FAST NEWS: Live-streamer Scienjoy’s Revenue Grows But Profit Slumps

The latest: Livestreaming platform operator Scienjoy Holding Corp. (SJ.US) reported Thursday its revenue rose 28.8% in the second quarter to 507 million yuan ($75.6 million), while its net profit dropped 26.8% 67.4 million yuan.

Looking up: The company’s total paying users rose 3.9% year-over-year to 268,772, with average revenue per paying user up to 1,876 yuan from 1,497 yuan.

Take Note: The company had 47,990 active broadcasters at the end of June, down 32% from 70,651 a year earlier, likely flagging a potential hit to future revenue.

Digging Deeper: China’s livestreaming industry has become fiercely competitive in recent years. Compared to leaders ByteDance and Kuaishou Technology (1024.HK), Scienjoy, founded in 2011 and listed in New York in 2019 through the special purpose acquisition company (SPAC), is a relatively small player in the industry. The company’s revenue has grown as fast as the entire industry in recent years, but began to slow in the first quarter of this year. That led it to focus on new areas such as the metaverse, NFT platforms and artificial intelligence anchors, hoping to attract more users to its platform. But high costs required to set up and run such operations caused the company’s operating expenses to increase by 36.3% year-over-year in the first half of this year.

Market Reaction: Shares of Scienjoy jumped 6.8% to $5 in New York on Thursday. The stock currently trades in the middle of its 52-week price range.

Translation by Jony Ho

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