extending narratives around IPs. By April, the platform had made copyright materials from over 20 top-tier dramas and variety shows available and actively collaborated with partners to co-create AI-driven secondary creation activities. These initiatives attracted nearly 3,000 bloggers, resulting in the production of approximately 8,000 pieces of AI-generated content.
User engagement with trending searches strengthened, and intelligent search enhanced differentiated search value. Regarding content ecosystem competitiveness, Weibo will continue in 2026 to focus on its three core businesses: trending topics, social interaction, and search, with an emphasis on improving the health and core competitiveness of its content ecosystem.
In the area of trending topics, the first quarter prioritized enhancing the influence and credibility of the trending searches list. By refining the ranking mechanism, improving content quality on the list, and enhancing the supply of landing page content and discussion atmosphere, Weibo drove increased content consumption and discussion activity among users within the trending searches context. Compared to the fourth quarter of last year, both the average consumption time per user and the average volume of discussions per user in the trending searches scenario improved in the first quarter. The strengthening of user engagement in this scenario further solidifies Weibo's competitiveness as a platform for discovering trending topics and facilitating public discussion.
On the social front, Weibo's goal this year is to deepen user participation within interest-based communities and increase revisit intentions through richer community features and stronger interaction mechanisms. In the first quarter, the Super Topic community continued to advance product capability development and standardize operational activities around scenarios such as celebrities, IPs, and events. These efforts consistently boosted user activity, with the overall daily active user base and interactive user scale in Super Topics maintaining year-over-year growth.
Regarding search, Weibo's intelligent search evolved from providing single Q&A summaries to supporting continuous questioning and understanding video and graphic content for a smarter search experience. Additionally, by integrating AI agent capabilities, Weibo conducted product validation in core scenarios such as search landing pages and comment sections, focusing on people search and trending search. These enhancements aim to improve user search experience and efficiency, reinforcing Weibo's differentiated search value.
Advertising revenue increased by 9% year-over-year, with AI helping to create a positive cycle between the content ecosystem and commercialization. At the commercialization growth level, Weibo continues to promote its unique content marketing value to more industries and clients while systematically enhancing advertising conversion effectiveness through AI capabilities. In the first quarter, Weibo's advertising revenue grew by 9% year-over-year.
The internet software and applications industry showed significant year-over-year growth in the first quarter, primarily benefiting from the platform capturing incremental budgets from the internet services sector. With the ongoing iteration of AI technology and applications, AI-related content is becoming an important growth driver for Weibo's content ecosystem. In May, the number of professional AI bloggers on the platform, the daily average count of AI-related trending topics, and the discussion volume of AI-related content all increased by over 30% compared to January. The continuous innovation in AI technology is stimulating content creation and user discussions on the platform, which is expected to further foster a positive cycle between content ecosystem growth and commercialization.
The lifestyle services industry experienced growth in the first quarter, influenced by ongoing competition in food delivery and the impact of the Spring Festival peak season, making it one of the faster-growing sectors. Clients in the automotive industry maintained relatively stable spending focused on new product launches, user word-of-mouth, and brand awareness building, achieving double-digit year-over-year growth in the quarter. Driven primarily by the Winter Olympics events, concentrated efforts from sports and outdoor brands, and celebrity announcements, the footwear and apparel industry also achieved double-digit year-over-year growth in the first quarter.
Demand from some brand clients for celebrity and IP content marketing showed signs of recovery in the previous quarter. In the first quarter, this trend continued to manifest in several key industries and projects, with related revenue maintaining year-over-year growth and supplementing the platform's content marketing business. Moving forward, Weibo will continue to advance its celebrity and IP content marketing services, positioning them as crucial components for deepening cooperation with brand clients and enhancing content marketing competitiveness. These services will also synergize with the platform's overall advertising product system.
Comments