NetEase, Inc.

Net revenue in the first quarter was RMB 30.6 billion (about USD 4.4 billion), up 6% year over year. Games and related value-added services revenue was RMB 25.7 billion, up 7% year over year; online games revenue was RMB 25.1 billion, up 18% quarter over quarter and 7% year over year. Gross profit margin improved to 69.4% from 54.1% in the prior year period; games and related value-added services margin was 74.8% vs. 68.8%. Non-GAAP net income attributable to shareholders was RMB 11.3 billion, broadly stable year over year, and non-GAAP basic EPS was USD 0.51 per ADS. Net cash was RMB 167.2 billion as of March 31, 2026, versus RMB 153.5 billion at year-end 2025. For the quarter, the Board approved a dividend of USD 0.44 per share, or USD 720 per ADS, and under the USD 5 billion buyback program the company had repurchased USD 23.2 million as of March 31, 2026, for a total cost of about USD 3.1 billion. No formal next-quarter or full-year financial guidance was given on the call.

Management’s tone was confident and focused on long-term content quality, live operations, and global expansion. William Ding emphasized that NetEase is seeing results from its commitment to creativity and innovation, with established titles continuing to set records while new titles move toward launch. He also framed competition as healthy, saying great products can expand the market, and argued that Ananta’s urban open-world concept is differentiated rather than a traditional open-world RPG.

Aileen Bin Mo highlighted the quarter’s financial strength: net revenue of RMB 30.6 billion, gross margin of 69.4%, and non-GAAP net income of RMB 11.3 billion. She noted games margin of 74.8%, Youdao margin of 44.7%, NetEase Cloud Music margin of 37.1%, and innovative business margin of 42%. She also pointed to a strong balance sheet with net cash of RMB 167.2 billion, continued dividends, and ongoing share repurchases under the USD 5 billion authorization.

Analysts focused on the pipeline and globalization. On Ananta, management said the team is refining content quality, targeting a Q3 launch window for the next test, and using cosmetics as the core monetization approach; they stressed the game’s differentiated urban open-world design and said they would rather delay than ship an average product. On Where Winds Meet, management said the game has shown strong sustained momentum overseas, including top-2 rankings on Steam’s global top-seller chart during major updates, and plans to deepen localization, cross-device compatibility, and global publishing. On the FWJ PC/unlimited server title, management said the unlimited server drove a new record of 3.9 million peak concurrent users in Q1 and that the classic server is also growing steadily.