Q3 2025 Yalla Group Ltd Earnings Call

Speaker #1: Good morning and good evening, ladies and gentlemen. Thank you for standing by for Yalla Group Ltd's third quarter 2025 earnings conference call. At this time, all participants are in listen-only mode.

Speaker #1: After management's prepared remarks, there will be a question-and-answer session. Today's conference call is being recorded. Now, I will turn the call over to your speaker host today, Ms. Kerry Gao.

Speaker #1: IR Director of the company. Please go ahead, ma'am.

Speaker #2: Hello, everyone, and welcome to Yalla's third quarter 2025 earnings conference call. We issued our earnings press release earlier today, and it is now available on our IR website, as well as on NewsWell outlets.

Speaker #2: Before we continue, please note that the discussion today will contain forward-looking statements made under the Safe Harbor Provision of the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995.

Speaker #2: Forward-looking statements involve inherent risks and uncertainties. As such, our future results may be materially different from the views expressed today. Further information regarding these and other risks and uncertainties is included in our earnings press release and our annual report filed with the SEC.

Speaker #2: Yalla does not assume any obligation to update any forward-looking statements except as required by law. Please also note that Yalla's earnings press release and this conference call include a discussion of audited GAAP financial information as well as audited non-GAAP financial measures.

Speaker #2: Yalla's press release contains a reconciliation of the unaudited non-GAAP measures to the unaudited most directly comparable GAAP measures. Today, we hear from Mr. Tao Yang, our Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, who will provide an overview of our latest achievements and growth strategies.

Speaker #2: He will be followed by Mr. Saifi Ismail, the company's president, who will briefly reveal our recent business developments. This is Karen Hu, our Chief Financial Officer, who will then provide additional details on the company's financial results and discuss our financial outlook.

Speaker #2: Following management's prepared remarks, we will open the call to questions. Mr. Jack Xu, our Chief Operating Officer, will join the Q&A session. With that said, I would now like to turn the call over to our Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Mr. Tao Yang.

Speaker #2: Please go ahead, sir.

Speaker #3: Thank you, everyone, for joining our third quarter 2025 earnings conference call. We delivered another strong set of results in the third quarter of 2025.

Speaker #3: Our total revenues grew to $89.6 million, once again beating the high end of our guidance. Net margin came in at 45.4%, up 1.4 percentage points year over year.

Speaker #3: Thanks to continued operational efficiency improvements and our commitment to high-quality growth, the Middle East digital economy continues to gain momentum in the third quarter, according to the latest news report.

Speaker #3: The region's gaming market is expected to reach around $7.1 billion in 2025, with 75% year-over-year growth, the highest among all regions globally.

Speaker #3: The increases we are seeing in the number of our mobile users and their interest in exploring more diverse game content reflect the media gaming market's vast potential.

Speaker #3: Our strategic direction provisions us to capture the trend and foster a more mature, more robust digital entertainment ecosystem across the region. Meanwhile, we are also looking for opportunities to leverage our varied and growing product portfolio to deliver more exceptional experiences to media users.

Speaker #3: Our strategy game pipeline currently serves as our primary market expansion driver. In the third quarter, we soft-launched Turbo Match, a match-three title featuring core modifications, simulations, and operations.

Speaker #3: We are pleased to see that our initial user acquisition and retention metrics are meeting our expectations. With two years of accumulated experience in match-three games, we are confident in our team's ability to create games that resonate deeply with our target audience.

Speaker #3: Furthermore, we expect to launch our self-developed roadblock game, Boom Survivor, late this month. Meanwhile, we continued to advance our game distribution initiatives. We are collaborating with leading gaming studios on the distribution of Middle East-focused SLG titles.

Speaker #3: This hardcore title is well on track for a year-end launch following the recent testing. We remain dedicated to providing media users with an ever-growing selection of gaming content tailored to local cultures.

Speaker #3: For our future media and hardcore game collaborations, we will continue to leverage our existing gaming user base for precise targeting and efficient conversion to steadily deepen penetration of media and mid-core and hardcore game markets.

Speaker #3: Moving on to our AI initiative. We are proactively developing AI tools to fuel our growth, led by Siemens, our in-house developed multimodal AI model.

