17 Education & Technology Group Inc.

Good evening and good morning, ladies and gentlemen, and thank you for standing by for 17FX Second Quarter 2025 Earnings Conference Call. At this time, all participants are in a listen-only mode. After the management prepare remarks, there will be a question and answer session. As a reminder, today's conference call is being recorded. I'll now turn the meeting over to your host for today's call, Ms. Lara Chow, 17FX Investor Relations Manager. Please proceed, Lara.

Thank you, Operator. Hello, everyone, and thank you for joining us today. Our earnings release was distributed earlier today and is available on our IR website. Joining us today are Ms. Sishi Zhou, the Acting Chief Financial Officer, and myself, Investor Relations Manager. Sishi will walk you through our latest business performance and strategies, and I will discuss our financial performance in more detail. After the prepared remarks, will be available to answer your questions during the Q&A session. Before we begin, I'd like to remind you that this conference call contains four looking statements as defined in Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These four looking statements are based upon management's current expectations and current market and operating conditions. and relates to events that involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties, and other factors, all of which are difficult to predict and many of which are beyond a company's control. These risks may cause the company's actual results, performance, or achievements to differ materially. Further information regarding these and other factors, uncertainties, or factors is included in a company's filings with the USSEC. The company does not undertake any obligation to update any forwarding statements as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise except as required under applicable law. I will now turn the call over to our Acting Chief Financial Officer to review some of our business development and strategic direction. Sishi, please go ahead.

Thank you, Lara. Hello, everyone. Thank you all for joining us on our second quarter 2025 Earnings Conference Call. Before we begin, I would like to note that the financial information and non-GAAP numbers in this release are presented on a continuing operation basis and are in IMB, unless otherwise stated. Let me begin with our latest business updates. We are pleased to announce a healthy financial result for the second quarter of 2025. During this period, we sustained our business momentum and achieved consistent progress in our core operations. with a quarter-on-quarter top-line growth of 17.3%. Our commitment to cost control restored the gross margin to a normalized level of 57.5% in Q2. Additionally, as we improved our operating efficiency continuously, operating expenses decreased by 39%, leading to a 53.4% reduction in net loss on a gap basis. compared to the same period last year. During the quarter, we are pleased to see positive growth viewed by our efforts and innovations. Notably, our focus on the school-based subscription model has led to an encouraging year-over-year and quarter-over-quarter growth. Meanwhile, our district-level teaching and learning SaaS business remains a key component of our operations, continuing to be a vital revenue contributor in the quarter too. The company advanced its business by continuously optimizing and innovating AI technology across our product portfolios to constantly enhance customer satisfaction and customer engagement. We launched the Yiqi Tongxue, meaning classmates standing together, intelligent agents, and successfully upgraded AI solutions in Shanghai Minhang District during this quarter. Leverage our strong brand endorsements and customer loyalty from our district projects and subscription model, as well as capitalizing on the emerging market opportunities and evolving customer needs. We will continuously strive to explore product innovation and new growth opportunities to extend our reach to a broader customer base so that we can drive sustainable growth. Now let me go into more details. In the second quarter, our district-level teaching and learning fast business continued to contribute an important portion in revenue, while school-based subscription business maintained a strong growth momentum. The company continued to prioritize resource allocation towards the subscription model. We observed increased demands and enthusiasm for our service offerings in partner schools. Underscoring its strategic importance, and integral role in our overall strategy for sustainable growth. Meanwhile, in response to the advocated trend of integrating AI into the entire education process, we strive to upgrade AI capabilities of our product offerings to deliver more efficient, satisfying solutions to customers. This quarter, in addition to upgrading AI solutions in Shanghai Minhang District, which accelerated the digital transformation in regional education, we launched the Yiqi Tongxue. It is an intelligent agent built on 14 years of teaching experiences and extensive behavioral data, and centered on the core concepts of intelligent teaching and personalized learning. Representing a pivotal step in our AI-driven transformation, Yiqi Tongxue serves as a teaching assistant that alleviates teachers' workload, a smart learning companion that supports students in targeted learning, and functions as a data intelligent brain that provides data support for managers and facilitates efficient decision making. The enhancement of these AI capabilities further strengthens the market competitiveness of our product and provides opportunities to reach a broader customer base. Capitalizing our strong brand endorsements accumulated from district projects and a subscription model, we will commit to further product innovation based on existing successful AI initiatives. Resources will be allocated to explore potential integration of AI capabilities into the consumer CN market to capture new growth opportunities. During the period, we focused on strategic market penetration through diversified channels and enhanced customer acquisition efficiency. The strategy was highlighted at the recent Global Smart Education Conference, where we partnered with the National Engineering Research Center for Intelligent Technology and Applications in Internet Education to launch the Public Welfare Initiative, AI empowerment for hundreds of districts, thousands of schools, and tens of thousands of teachers. This initiative provides comprehensive support in terms of hardware, software, content, and services, facilitating in-depth AI integration into teaching management and evaluation. We believe large-scale rollout of this initiative will further deepen our market presence by driving widespread adoption of our solutions among teachers and students. It will also enhance our credibility by building a strengthened ecosystem and fostering long-term engagement. Now, I will turn the call over to Lara to walk you through our latest financial performance. Thank you.

