Bilibili Inc. just proved “internet culture” can be a real business

What changed: Bilibili’s glow-up year

For years, Bilibili Inc. has been easy to describe but harder to value: it’s the place where China’s younger internet hangs out for anime, gaming, long-form creator content, and live streams—more “community” than “channel.” That vibe is exactly why people love it. It’s also why investors spent a long time wondering when the love would turn into durable profits.

On March 5, 2026, Bilibili answered that with numbers, not vibes. The company reported fourth-quarter 2025 results showing GAAP net profit of RMB513.9 million (US$73.5 million) and a full-year 2025 GAAP net profit of RMB1.19 billion (US$170.3 million)—a clean break from 2024’s full-year net loss of RMB1.36 billion.

The headline isn’t just “Bilibili is profitable.” It’s that Bilibili is turning profitable in the most modern way possible: not by squeezing users, but by getting better at monetizing attention.

The real story is advertising (and it’s not boring)

Bilibili’s Q4 2025 total revenue rose 8% year over year to RMB8.32 billion (US$1.19 billion). The engine inside that engine was advertising: RMB3.04 billion (US$435.0 million), up 27% year over year in the quarter.

Zoom out, and the pattern is even clearer. For fiscal year 2025, Bilibili’s total revenue grew 13% year over year to RMB30.35 billion (US$4.34 billion), while advertising revenue climbed 23% to RMB10.06 billion (US$1.44 billion).

Why this matters: ad dollars are basically the internet’s lie detector. Brands don’t keep spending because a platform is “culturally important.” They spend because the targeting works, the measurement is improving, and conversions show up on a dashboard that someone’s boss cares about. Bilibili is saying it has improved ad products and efficiency—and the growth rates suggest marketers are buying the pitch.

Meanwhile, mobile games were a mixed bag. Q4 2025 mobile game revenue fell 14% year over year to RMB1.54 billion (US$220.3 million), which management attributed to a tough comparison after a prior-year launch. But for the full year, mobile game revenue rose 14% to RMB6.39 billion (US$914.4 million), helped by a full-year contribution from a licensed title and the Q4 2025 launch of an in-house game.

In other words: Bilibili is still a games business, but it’s trying hard not to be only a games business.

Yes, engagement still looks sticky

A lot of platforms can buy growth. Fewer can keep people around without feeling like an algorithmic treadmill.

In Q4 2025, Bilibili reported average daily active users of 113.0 million, up 10% year over year, and average daily time spent per active user of 107 minutes, up 8% year over year. Monthly active users reached 366 million, up 8% year over year.

Those aren’t just “nice metrics.” They’re the raw material for everything else—ads, memberships, and whatever Bilibili wants to be in an AI-shaped media era.

Profitability, but not the “cut everything” kind

Bilibili’s margin story is quietly the biggest flex here. Q4 2025 gross margin improved to 37.0% from 36.1% a year earlier. For fiscal 2025, gross margin reached 36.6%, up from 32.7% in 2024.

And it didn’t get there by turning into a ghost ship. In Q4 2025, operating expenses were down 3% year over year, with sales and marketing down 9%, while R&D stayed stable year over year at RMB921.1 million (US$131.7 million). That’s a pretty specific posture: be disciplined, keep building.

One more detail worth filing away: as of December 31, 2025, Bilibili had RMB24.15 billion (US$3.45 billion) in cash, time deposits, and short-term investments. It also disclosed progress on a US$200 million buyback program approved in November 2024, with US$131.2 million repurchased as of year-end 2025.

If you’ve followed Bilibili for a while, today’s update reads like the platform is finally translating its cultural footprint into something the market can price without squinting.