Speaker #3: Siemens is now fully deployed across our product line, serving as the intelligent backbone of our content moderation and security. Supported by our experienced R&D teams and extensive Arabic-language and visual datasets, Siemens delivered original leading accuracy in analyzing texts and images and detecting inappropriate content.

Speaker #3: Another self-developed AI tool, our automated creative testing model, has significantly improved advertising and user acquisition efficiency. Furthermore, our in-house AI event orchestration engine has doubled the frequency of model in-app campaigns for our flagship products, including Yalla Studio.

Speaker #3: Driving a leap in operational efficiency. Together, this technological breakthrough has elevated user experience and boosted in-app purchases, serving as a powerful driver for revenue growth.

Speaker #3: Next, an update on our $150 million shareholder return program, which we continue to execute with this plan. As of November 7th, 2025, the company has repurchased a total of more than 7.7 million ADS for Class A ordinary shares, totaling $51.9 million.

Speaker #3: We are achieving our full-year 2025 repurchase commitment of $50 million, and we are ahead of schedule. As we mentioned on our last call, we will cancel all shares repurchased in 2025.

Speaker #3: We have canceled a total of more than 6.2 million shares as of August 11. We agreed the aggregate value remaining available for purchase under the current share repurchase program is $48.6 million as of November 7.

Speaker #3: For next year, we expect to maintain a similar level of share repurchases as in 2025. We are on track to complete our current $150 million share repurchase program within the next year, at which point we plan to launch a new program.

Speaker #3: As always, I want to emphasize that we will continue to place shareholder interests at the core of our capital allocation decisions and optimize our shareholder return strategy to generate long-term value for our shareholders.

Speaker #3: Last but not least, I'm happy to share that Yalla Group celebrated the fifth anniversary of its public listing at the end of September. Tapped by a bell-ringing ceremony at an LIC, these past five years have been an incredible journey—one of growth, learning, persistence, and achievement.

Speaker #3: Yalla is now the largest media-based online social networking and gaming company. We are proud of our leading position established in this dynamic market, but our journey is far from over.

Speaker #3: Looking ahead, we will remain dedicated to maximizing the synergy between our social and gaming ecosystems and enhancing our AI-fueled technological age, bringing us ever closer to our vision of becoming the most popular platform for online social networking and entertainment activities in media.

Speaker #3: Now, I will turn this call over to our president, Saifi Ismail, for a closer look at our recent developments.

Speaker #2: Hello, everyone. Thanks for joining us today. Let's take a closer look at our third-quarter operations and our product performance. First, I would like to share our operational highlights in the third quarter.

Speaker #2: We increased average MAUs by 8.1% year over year, to 43.4 million. Following last quarter's user acquisition channel optimization, our user growth picked up again as expected.

Speaker #2: Supported by AI-powered upgrades and innovation across our product portfolio, our flagship product saw a fresh wave of momentum. With the introduction of new gaming modules, users can now play a variety of popular mini-games directly within their Yalla platform.

Speaker #2: Significantly boosting engagement and user stickiness. These innovative initiatives also serve as a springboard for integrating more interactive entertainment features into our core products going forward.

Speaker #2: This quarter was also backed by engaging and precisely targeted online activities, a key operational strength for Yalla that demonstrates our keen user insights and content creativity.

Speaker #2: For example, our original event series, Yalla Ludo Carnival, just completed its third consecutive quarterly run, with record-high revenue. Its strongly crafted gameplay, paired with stunning visuals, draws strong growth in in-game purchases and gifting activities.

Speaker #2: On Saudi National Day, Yalla launched the Yalla Season campaign, creating a festive, immersive atmosphere online to resonate with Riyadh Season, a major national festival developed under Saudi Arabia's Vision 2030.

Speaker #2: Meanwhile, thanks to a diverse lineup of in-game and chat room events, 101 Okay Yalla delivered its highest quarterly revenue ever in the third quarter.

Speaker #2: Yalla Innovation continues to extend well beyond our business. In honor of our contribution to the local tech industry's development, we recently received our third award in the Audio Tech Media and Entertainment category at AGM Business Review Magazine's Middle East Technology Excellence Award 2025.

Speaker #2: These prestigious awards are judged by a panel of esteemed regional industry leaders. They recognize companies that drive innovation through transformative products. To sum up, I would reiterate what our CEO said.