Thanks, Xinxin, and thank you, everyone, for joining the call. I will now walk you through our financial and operating results. Please note that all financial data I talk about will be presented in RMB terms. I would like to remind you that the quarterly results we present here should be taken with and reference to our potential future performance are subject to potential impacts from seasonality and one-off events as a result of the series of regulations introduced in 2021 and corresponding adjustments to our business model, organization, and workforce. In the second quarter of 2025, we recorded net revenues of RMB 25.4 million, compared with RMB 67.5 million in the second quarter of 2024, representing a 62.4% decrease on a year-over-year basis, which was primarily due to the reduction in net revenues from district-level projects as we prioritize our resources on school-based projects and the subscription model, which requires longer period of revenue recognition. Gross margin for the second quarter of 2025 was 57.5%, compared with 16% in the second quarter of 2024. Net loss on gap basis for the second quarter of 2025 was RMB 26 million, compared with RMB 55.7 million in the second quarter of 2024, representing a decrease of 53.4% year-on-year. The adjusted net loss non-GAAP for the second quarter of 2025 was RMB 18.9 million RMB compared with adjusted net loss non-GAAP of RMB 42.6 million in the second quarter of 2024, a decrease of 55.6% year-on-year. As of June 30, 2025, we have cash reserves of RMB 350.9 million on our balance sheet, compared with RMB 359.3 million as of December 31st, 2024. Next, I will go through our second quarter financials in greater detail. Net revenues. Net revenues for the second quarter of 2025 were RMB 25.4 million, representing a year-on-year decrease of 62.4% from RMB 67.5 million in the second quarter of 2024. This was mainly due to the reduction in net revenues from district-level projects as we prioritize our resources on school-based projects and an increasing number of contracts and a subscription model. which requires longer period of revenue recognition. Cost of revenue for the second quarter of 2025 was RMB 10.8 million, representing a year-over-year decrease of 81% from RMB 56.7 million in the second quarter of 2024, which was mainly due to the decrease in project deliveries for our teaching and learning staff offerings during the quarter. for the second quarter of 2025 was RMB 14.6 million compared with RMB 10.8 million in the second quarter of 2024. Gross margin for the second quarter of 2025 was 57.5% compared with 16% in the second quarter of 2024. Total operating expenses for the second quarter of 2025 were RMB 43.1 million including RMB 7.1 million of share-based compensation expenses, representing a year-over-year decrease of 39.3% from RMB 71 million in the second quarter of 2024. Loss from operations for the second quarter of 2025 was RMB 28.5 million, compared with RMB 60.2 million in the second quarter of 2024. Loss from operations as a percentage of net revenues for the second quarter of 2025 was negative 112%, compared with negative 89.2% in the second quarter of 2024. Net loss. Net loss for the second quarter of 2025 was RMB 26 million, compared with net loss of 55.7 million in the second quarter of 2024, Net loss as a percentage of net revenues was negative 102.1% in the second quarter of 2025, compared with negative 82.5% in the second quarter of 2024. Adjusted net loss non-GAAP for the second quarter of 2025 was RMB 18.9 million, compared with adjusted net loss non-GAAP of 42.6 million in the second quarter of 2024. adjusted net loss, non-GAAP as a percentage of net revenues was negative 74.3% in the second quarter of 2025, compared with negative 63.1% of adjusting net loss, non-GAAP as a percentage of net revenues in the second quarter of 2024. Please refer to the table captioned Reconciliations of Non-GAAP Measures to the most comparable GAAP measures. at the end of this press release for reconciliation of net loss under U.S. GAAP to de-adjusting net loss, non-GAAP. Cash and cash equivalents restricted cash and term deposits were RMB $350.9 million, equals U.S. $49 million as of June 30, 2025, compared with RMB 359.3 million as of December 31st, 2024. In addition, we would like to announce that the company's Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase program on September 3rd, 2025, and be effective starting from September 4th, 2025, under which the company is authorized to repurchase up to 10 million US dollar of the company's ADS and common shares in the next 12 months. The company's board of directors will review the share repurchase program periodically and may authorize adjustments of its term and size. Looking ahead, we are committed to continuously innovating and enhancing our core product portfolio while empowering educational communities through advanced AI-driven content solutions. Our integrated strategy is designed to generate synergies across all our business lines, creating a virtuous cycle that deepens customer loyalty, expands market reach, and drives sustainable growth, ultimately delivering lasting value to both our users and shareholders. With that, we conclude our prepared remarks. Thank you. Operator, we are now ready to begin the Q&A session.

Thank you. We will now begin the question and answer session. If you would like to ask questions, please press star 11 on your telephone and wait for our name to be announced. If you would like to cancel your request, you can press star 11 again. Please stand by while we compile the Q&A roster.

Once again, if you'd like to ask questions, please press star 11.

Once again, if you'd like to ask questions, please dial Star-1-1. We appear to have no questions at this time. I'd like to hand the call back to the management. Please continue.

Thank you, Operator. In closing, on behalf of Sentinel Air Tax Management Team, we would like to thank you for your participation on today's call. If you require any further information please feel free to reach out to us directly. Thank you for joining us today. This concludes the call.

Ladies and gentlemen, that concludes today's conference call. Thank you for your participation.