HONG KONG, Aug. 25, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- Newborn Town Inc., a leading global social entertainment company (Newborn Town or the company, stock code: 09911.HK), released its interim results for the first half of 2026.
For the six months ended 30 June 2026, the company recorded total revenue of US$607 million, representing a year-on-year increase of approximately 37.0%. Profit attributable to equity shareholders of the Company reached approximately US$99 million, up approximately 45.8% year-on-year, while adjusted EBITDA amounted to approximately US$111 million, representing year-on-year growth of 23.6%.
According to the announcement, the first half of 2026 marked a critical phase in the deeper execution of the Company's global strategy. During the period, Newborn Town maintained strong growth momentum, with a more diversified, multi-market growth profile taking shape at an accelerated pace. As its core products gained traction across multiple new markets, AI capabilities continued to deepen, and innovative business delivered steady growth, the Company saw continued improvements in revenue scale, profitability and overall operating quality, further strengthening its long-term growth momentum.
Global Expansion and Deeper AI Integration Drive Continued Growth in Social Networking Business
In the first half of 2026, the company's social networking business maintained robust growth, with revenue reached US$539 million, representing a year-on-year increase of 36.5%. Against the continued expansion of the global social entertainment market, Newborn Town further unlocked the value of its social networking business through its global footprint and the deeper integration of AI across the full business value chain.
In the first half of the year, the company has been deepening its "Product Replication + Market Replication" strategy, making significant progress in its global expansion. Leveraging its deep localization capabilities, Newborn Town further consolidated its leading position in core markets including MENA and Southeast Asia. Meanwhile, its flagship products further strengthened their competitiveness in emerging markets such as Latin America and continued to make inroads into high-potential markets across East Asia, Europe and North America, further broadening the company's global footprint.
The gaming-oriented social networking platform TopTop continued to deepen its presence in high-value markets, with revenue growing by approximately 30% year on year. While further consolidating its position in MENA, TopTop also made progress across a number of new markets. In East Asia, the platform repeatedly ranked among the top 10 free iOS casual games in Japan and South Korea. In Europe and North America, TopTop continued to refine its product in response to local user needs, build market awareness and cultivate local communities, delivering encouraging progress.
The live-streaming platform MICO and voice-based social networking platform YoHo continued to maintain leading positions in their respective segments. MICO consistently ranked among the top-grossing social apps on iOS in markets including Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Thailand, while YoHo remained among the top 10 highest-grossing iOS social apps in core MENA markets such as Oman and the UAE. Both platforms maintained strong competitiveness across established markets while continuing to enhance localized operations and enrich their content ecosystems.
The company's diverse-audience social networking business also maintained steady growth. HeeSay, its global community platform, continued to strengthen its presence in Southeast Asia, consistently ranking among the top 10 highest-grossing iOS social apps across multiple markets in the region. Earlier this year, HeeSay hosted its annual gala in Thailand and launched the interview series 'He So Glam'. Through ongoing enhancements to community engagement and a richer content ecosystem, HeeSay continued to expand its global brand influence.
Innovative Business Posts Strong Growth as AI Drives Short-Drama Expansion
In the first half of the year, the company's innovative business recorded revenue of approximately US$68 million, representing a year-on-year increase of 41.2%. Notably, growth in the AI-powered short drama business provided an additional contribution to the segment's revenue.
According to market research firm Omdia, global short drama revenue is expected to reach US$14 billion by the end of 2026. Playlet, Newborn Town's short-form drama app, is strategically positioned in high-spending markets such as the United States, Japan and South Korea, producing titles at scale that are tailored to local tastes. In the first half, deeper application of AI further expanded content production capacity and creative possibilities, improving per-title launch efficiency by more than 60% and providing strong support for global expansion. According to Diandian Data, Playlet ranked No. 1 among free iOS entertainment apps in Japan in early July.
The company's quality games business also maintained solid momentum, with flagship titles sustaining long-term operations and generating sustained returns. Meanwhile, as the team accumulated further experience across R&D and operations, its ability to develop new titles continued to strengthen. In the first half of the year, three new games made solid progress in commercialization and began to demonstrate potential for further scale.
The social e-commerce business continued to deepen its presence in the health services sector, further strengthening its professional capabilities and competitive barriers. Recently, joint research by Heer Health and Tsinghua University was accepted for presentation at the 26th International AIDS Conference. Meanwhile, Heer Health Internet Hospital was included in the "AIDS Prevention" WeChat Mini Program operated by the National Center for AIDS/STD Control and Prevention under the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention.
AI Drives Efficiency Across the Value Chain as Application Ecosystem Expands
Newborn Town continued to deepen its AI deployment. In the first half, AI gaming community Aippy recorded rapid growth, with global downloads exceeding 4 million to date. Daily active users (DAU) increased by approximately sixfold from the beginning of the year, while user retention remained among the strongest in the industry. The Company also expanded into AI-agent payments with NUSD Pay, broadening the range of AI use cases in its portfolio.
Meanwhile, the Company also continued to invest across the AI ecosystem, backing projects in areas including world models and AI-native game engines, as well as AI interactive games and AI advertising and marketing, further enriching its AI application ecosystem.
In the first half, the Company continued to deepen the use of AI across key areas including product R&D, social recommendation systems, intelligent operations, safety and risk management, and marketing and user acquisition, supporting ongoing business growth.
In marketing and user acquisition, the Company's intelligent creative production platform Cube and intelligent advertising platform Miaomiao worked in close coordination to build an efficient, end-to-end AI-powered workflow — from identifying high-performing creatives and producing ad assets to bid optimization and campaign management — significantly improving advertising efficiency.
On the product operations front, the Company's intelligent data platform Siyu AI continued to enhance its analytical capabilities, reducing processing time for certain complex analytical tasks from days to minutes. Meanwhile, intelligent design platform KIVI continued to expand its design capabilities, further improving the efficiency of producing virtual gifts and UI assets while supporting a broader range of in-app campaigns.
The company also continued to deliver on its commitment to shareholder returns. As of 30 July, Newborn Town had completed three rounds of cancellations of repurchased shares during the year, cancelling a total of approximately 12.87 million shares, with aggregate repurchase consideration exceeding HK$108 million. The cancellations helped lift earnings per share (EPS) and further bolster market confidence alongside the Company's improving profitability.