Speaker #2: We are immensely proud of Yalla Group's achievements over the past years. Our deep cultural resonance with users in the MENA region and our innovative product offerings are the cornerstones of our sustained growth moving forward.

Speaker #2: We will remain committed to those values, honoring the trust our users and stakeholders place in us, while fostering a thriving, mutually beneficial ecosystem. With that, I will now turn the call over to our CFO, Karen, who will discuss our key financial and operational results.

Speaker #3: Thank you, Saifi, and hello everyone. Thank you for joining us today. In the third quarter, we continue to pursue high-quality growth and profitability enhancement.

Speaker #3: Through our excellent execution of ongoing cost management and efficiency improvement initiatives, including AI development and application, our net income grew by 3.9% year over year to $40.7 million.

Speaker #3: And our net margin increased by 1.4 percentage points. Supported by this solid performance and fundamentals, we have strengthened our efforts to return value to stakeholders.

Speaker #3: As of November 7, we have returned a total of $51.9 million to our shareholders in 2025. Through our share repurchase program, we will deepen our commitment to shareholder returns going forward, delivering sustainable long-term value to all stakeholders.

Speaker #3: Let's move on to our detailed financials for the third quarter of 2025. Our revenues were $89.6 million in the third quarter of 2025, a 0.8% increase from $88.9 million in the same period last year.

Speaker #3: The increase was primarily driven by our broadening user base and enhanced monetization capability. Turning to our costs and expenses, our total costs and expenses were $55.9 million in the third quarter of 2025, a 1% decrease from $56.4 million in the same period last year.

Speaker #3: Our cost of revenues was $28.4 million in the third quarter of 2025, a 10.7% decrease from $31.8 million in the same period last year.

Speaker #3: Primarily due to lower commission fees paid to third-party payment platforms as a result of diversified payment channels, and lower share-based compensation expenses recognized in the third quarter of 2025.

Speaker #3: Cost of revenues as a percentage of total revenues decreased to 31.7% in the third quarter of 2025, down from 35.8% in the same period last year.

Speaker #3: Our selling and marketing expenses were $9.6 million in the third quarter of 2025, a 30.3% increase from $7.4 million in the same period last year.

Speaker #3: Primarily due to higher advertising and marketing promotion expenses attributable to our continued user acquisition efforts and expanding product portfolio, selling and marketing expenses as a percentage of total revenues increased to 10.7% in the third quarter of 2025, compared to 8.3% in the same period last year.

Speaker #3: Our general and administrative expenses were $9.2 million in the third quarter of 2025, a 9% decrease from $10.1 million in the same period last year.

Speaker #3: Primarily due to an increase in incentive compensation and professional service fees, GA expenses as a percentage of total revenues decreased to 10.3% in the third quarter of 2025, from 11.4% in the same period last year.

Speaker #3: Our technology and product development expenses were $8.6 million in the third quarter of 2025, a 21.4% increase from $7.1 million in the same period last year.

Speaker #3: Primarily due to an increase in salaries and benefits for our technology and product development staff, driven by an increase in headcount to support the development of new businesses and the expansion of our product portfolio.

Speaker #3: R&D development expenses as a percentage of total revenues increased to 9.6% in the third quarter of 2025, up from 8% in the same period last year.

Speaker #3: As such, our operating income was $33.8 million in the third quarter of 2025, a 3.9% increase from $32.5 million in the same period last year.

Speaker #3: Interest income was 6.3 million US dollars in the third quarter of 2025, compared with 7.8 million in the same period last year. Investment income was 2.2 million US dollars in the third quarter of 2025, compared with 0.1 million US dollars in the same period last year.

Speaker #3: Primarily due to an increase in investments in wealth management products, income tax expense was $1.6 million in the third quarter of 2025, compared with $1.3 million in the same period last year.

Speaker #3: As a result of foregoing, our net income was $40.7 million in the third quarter of 2025, a 3.9% increase from $39.2 million in the same period last year.

Speaker #3: And our non-GAAP net income in the third quarter of 2025 was $43.1 million, a 0.2% increase from $42.6 million in the same period last year.

Speaker #3: Moving to our liquidity and capital resources, our cash position remained solid and healthy. As of September 30, 2025, we had cash and cash equivalents, restricted cash, term deposits, and short-term investments of $739.5 million, compared with $656.3 million as of December 31, 2024.

