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Agora, Inc. Reports First Quarter 2024 Financial Results

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SANTA CLARA, Calif., May 22, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Agora, Inc. (NASDAQ: API) (the “Company”), a pioneer and leader in real-time engagement technology, today announced its unaudited financial results for the first quarter ended March 31, 2024.

“Despite a challenging operating environment, we continued to focus on enhancing the fundamental performance of our products, for example, launching our new Adaptive Video Optimization technology and improving the stability of our SDKs to highest levels in our history,” said Tony Zhao, founder, chairman and CEO of Agora, Inc. “I firmly believe such improvements will create value for use cases of today and the future. For instance, our earlier prediction that generative AI models will interact with human directly through voice and video is rapidly materializing, which could benefit from our work today and develop into a core use case for our real-time engagement technology.”

First Quarter 2024 Highlights

First Quarter 2024 Financial Results

Revenues
Total revenues were $33.0 million in the first quarter of 2024, a decrease of 9.4% from $36.4 million in the same period last year. Revenues of Agora were $15.8 million in the first quarter of 2024, an increase of 4.6% from $15.1 million in the same period last year, primarily due to our business expansion and usage growth in sectors such as live shopping. Revenues of Shengwang were RMB122.6 million ($17.2 million) in the first quarter of 2024, a decrease of 16.0% from RMB145.9 million ($21.3 million) in the same period last year, primarily due to challenging macroeconomic and regulatory environment.

Cost of Revenues
Cost of revenues was $12.8 million in the first quarter of 2024, a decrease of 5.9% from $13.6 million in the same period last year, primarily due to the decrease in bandwidth usage and co-location costs.

Gross Profit and Gross Margin
Gross profit was $20.2 million in the first quarter of 2024, a decrease of 11.5% from $22.8 million in the same period last year. Gross margin was 61.2% in the first quarter of 2024, a decrease of 1.5% from 62.7% in the same period last year, mainly due to product mix change.

Operating Expenses
Operating expenses were $33.3 million in the first quarter of 2024, a decrease of 17.3% from $40.3 million in the same period last year.

Loss from Operations
Loss from operations was $12.6 million in the first quarter of 2024, compared to $17.0 million in the same period last year.

Interest Income
Interest income was $4.7 million in the first quarter of 2024, compared to $4.4 million in the same period last year, primarily due to the increase in interest rates realized on deposits.

Investment Loss
Investment loss was $2.0 million in the first quarter of 2024, compared to $3.2 million in the same period last year, primarily due to the fair value change in equity investments.

Net Loss
Net loss was $9.5 million in the first quarter of 2024, compared to $16.8 million in the same period last year.

Net Loss per American Depositary Share attributable to ordinary shareholders
Net loss per American Depositary Share (“ADS”)1 attributable to ordinary shareholders was $0.10 in the first quarter of 2024, compared to $0.16 in the same period last year.

______________
1 One ADS represents four Class A ordinary shares.

Share Repurchase Program

During the three months ended March 31, 2024, the Company repurchased approximately 4.8 million of its class A ordinary shares (equivalent to approximately 1.2 million ADSs) for approximately US$3.2 million under its share repurchase program, representing 1.6% of its US$200 million share repurchase program.

As of March 31, 2024, the Company had repurchased approximately 118.6 million of its class A ordinary shares (equivalent to approximately 29.7 million ADSs) for approximately US$107.5 million under its share repurchase program, representing 54% of its US$200 million share repurchase program.

As of March 31, 2024, the Company had 368.5 million ordinary shares (equivalent to approximately 92.1 million ADSs) outstanding, compared to 449.8 million ordinary shares (equivalent to approximately 112.5 million ADSs) outstanding as of January 31, 2022 before the share repurchase program commenced.

The current share repurchase program will expire at the end of February 2025.

Financial Outlook

Based on the currently available information, the Company expects total revenues for the second quarter of 2024 to be between $34 million and $36 million. 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 May 22, 2024. Details for the conference call are as follows:
Event title: Agora, Inc. 1Q 2024 Financial Results
The call will be available at https://edge.media-server.com/mmc/p/r6zm2238
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.vevent.com/register/BIaa27d7a5123c45dab001be03c5b76e47
Please visit the Company’s investor relations website at https://investor.agora.io on May 22, 2024 to view the earnings release and accompanying slides prior to the conference call.

