SANTA CLARA, Calif., Aug. 13, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Agora, Inc. (NASDAQ: API) (the “Company”), a pioneer and leader in conversational AI and real-time engagement technology, today announced its unaudited financial results for the second quarter ended June 30, 2026.
“We are pleased to report another quarter of accelerating growth, driven by strength across both our real-time engagement and conversational AI businesses, and our seventh consecutive quarter of GAAP profitability,” said Tony Zhao, Founder, Chairman, and CEO of Agora, Inc. “Our voice AI agents are now deployed across an expanding set of use cases—including market surveying, buyer interest capture, and customer service—and we are beginning to see them match or even surpass human performance in an increasing number of tasks. We believe continued improvements in our AI agent solutions will unlock new demand and accelerate the industry shift toward AI-led call center workflows. Looking ahead, we will continue investing in our real-time infrastructure and developer ecosystem for both human-to-human and human-to-AI interactions, while maintaining strong financial discipline.”
Second Quarter 2026 Highlights
- Total revenues for the quarter were $40.4 million, an increase of 18.0% from $34.3 million in the second quarter of 2025.
- Active Customers as of June 30, 2026 were 3,892, an increase of 0.4% from 3,877 as of June 30, 2025.
- Dollar-Based Net Retention Rate for the quarter was 104%, compared to 94% in the second quarter of 2025.
- Net income for the quarter was $2.2 million, compared to $1.5 million in the second quarter of 2025.
- Total cash, cash equivalents, bank deposits and financial products issued by banks as of June 30, 2026 was $361.7 million.
- Net cash used in operating activities for the quarter was $2.1 million, compared to $0.4 million in the second quarter of 2025.
Second Quarter 2026 Financial Results
Revenues
Total revenues were $40.4 million in the second quarter of 2026, an increase of 18.0% from $34.3 million in the same period last year, primarily due to the continued expansion of our real-time engagement service in sectors such as live shopping and financial service.
Cost of Revenues
Cost of revenues was $14.7 million in the second quarter of 2026, an increase of 28.9% from $11.4 million in the same period last year, primarily due to increases in bandwidth and server costs and costs related to conversational AI products.
Gross Profit and Gross Margin
Gross profit was $25.7 million in the second quarter of 2026, an increase of 12.5% from $22.9 million in the same period last year. Gross margin was 63.7% in the second quarter of 2026, compared to 66.8% in the same period last year, mainly due to product mix changes, including conversational AI products remaining at a sub-scale stage.
Operating Expenses
Operating expenses were $27.3 million in the second quarter of 2026, an increase of 2.8% from $26.5 million in the same period last year.
- Research and development expenses were $15.4 million in the second quarter of 2026, an increase of 10.2% from $14.0 million in the same period last year, primarily due to increased investment in conversational AI products.
- Sales and marketing expenses were $6.4 million in the second quarter of 2026, a decrease of 1.5% from $6.5 million in the same period last year, primarily due to disciplined expense management.
- General and administrative expenses were $5.5 million in the second quarter of 2026, a decrease of 9.5% from $6.0 million in the same period last year, primarily due to a decrease in allowance for current expected credit losses, mainly because of improved customer credit conditions and collection outcomes.
Loss from Operations
Loss from operations was $1.0 million in the second quarter of 2026, compared to $3.1 million in the same period last year.
Interest Income
Interest income was $3.4 million in the second quarter of 2026, compared to $3.7 million in the same period last year, primarily due to the decrease in the average principal amount.
Investment (Loss) Income
Investment loss was $0.4 million in the second quarter of 2026, compared to investment income of $0.8 million in the same period last year, primarily due to fair value changes in equity investments.
Net Income per American Depositary Share Attributable to Ordinary Shareholders
Basic and diluted net income per American Depositary Share (“ADS”) attributable to ordinary shareholders were $0.03 and $0.02, respectively, in the second quarter of 2026, compared to $0.02 and $0.01, respectively, in the same period last year.1
Share Repurchase Program
During the three months ended June 30, 2026, the Company repurchased approximately 3.8 million of its Class A ordinary shares (equivalent to approximately 1.0 million ADSs) for approximately US$3.7 million.