Speaker #3: We continued to return value through our share repurchase program as of November 7, 2025. The company had accumulatively completed cash repurchases in the open market of 50 million to 21,621 ADS, representing Class A ordinary shares, for an aggregate amount of approximately $101.4 million.

Speaker #3: Since the inception of the current share repurchase program, the aggregate value that remained available for purchase under the current share repurchase program was $48.6 million as of November 7, 2025.

Speaker #3: In addition, the company decided to cancel all share repurchases in 2025 as of August 11, 2025. The company had canceled 6,230,299 ADS, or Class A ordinary shares, moving to our outlook for the fourth quarter of 2025.

Speaker #3: We expect our revenues to be between $78 million and $85 million. The bulk outlook is based on the current market conditions and reflects the company's maintenance of current and preliminary estimates of the market, operating conditions, and customer demand.

Speaker #3: Which are all subject to change. In the interest of time, please refer to our earnings press release for further details on our third quarter 2025 financial results.

Speaker #3: This concludes our prepared remarks for today, operator. We are now ready to take questions.

Speaker #2: We will now begin the question-and-answer session. To ask a question, you may press star, then one on your touchtone phone. If you are using a speakerphone, please pick up the handset before pressing the keys.

Speaker #2: If at any time your question has been addressed and you would like to withdraw your question, please press star, then two. Your first question comes from Zoo King Zhang with CICC.

Speaker #3: Thanks, management, for taking my question, and congratulations on another strong quarter. My question regards your game business. Could management brief us on the advancements in medical and hardcore games?

Speaker #3: Thank you.

Speaker #4: Thank you for your question, Xueqing. During the quarter, we soft-launched two match-three titles as planned, marking a significant step forward in our metaverse and hardcore gaming portfolio.

Speaker #4: Turbo Match stood out in multi-region tests worldwide with its unique blend of car modification and simulation operations gameplay, achieving retention rates that met our criteria for further expansion.

Speaker #4: As a result, we decided to invest more resources to focus on Turbo Match in the next stage. Based on the test data, we're adding levels and diversifying side gameplay options, setting the stage for the next wave of large-scale user acquisition.

Speaker #4: Meanwhile, our roguelike product is expected to launch officially either this month or next. We have also recently completed a round of testing for our collaborative project, SLG.

Speaker #4: Given our high expectations for this title, we are working closely with the content provider to refine its gameplay, visuals, and other details. We expect to launch it by the end of this year.

Speaker #4: It will take some time for this new product to generate meaningful revenue. For those expecting loadable revenue impacts for this new game, we see the second quarter of 2026 as a key inflection point.

Speaker #4: Thank you.

Speaker #2: Your next question comes from Chloe Wei with CICC.

Speaker #3: Thanks, management, for taking my question. This is Chloe Wei from CICC. So, I have a follow-up question about the game. How should we think about the strategic role of our match game?

Speaker #3: And can we think of it as an indicator for your push into the new region? That's it. Thank you.

Speaker #5: Hi, Chloe. I'll take this question. My three games do have a broad global user base, making them an ideal entry point for us to explore diversified regional markets.

Speaker #5: Our recent testing has shown that match-three titles are particularly well-received in markets like Europe and North America. Given this positive user feedback, we certainly plan to increase marketing budgets for markets where performance is strong.

Speaker #5: Looking back at our growth journey, Xella Patches has been steadily performing for years in South America, providing us with valuable cross-market experience. Additionally, Xella Ludo supports eight languages.

Speaker #5: Reaching diverse countries worldwide, we are open to expanding our market boundaries as we explore products that meet our users' interests. That's why I want to emphasize that the Middle East remains our key strategic region.

Speaker #5: We will continue to deepen our engagement in key markets across media, while selectively expanding into new ones. Thank you, Chloe.

Speaker #2: Your next question comes from Lincoln Kong with Goldman Sachs.

Speaker #6: Thank you, management, for taking my questions. I would also like to follow up on the gaming business. Can management share the company's upcoming gaming strategy?

Speaker #6: So, including what are the choices around the content and the market? Thank you.

Speaker #4: Hi, Lincoln. Thanks for your in-depth question. The company has identified gaming as one important pillar for our strategic priority for future growth and establishing a clear dual-track strategy featuring self-developed titles and game distribution.

