Sohu.com (SOHU) Q1 2023 Earnings Call Transcript

For the period ending March 31, 2023

May 15, 2023 7:30 a.m. ET

Prepared Remarks

Questions and Answers

Call Participants

Prepared Remarks:

Operator

Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for standing by, and good evening. Thank you for joining Sohu's First Quarter 2023 Earnings Conference Call. At this time, all participants are in a listen-only mode. [Operator Instructions] Today's conference call is being recorded. If you have any objections, you may disconnect at this time.

I'd now like to turn the conference over to your host for today's conference call, Huang Pu, Investor Relations Director of Sohu. Please go ahead.

Huang Pu

Thanks, operator. Thank you for joining us to discuss Sohu's first quarter 2023 results. On the call are Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Dr. Charles Zhang; CFO, Joanna Lv; and Vice President of Finance, James Deng. Also with us are Changyou's CEO Dewen Chen; and CFO Yaobin Wang.

Before management begins their prepared remarks, I would like to remind you of the company's Safe Harbor statement in connection with today's conference call. Except for the historical information contained herein, the matters discussed on this call may contain forward-looking statements. These statements are based on current plans, estimates, and projections, and therefore you should not place undue reliance on them.

Forward-looking statements involve inherent risks and uncertainties. We caution you that a number of important factors could cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in any forward-looking statements. For more information about the potential risks and uncertainties, please refer to the conference filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including the most recent annual report on Form 20-F.

With that, I will now turn the call over to Dr. Charles Zhang. Charles, please proceed.

Charles Zhang

Thanks, Huang Pu, and thank you, everyone, for joining our call. In the first quarter of 2023, we hit the high-end of our prior guidance for brand advertising revenue, while our bottom line performance came in well above expectations despite the impact of seasonality. At Sohu Media, we further improved operating -- operational efficiency and focused on enhancing user experience through product and algorithm refinements. We closely monitored market trends and provided innovative marketing solutions to our advertisers.

At Sohu Video, we continued to develop both long-form and short-form original content under our Twin Engine strategy. Leveraging the advantages of our product mix -- matrix, we were able to consolidate our resources and proactively explore a diverse range of monetization opportunities. Online games remained stable during the quarter, with revenues in line with the prior guidance.