Use of Non-GAAP Financial Measures

The Company has provided in this press release financial information that has not been prepared in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles in the United States (“GAAP”). The Company uses these non-GAAP financial measures internally in analyzing its financial results and believe that the use of these non-GAAP financial measures is useful to investors as an additional tool to evaluate ongoing operating results and trends and in comparing its financial results with other companies in its industry, many of which present similar non-GAAP financial measures. Besides free cash flow (as defined below), each of these non-GAAP financial measures represents the corresponding GAAP financial measure before share-based compensation expenses, acquisition related expenses, amortization expenses of acquired intangible assets and income tax related to acquired intangible assets. The Company believes that such non-GAAP financial measures help identify underlying trends in its business that could otherwise be distorted by the effects of such share-based compensation expenses, acquisition related expenses, amortization expenses of acquired intangible assets and income tax related to acquired intangible assets that it includes in its cost of revenues, total operating expenses and net income (loss). The Company believes that all such non-GAAP financial measures also provide useful information about its operating results, enhance the overall understanding of its past performance and future prospects and allow for greater visibility with respect to key metrics used by its management in its financial and operational decision-making.

Non-GAAP financial measures are not meant to be considered in isolation or as a substitute for comparable GAAP financial measures and should be read only in conjunction with the Company’s consolidated financial statements prepared in accordance with GAAP. A reconciliation of its historical non-GAAP financial measures to the most directly comparable GAAP measures has been provided in the tables captioned “Reconciliation of GAAP to Non-GAAP Measures” included at the end of this press release, and investors are encouraged to review the reconciliation.

Definitions of the Company’s non-GAAP financial measures included in this press release are presented below.

Non-GAAP Net Income (Loss)

Non-GAAP net income (loss) is defined as net income (loss) adjusted to exclude share-based compensation expenses, acquisition related expenses, amortization expenses of acquired intangible assets and income tax related to acquired intangible assets.

Adjusted EBITDA

Adjusted EBITDA is defined as net income (loss) before exchange gain (loss), interest income, investment income (loss), other income, equity in income of affiliates, income taxes, depreciation of property and equipment, amortization of land use right, and adjusted to exclude the effects of share-based compensation expenses, acquisition related expenses and amortization expenses of acquired intangible assets.

Free Cash Flow

Free cash flow is defined as net cash provided by operating activities less purchases of property and equipment (excluding the acquisition of land use right and the construction in progress for the headquarters project). The Company considers free cash flow to be a liquidity measure that provides useful information to management and investors regarding net cash provided by operating activities and cash used for investments in property and equipment required to maintain and grow the business.

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 particular period is defined as an organization or individual developer from which the Company generated more than $100 of revenue during the preceding 12 months. 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 for a trailing 12-month period by first identifying all customers in the prior 12-month period, and then calculating the quotient from dividing the revenue generated from such customers in the trailing 12-month period by the revenue generated from the same group of customers in the prior 12-month period. As the vast majority of revenue generated from Agora’s customers is denominated in U.S. dollars, while the vast majority of revenue generated from Shengwang’s customers is denominated in Renminbi, Dollar-Based Net Retention Rate is calculated in U.S. dollars for Agora and in Renminbi for Shengwang, which has substantially removed the impact of foreign currency translations. Shengwang excluded the revenues from Easemob’s CEC business and K12 academic tutoring sector. 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 contain 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 continued impact of COVID-19 on global markets and the Company’s business, operations and customers; 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 final prospectus related to the IPO filed with the SEC on June 26, 2020. 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 Cayman Islands holding company of two independent divisions, under Agora brand and Shengwang brand, respectively, whose businesses are conducted through separate entities.

Headquartered in Santa Clara, California, Agora is a pioneer and global leader in Real-Time Engagement Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS), providing developers with simple, flexible, and powerful application programming interfaces, or APIs, to embed real-time voice, video, interactive live-streaming, chat, whiteboard, and artificial intelligence capabilities into their applications.