Speaker #4: For self-developed games, we are focusing on the casual and mid-court game segments, such as match-three and board games. Our team has built substantial experience in the match-three category over the past two years.

Speaker #4: If our match-three titles show positive results in the coming months, we look forward to consistently deepening our presence in these segments. On the game distribution side, we're building strategic partnerships with leading global developers, leveraging our strengths in product localization, user acquisition, and local operations to bring more high-quality gaming content to the Middle East.

Speaker #4: We'll continue to explore game distribution opportunities to further enrich and accelerate our product pipeline. We believe that this dual-track strategy will enable us to quickly build a competitive edge in mid-core and hardcore games.

Speaker #4: Thank you.

Speaker #2: Your next question comes from Sarah Hu with Haitong International.

Speaker #3: Thank you, management, for taking my question. So can you please guide management's view on the quality performance of our flagship products, Yalla and Yalla Ludo?

Speaker #3: As well as they're also going forward. Thank you.

Speaker #4: Thank you, CIU. During this quarter, both flagship titles achieved significant breakthroughs in product innovation and operational activities. For example, Yalla added an in-app minigames module to enrich users' entertainment experience.

Speaker #4: Meanwhile, Yalla Ludo's new Jacaru one-versus-one mode quickly became a hit with users, driving overall community engagement to a new high. Operationally, Yalla Ludo tournaments and Yalla's Riyadh Season-themed initiatives amplified the connection between our products and offline entertainment scenarios in the Middle East.

Speaker #4: Looking ahead, we expect both mature products to remain stable in terms of business scale. We will continue to pursue incremental growth by introducing new features and strengthening operational activities.

Speaker #4: And initiatives. Thank you.

Speaker #2: Your next question comes from Tianhe Liu with SciTech.

Speaker #3: SciTech.

Speaker #5: Hi, thanks for taking my question. I have two questions on your future plan. So, firstly, I think Yalla has completed a sizable share repurchase this year.

Speaker #5: So could management outline the plans for future shareholder returns? And I have a follow-up question.

Speaker #7: Okay, thanks, Tianhe. This is Karen. I will take this question. As we just discussed, we successfully completed the previous month's minimum four-year 2025 repurchase commitment of $50 million.

Speaker #7: As of November 7, 2025, the company had repurchased over 7.7 million ADS for an aggregate amount of $51.9 million. Among that, over 6.2 million ordinary shares from previous repurchases were canceled, and we will notify everyone once the remaining shares have been fully canceled.

Speaker #7: With this year's repurchase commitment achieved, the company continues to execute its share repurchase program based on market conditions. For next year, we expect to maintain a similar level of share repurchase as in 2025.

Speaker #7: We are on track to complete our $150 million share repurchase plan within the year of 2026, before we launch a new plan.

Speaker #7: The company remains committed to prioritizing shareholder interests in all capital allocation decisions, maximizing shareholder value through a consistently optimized return strategy. Thank you.

Speaker #5: Thank you, and thank you, Karen. That's very helpful. Could the management also share your revenue and the profitability outlook for Q4 and 2026?

Speaker #7: Given that the revenue from new business initiatives is expected to have a limited contribution in the fourth quarter, and based on current business trends, we maintain our guidance that full-year 2025 revenue will be broadly in line with 2024, or with low single-digit growth.

Speaker #7: We expect revenue from our new business initiatives to become more visible over the next one to two quarters. Regarding profitability, we expect our full year 2025 net margin to reach about 40%.

Speaker #7: Looking ahead to 2026, we expect R&D spending to follow a similar trend as in 2025, assuming broadly similar business conditions. On the market side, we will dynamically adjust our investments based on the performance of our new products.

Speaker #7: While maintaining a healthy financial position, we will continue to invest in innovative business initiatives to fuel the company's long-term growth and ensure stable profitability.

Speaker #7: Through refined operations, I hope I answered your question. Thank you.

Speaker #2: As Sarah knows, there are further questions now. I'd like to turn the call back over to management for closing remarks.

Speaker #8: Thank you once again for joining us today. We look forward to speaking with you in the next quarter. If you have further questions, please feel free to contact Yalla's Investor Relations or PSFA Financial Communications.

Speaker #8: Both parties' contact information is available in today's press release, as well as on our company website. Thank you.