As of June 30, 2026, the Company had repurchased approximately 178.5 million of its Class A ordinary shares (equivalent to approximately 44.6 million ADSs) for approximately US$159.9 million under the current share repurchase program.
As of June 30, 2026, the Company had 335.1 million ordinary shares (equivalent to approximately 83.8 million ADSs) outstanding, compared to 449.8 million ordinary shares (equivalent to approximately 112.4 million ADSs) as of the inception of the program.
The current share repurchase program will expire at the end of February 2027.
Financial Outlook
Based on currently available information, the Company expects total revenues for the third quarter of 2026 to be between $41 million and $42 million, representing year-over-year growth of 15.8% to 18.6%. This outlook reflects the Company's current and preliminary views on the market and operational conditions, which are subject to change.
Earnings Call
The Company will host a conference call to discuss the financial results at 6 p.m. Pacific Time / 9 p.m. Eastern Time on August 13, 2026. Details for the conference call are as follows:
Event title: Agora, Inc. 2Q 2026 Financial Results
The call will be available at https://edge.media-server.com/mmc/p/vbsrxuhv
Investors who want to hear the call should log on at least 15 minutes prior to the broadcast. Participants may register for the call with the link below.
https://register-conf.media-server.com/register/BI5f0cd7b35b2145edaa88a91c662e14aa
Please visit the Company's investor relations website at https://investor.agora.io on August 13, 2026 to view the earnings release and accompanying slides prior to the conference call.
Operating Metrics
The Company also uses other operating metrics included in this press release and defined below to assess the performance of its business.
Active Customers
An active customer at the end of any period is defined as an organization or individual developer from which the Company generated more than $100 of revenue during the preceding 12 months, excluding customers from Easemob. Customers are counted based on unique customer account identifiers. Generally, one software application uses the same customer account identifier throughout its life cycle while one account may be used for multiple applications.
Dollar-Based Net Retention Rate
Dollar-Based Net Retention Rate is calculated by comparing the quarterly revenue from paying customers, excluding revenue from certain end-of-sale products, in the quarter four quarters prior to the most recent quarter to the quarterly revenue from the same set of customers in the most recent quarter. The Company believes Dollar-Based Net Retention Rate facilitates operating performance comparisons on a period-to-period basis.
Safe Harbor Statements
This press release contains “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, and the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. All statements other than statements of historical or current fact included in this press release are forward-looking statements, including but not limited to statements regarding the Company's financial outlook, beliefs, and expectations. Forward-looking statements include statements containing words such as “expect,” “anticipate,” “believe,” “project,” “will,” and similar expressions intended to identify forward-looking statements. Among other things, the Financial Outlook in this announcement contains forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements are based on the Company's current expectations and involve risks and uncertainties. The Company's actual results and the timing of events could differ materially from those anticipated in such forward-looking statements as a result of these risks and uncertainties, which include, without limitation, risks related to the growth of the RTE-PaaS market; the Company's ability to manage its growth and expand its operations; the Company's ability to attract new developers and convert them into customers; the Company's ability to retain existing customers and expand their usage of its platform and products; the Company's ability to drive popularity of existing use cases and enable new use cases, including through quality enhancements and introduction of new products, features, and functionalities; the Company's fluctuating operating results; competition; the effect of broader technological and market trends on the Company's business and prospects; general economic conditions and their impact on customer and end-user demand; and other risks and uncertainties included elsewhere in the Company's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”), including, without limitation, the Company's annual report on Form 20-F for the year ended December 31, 2025 and other filings with the SEC. You are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date of this press release. All forward-looking statements are qualified in their entirety by this cautionary statement, and the Company undertakes no obligation to revise or update any forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances after the date hereof.
About Agora, Inc.
Agora, Inc. is the holding company of two independent divisions, under the Agora brand and the Shengwang brand, respectively.
Headquartered in Santa Clara, California, Agora is a pioneer and global leader in conversational AI and Real-Time Engagement Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS), providing developers with simple, flexible, and powerful application programming interfaces, or APIs, to embed real-time conversational AI, video, voice, chat, and interactive streaming into their applications.