Headquartered in Shanghai, China, Shengwang is a pioneer and leading 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.
Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheets
(Unaudited, in US$ thousands)
  As of       As of  
  March 31,       December 31,  
  2024       2023  
Assets            
Current assets:            
Cash and cash equivalents 41,902       36,894  
Short-term bank deposits 238,008       86,924  
Short-term financial products issued by banks 94,852       84,853  
Short-term investments 5,919       7,983  
Accounts receivable, net 36,843       34,668  
Prepayments and other current assets 19,388       9,059  
Contract assets 1,075       1,048  
Total current assets 437,987       261,429  
Property and equipment, net 4,544       5,365  
Construction in progress for the headquarters project 19,420       17,343  
Operating lease right-of-use assets 3,725       4,011  
Intangible assets 1,001       1,274  
Long-term bank deposits –       143,127  
Long-term financial products issued by banks 6,000       20,000  
Long-term investments 44,596       43,893  
Land use right, net 166,097       167,246  
Other non-current assets 7,084       10,907  
Total assets 690,454       674,595  
             
Liabilities and shareholders’ equity            
Current liabilities:            
Accounts payable 15,419       12,996  
Advances from customers 8,256       7,765  
Taxes payable 1,346       906  
Current operating lease liabilities 2,350       2,447  
Accrued expenses and other current liabilities 28,484       32,780  
Total current liabilities 55,855       56,894  
Long-term payable 3       3  
Long-term operating lease liabilities 1,314       1,726  
Deferred tax liabilities 154       196  
Long-term borrowings 17,870       11,027  
Other non-current liabilities 19,301       –  
Total liabilities 94,497       69,846  
Shareholders’ equity:            
Class A ordinary shares 39       39  
Class B ordinary shares 8       8  
Additional paid-in-capital 1,139,187       1,138,346  
Treasury shares, at cost (79,546 )     (79,716 )
Accumulated other comprehensive loss (10,367 )     (10,027 )
Accumulated deficit (453,364 )     (443,901 )
Total shareholders’ equity 595,957       604,749  
Total liabilities and shareholders’ equity 690,454       674,595  
Agora, Inc.
Condensed Consolidated Statements of Comprehensive Loss
(Unaudited, in US$ thousands, except share and per ADS amounts)
  Three Months Ended March 31,
  2024       2023  
Real-time engagement service revenues 32,222       35,101  
Real-time engagement on-premise solution and other revenues 799       1,342  
Total revenues 33,021       36,443  
Cost of revenues 12,797       13,597  
Gross profit 20,224       22,846  
Operating expenses:    
Research and development 18,139       21,031  
Sales and marketing 6,814       10,476  
General and administrative 8,380       8,809  
Total operating expenses 33,333       40,316  
Other operating income 476       496  
Loss from operations (12,633 )     (16,974 )
Exchange (loss) gain (45 )     117  
Interest income 4,734       4,406  
Interest expense (60 )     –  
Investment loss (2,035 )     (3,198 )
Losses from extinguishment of convertible note –       (1,230 )
Loss before income taxes (10,039 )     (16,879 )
Income tax (expenses) benefits (140 )     10  
Equity in income of affiliates 716       67  
Net loss (9,463 )     (16,802 )
Net loss attributable to ordinary shareholders (9,463 )     (16,802 )
Other comprehensive loss:    
Foreign currency translation adjustments (340 )     2,169  
Gain on available-for-sale debt securities –       1,385  
Total comprehensive loss attributable to ordinary shareholders (9,803 )     (13,248 )
     
Net loss per ADS attributable to ordinary shareholders, basic and diluted (0.10 )     (0.16 )
Weighted-average shares used in computing net loss per ADS attributable to ordinary shareholders, basic and diluted 372,186,672       424,016,857  
     
