BRIEF: iQiyi returns to revenue growth on big gains for content distribution business
Online video site iQiyi Inc. (IQ.US) reported on Thursday its revenue rose 3% year-on-year to 6.79 billion yuan ($992 million) in the fourth quarter of 2025, representing its first growth in two years, as it focused on its more profitable businesses.
The Baidu-backed company said revenue from membership services in the latest quarter was flat year-on-year at 4.11 billion yuan, while online advertising revenue fell 6% to 1.35 billion yuan. But those were offset by the company’s content distribution business, whose revenue rose 94% year-on-year to 788 million yuan.
The company lost 5.8 million yuan during the quarter, narrowing sharply from a 189 million yuan loss a year earlier. It returned to the black on a non-GAAP basis, reporting a non-GAAP profit of 110 million yuan compared with a 59 million yuan loss a year earlier.
Before the latest report, the last time iQiyi’s revenue grew was in the fourth quarter of 2023, when the figure rose 1% to 7.7 billion yuan. Since then, the company has been working to improve its profitability by focusing on higher-margin services and developing new businesses, as it faces stiff competition from other video sites like Youku, as well as a newer generation of short video sites like Douyin and Kuaishou (1024.HK).
iQiyi shares fell 3.4% on Thursday after the latest report’s release. The stock is down nearly 20% over the last 52 weeks.
By Doug Young
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