Headquartered in Shanghai, China, Shengwang is a pioneer and leading conversational AI and Real-Time Engagement PaaS provider in the China market.
For more information on Agora, please visit: www.agora.io
For more information on Shengwang, please visit: www.shengwang.cn
Agora, Inc.
Consolidated Balance Sheets
(Unaudited, in US$ thousands)
2025
Assets Current assets: Cash and cash equivalents72,667 75,446 Short-term bank deposits215,988 84,460 Short-term financial products issued by banks52,000 55,000 Short-term investments3,181 4,583 Restricted cash200 200 Accounts receivable, net28,251 24,867 Prepayments and other current assets22,371 14,590 Contract assets127 123 Held-for-sale assets600 831 Total current assets395,385 260,100 Property and equipment, net3,543 3,947 Construction in progress in relation to the headquarters project104,488 84,239 Operating lease right-of-use assets1,499 2,145 Intangible assets16 96 Long-term bank deposits21,000 160,001 Long-term investments29,349 29,182 Land use right, net164,971 161,591 Other non-current assets12,907 19,798 Total assets733,158 721,099 Liabilities and shareholders’ equity Current liabilities: Short-term borrowings1,330 - Accounts payable11,460 9,638 Advances from customers9,115 7,906 Taxes payable798 696 Current operating lease liabilities947 1,521 Payables for construction costs17,340 16,607 Advance in relation to the headquarters project21,292 - Accrued expenses and other current liabilities15,144 20,417 Total current liabilities77,426 56,785 Long-term payable1 3 Long-term operating lease liabilities138 399 Deferred tax liabilities- 12 Long-term borrowings in relation to the headquarters project98,986 80,420 Advance in relation to the headquarters project- 20,632 Total liabilities176,551 158,251 Shareholders’ equity: Class A ordinary shares40 39 Class B ordinary shares8 8 Additional paid-in-capital1,146,475 1,145,126 Treasury shares, at cost(110,727) (95,238)Accumulated other comprehensive loss(5,396) (9,987)Accumulated deficit(473,793) (477,100)Total shareholders’ equity556,607 562,848 Total liabilities and shareholders’ equity733,158 721,099
Agora, Inc.
Consolidated Statements of Comprehensive Income
(Unaudited, in US$ thousands, except share and per share data)
2025
2026
2025
Real-time engagement service revenues39,452 33,716 76,640 66,389 Real-time engagement on-premise solution and other revenues968 543 1,525 1,139 Total revenues40,420 34,259 78,165 67,528 Cost of revenues14,683 11,389 28,499 22,024 Gross profit25,737 22,870 49,666 45,504 Operating expenses: Research and development15,396 13,976 29,817 27,994 Sales and marketing6,420 6,521 12,358 12,756 General and administrative5,467 6,039 11,490 12,277 Total operating expenses27,283 26,536 53,665 53,027 Other operating income593 548 1,398 702 Loss from operations(953)(3,118) (2,601)(6,821)Exchange gain123 85 378 156 Interest income3,401 3,706 6,841 7,341 Interest expense(15)(1) (29)(6)Investment (loss) income(413)797 (1,264)1,485 Income before income taxes2,143 1,469 3,325 2,155 Income taxes(54)(43) (183)(84)Income (loss) from equity in affiliates109 36 165 (202)Net income2,198 1,462 3,307 1,869 Net income attributable to ordinary shareholders2,198 1,462 3,307 1,869 Other comprehensive income (loss): Foreign currency translation adjustments2,272 343 4,591 (326)Total comprehensive income attributable to ordinary shareholders4,470 1,805 7,898 1,543 Net income per share attributable to ordinary shareholders Basic0.006 0.004 0.010 0.005 Diluted0.006 0.004 0.009 0.005 Net income per ADS attributable to ordinary shareholders Basic0.03 0.02 0.04 0.02 Diluted0.02 0.01 0.04 0.02
Weighted average ordinary shares outstanding Basic339,719,445 370,332,857 343,640,224 373,734,048 Diluted369,538,625 392,602,913 373,935,107 400,458,176 Weighted average ADS outstanding Basic84,929,861 92,583,214 85,910,056 93,433,512 Diluted92,384,656 98,150,728 93,483,777 100,114,544 Share-based compensation expenses included in: Cost of revenues2 29 4 75 Research and development expenses520 978 1,112 2,337 Sales and marketing expenses140 210 263 424 General and administrative expenses539 314 1,125 642
Agora, Inc.
Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows
(Unaudited, in US$ thousands)
2025
2026
2025
Cash flows from operating activities: Net income2,198 1,462 3,307 1,869 Adjustments to reconcile net income to net cash used in operating activities: Share-based compensation expenses1,201 1,531 2,504 3,478 Allowance for current expected credit losses762 1,332 1,564 3,016 Depreciation of property and equipment379 525 749 1,117 Amortization of intangible assets1 130 80 259 Amortization of land use right891 848 1,768 1,697 Deferred tax expense- (20) (12)(41)Amortization of right-of-use asset and interest on lease liabilities466 540 932 1,078 Investment loss (income)413 (797) 1,264 (1,485)(Income) loss from equity in affiliates(109)(36) (165)202 Loss on disposal of property and equipment- 2 1 3 Changes in assets and liabilities, net of effect of acquisition: Accounts receivable(3,888)(572) (4,525)1,527 Contract assets- 912 - 978 Prepayments and other current assets(1,720)474 (1,094)15,291 Other non-current assets(285)(2,209) (339)(3,424)Accounts payable558 710 1,664 (810)Advances from customers578 (959) 989 (645)Taxes payable171 27 90 (991)Operating lease liabilities(572)(587) (1,119)(1,159)Deferred income- - - 111 Accrued expenses and other liabilities(3,184)(3,665) (4,107)(4,847)Net cash (used in) provided by operating activities(2,140)(352) 3,551 17,224 Cash flows from investing activities: Purchase of property and equipment(221)(317) (276)(872)Purchase of short-term bank deposits(42,953)(10,429) (52,952)(35,507)Purchase of short-term financial products issued by banks- (5,070) - (15,348)Proceeds from maturity of short-term bank deposits15,000 20,077 60,428 178,404 Proceeds from maturity of short-term financial products issued by banks122 13,429 3,267 36,442 Proceeds from sales of short-term investments- - 2 - Purchase of long-term bank deposits- (9,000) - (163,001)Purchase of construction in progress for the headquarters project(5,712)(3,472) (15,069)(13,753)Disposal of property and equipment13 4 13 30 Refundable deposit received in relation to disposal of subsidiaries- - - 4,410 Net cash (used in) provided by investing activities(33,751)5,222 (4,587)(9,195)Cash flows from financing activities: Proceeds from short-term borrowings1,324 - 1,324 - Proceeds from long-term borrowings6,381 3,507 15,774 14,134 Proceeds from exercise of employees’ share options90 181 103 477 Payment of financing cost(713)- (2,252)- Repurchase of Class A ordinary shares(3,731)(10,862) (17,035)(12,103)Net cash provided by (used in) financing activities3,351 (7,174) (2,086)2,508 Effect of foreign exchange rate changes on cash, cash equivalents and restricted cash139 (9) 343 (838)Net (decrease) increase in cash, cash equivalents and restricted cash(32,401)(2,314) (2,779)9,699 Cash, cash equivalents and restricted cash at beginning of period *105,268 42,841 75,646 30,828 Cash, cash equivalents and restricted cash at end of period **72,867 40,527 72,867 40,527 Supplemental disclosure of cash flow information: Income taxes paid15 33 39 73 Cash payments included in the measurement of operating lease liabilities572 587 1,119 1,159 Right-of-use assets obtained in exchange for operating lease obligations- 86 - 86 Non-cash financing and investing activities: Proceeds receivable from exercise of employees’ share options16 46 16 46 Proceeds receivable for dividend100 110 100 110 Proceeds receivable for disposal- 2,909 - 2,909 Payables for financing cost63 - 409 - Payables for property and equipment24 191 24 191 Payables for construction in progress in relation to the headquarters project4,472 11,497 13,460 12,138 Payables for treasury shares, at cost41 37 41 37
* includes restricted cash balance200 230 200 3,745 ** includes restricted cash balance200 200 200 230
___________________
1 One ADS represents four Class A ordinary shares.