Share-based compensation expenses included in:    
Cost of revenues 101       217  
Research and development expenses 3,045       3,543  
Sales and marketing expenses 303       1,733  
General and administrative expenses 985       1,931  
Agora, Inc.
Condensed Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows
(Unaudited, in US$ thousands)
  Three Months Ended March 31,
  2024       2023  
Cash flows from operating activities:    
Net loss (9,463 )     (16,802 )
Adjustments to reconcile net loss to net cash used in operating activities:    
Share-based compensation expenses 4,434       7,424  
Allowance for current expected credit losses 2,291       1,554  
Depreciation of property and equipment 1,008       2,214  
Amortization of intangible assets 273       346  
Amortization of land use right 858       593  
Deferred tax expense (42 )     (53 )
Amortization of right-of-use asset and interest on lease liabilities 660       810  
Investment loss 2,035       3,198  
Losses from extinguishment of convertible note –       1,230  
Interest income on debt securities and investments –       (105 )
Equity in income of affiliates (716 )     (67 )
Gain on disposal of property and equipment (2 )     (42 )
Interest expense 60       –  
Changes in assets and liabilities, net of effect of acquisition:    
Accounts receivable (4,507 )     (2,383 )
Contract assets (29 )     (752 )
Prepayments and other current assets (10,358 )     468  
Other non-current assets 7,246       (848 )
Accounts payable 2,448       1,379  
Advances from customers 501       (295 )
Taxes payable 441       (1,155 )
Deferred income (257 )     –  
Operating lease liabilities (883 )     (853 )
Accrued expenses and other liabilities (2,485 )     (4,789 )
Net cash used in operating activities (6,487 )     (8,928 )
Cash flows from investing activities:    
Purchase of short-term bank deposits (31,100 )     (129,521 )
Purchase of short-term financial products issued by banks –       (10,005 )
Proceeds from maturity of short-term bank deposits 23,143       304,537  
Proceeds from maturity of short-term financial products issued by banks 10,029       8,310  
Purchase of long-term bank deposits –       (112,606 )
Purchase of long-term financial products issued by banks (6,000 )     (20,000 )
Purchase of long-term investments –       (15 )
Purchase of property and equipment (587 )     (185 )
Purchase of land use right –       (5,133 )
Purchase of construction in progress for the headquarters project (6,778 )     (2,047 )
Cash received for business disposal –       3,062  
Disposal of property and equipment 7       43  
Cash paid for a business combination –       (3,680 )
Net cash (used in) provided by investing activities (11,286 )     32,760  
Cash flows from financing activities:    
Proceeds from long-term borrowings 6,855       –  
Deposits returned for business disposal –       (1,000 )
Proceeds from exercise of employees’ share options 208       24  
Deposit received in relation to headquarters project 19,280       –  
Repurchase of Class A ordinary shares (3,408 )     (19,403 )
Repayment of interest (111 )     –  
Net cash provided by (used in) financing activities 22,824       (20,379 )
Effect of foreign exchange rate changes on cash, cash equivalents and restricted cash (43 )     (413 )
Net increase in cash, cash equivalents and restricted cash 5,008       3,040  
Cash balance recorded in held-for sale assets at beginning of period –       1,488  
Cash, cash equivalents and restricted cash at beginning of period * 37,174       45,827  
Cash, cash equivalents and restricted cash at end of period ** 42,182       50,355  
Supplemental disclosure of cash flow information:    
Income taxes paid 108       22  
Cash payments included in the measurement of operating lease liabilities 883       853  
Right-of-use assets obtained in exchange for operating lease obligations 336       3,694  
Non-cash financing and investing activities:    
Proceeds receivable from exercise of employees’ share options 90       167  
Payables for property and equipment 1       182  
Payables for construction in progress for the headquarters project 1,796       272  
Payables for business disposal –       93  
Proceeds receivable for disposal –       2,800  
Payables for interest 17       –  
Payables for treasury shares, at cost 25       730  
     
* Includes restricted cash balance 280       154  
** includes restricted cash balance 280       130  
Agora, Inc.
Reconciliation of GAAP to Non-GAAP Measures
(Unaudited, in US$ thousands, except share and per ADS amounts)
  Three Months Ended March 31,
  2024       2023  
GAAP net loss (9,463 )     (16,802 )
Add:    
Share-based compensation expenses 4,434       7,424  
Acquisition related expenses –       (44 )
Amortization expenses of acquired intangible assets 273       345  
Income tax related to acquired intangible assets (42 )     (53 )
Non-GAAP net loss (4,798 )     (9,130 )
     
GAAP Net loss (9,463 )     (16,802 )
Excluding:    
Exchange loss (gain) 45       (117 )
Interest income (4,734 )     (4,406 )
Interest expense 60       –  
Losses from extinguishment of convertible note –       1,230  
Investment loss 2,035       3,198  
Equity in income of affiliates (716 )     (67 )
Income tax expenses (benefits) 140       (10 )
Depreciation of property and equipment 1,008       2,214  
Amortization of land use right 858       593  
Share-based compensation expenses 4,434       7,424  
Acquisition related expenses –       (44 )
Amortization expenses of acquired intangible assets 273       345  
Adjusted EBITDA (6,060 )     (6,442 )
     
Net cash used in operating activities (6,487 )     (8,928 )
Purchase of property and equipment (587 )     (185 )
Free Cash Flow (7,074 )     (9,113 )
Net cash (used in) provided by investing activities (11,286 )     32,760  
Net cash provided by (used in) financing activities 22,824       (20,379 )


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