Agora(US:API)2025-02-25 11:51Financial Data and Key Metrics Changes - Total revenue in Q4 2024 was $34.5 million, up 4% year over year, excluding revenues from certain end-of-sale low-margin products [7][20] - Core revenues were $17.4 million in Q4, an increase of 10.8% quarter over quarter and 13.7% year over year [20] - Gross margin for Q4 was 66.6%, slightly decreased by 0.1% quarter over quarter and 0.8% year over year [23] - Net income was $0.2 million in Q4, translating to a 0.5% net income margin, compared to a net loss margin of 7.2% in Q4 last year [26][27] - Operating cash flow was $4.5 million in Q4, compared to $3.7 million last year [28] Business Line Data and Key Metrics Changes - Xiong Wang revenues were RMB 122.2 million in Q4, increasing 8.2% quarter over quarter but decreasing 5.4% year over year [21] - The base net retention rate was 95% for Agora and 79% for Xiong Wang, excluding revenues from certain end-of-sale products [22] Market Data and Key Metrics Changes - Demand in the China market is primarily driven by IoT and digital transformation, while the global market sees growth from live commerce and retail economy [36] - The company noted significant interest in AI-related technologies, particularly in applications for companionship and education [38][54] Company Strategy and Development Direction - The company aims to maintain operational efficiency and deliver sustainable profitable growth, with a focus on emerging market opportunities in generative AI [6][30] - The launch of the conversational AI engine is expected to drive growth by enabling developers to create interactive voice experiences [13][17] Management Comments on Operating Environment and Future Outlook - Management highlighted the challenges faced over the past few years, including the pandemic and regulatory changes, but emphasized a return to profitability [6][27] - The company expects total revenues for Q1 2025 to be between $31 million and $33 million, reflecting a year-on-year growth rate of 7.7% [30] Other Important Information - The board has authorized a 12-month extension of the share repurchase program through February 28, 2026, reflecting confidence in the company's long-term growth potential [29] Q&A Session Summary Question: Trends in overseas and China markets and key sectors driving growth in 2025 - Management noted demand in China is focused on IoT and digital transformation, while globally, live commerce and retail economy are key growth drivers [36] Question: Increase in AI-related demand and application scenarios - There is growing interest in AI technologies, particularly for voice AI applications in companionship and education [38][54] Question: Gross profit margin and GAAP profit targets for 2025 - The company expects gross margin to maintain around 67% and aims for stronger growth on the bottom line compared to the top line [42][44] Question: Strong recovery of Agora's growth rate in Q4 and future momentum - The growth rate was driven by new usage in live commerce and the creator economy, with optimism for continued growth in 2025 [49][51] Question: Impact of DeepSeq on demand for voice and multimodal interaction - Management sees significant potential in voice AI applications and plans to focus on practical use cases in the next two years [56][59]