Chagee Holdings Limited American Depositary Shares (CHA) Q1 2026 Earnings Report, Transcript and Summary

Good morning, and good evening, ladies and gentlemen. Thank you for standing by, and welcome to Chagee's First Quarter 2026 Earnings Conference Call. [Operator Instructions] Please note that today's event is being recorded. With that, I will now turn the call over to the first speaker today, Ms. Alicia Guo, Investor Relations Director of the company. Please go ahead, ma'am.

Thank you. Hello, everyone, and welcome to Chagee's First Quarter 2026 Earnings Call. With us today are Mr. Junjie Zhang, our CEO; Mr. Aiden Yin, our COO; and Mr. Aaron Huang, our CFO. The company's financial and operating results were released by the Newswire earlier today and are currently available online. Before we continue, I refer you to our safe harbor statement in the earnings release, which applies to this call. Any forward-looking statements that we make on this call are based on assumptions as of today, and Chagee does not undertake any obligations to update these statements. Also, this call includes discussions of certain non-GAAP financial measures. Please refer to our earnings release, which contains a reconciliation of non-GAAP measure to a GAAP measure. With that, I will turn the call to our CEO, Mr. Junjie Zhang. Please go ahead, sir.

[Foreign Language]

[Interpreted] Hello, everyone. Welcome to Chagee's First Quarter 2026 Earnings Call. As we enter 2026, our strategic direction is clearer than ever, and our execution is more focused. The reflections and adjustments of the past several months have allowed us to develop a way of working that is closer to our consumers and more committed to long-term value creation.

[Foreign Language]

[Interpreted] First, on our strategic priorities. In 2026, we're dedicating all our efforts to operations, focusing on executing every detail that truly matters to our consumers well. We believe that the ability of the company to navigate cycles ultimately depends on genuine consumer recognition. Therefore, our goal this year is very clear to perfect every single consumer touch point.

[Foreign Language]

[Interpreted] Second, our organizational adjustments are delivering results and overall efficiency has improved significantly. Over the past few quarters, we have proactively optimized our organization. These changes have delivered tangible results. Resource allocation is more precise. Decision-making and execution are more efficient, and our team's cohesion and effectiveness around our core mission have strengthened significantly. This has laid a solid foundation for us to continue achieving high-quality growth.

[Foreign Language]

[Interpreted] Third, our product and marketing plans are now clearly defined, and our execution priorities are highly focused. We have completed a comprehensive and actionable road map for both products and marketing. Our starting point has always been consumer needs rather than external trends. Going forward, all of our work will center on 5 dimensions: products, service, environment, experience and value proposition, making every teahouse, every cup of tea and every interaction consistently well executed is our only true priority.

[Foreign Language]

[Interpreted] As our business returned to steady growth and operational efficiency continued to improve in the first quarter, from a capital market perspective, we believe our current share price is significantly undervalued and sales to properly reflect our long-term development prospects. At this point, on behalf of the company and the management team, I would like to make a clear commitment. Our Board has approved a share repurchase program, authorizing us to repurchase up to USD 150 million ADS during a 12-month period as a concrete way to demonstrate our confidence and reward shareholders' trust.

[Foreign Language]

[Interpreted] Finally, I want to reiterate our strategic direction is clear, and our team is operating with high efficiency. Chagee is entering a mature, stable and sustainable phase of high-quality growth. We're confident in every step we take forward towards the future.

[Foreign Language]

[Interpreted] That concludes our strategic direction. Next, I will hand the call over to our COO, Aiden, who will walk you through the specific operational progress in the first quarter. Thank you.

[Foreign Language]

[Interpreted] Thank you, Junjie, and thank you all for joining our earnings call today.

[Foreign Language]

[Interpreted] Let me begin by sharing our overall performance for the first quarter. Total revenue reached RMB 3,546 million, representing a 4.5% increase year-over-year and a 19.2% increase quarter-over-quarter. Gross margin came in at 55.6%. Non-GAAP net income was RMB 506.7 million, increasing more than fourfold sequentially. Non-GAAP net margin improved to 14.3%. Total GMV reached RMB 7,917.8 million, up 8.1% quarter-over-quarter. Greater China GMV grew 7.8% sequentially, while overseas GMV grew 14.6% sequentially and 139% year-over-year. It is clear that overseas markets are becoming an increasingly important growth engine.

[Foreign Language]

[Interpreted] More importantly, our operational -- our operating quality continued to improve. Same-store GMV growth in Greater China improved by 9.4 percentage points sequentially and overall same-store sales -- same-store GMV growth improved by 9.5 percentage points sequentially. These results show that our strategy of focusing on consumer value is working in practice. This quarter, we concentrated our efforts on 4 key areas to drive performance recovery.

[Foreign Language]

[Interpreted] First, our improved organizational efficiency. Through continued optimization in the first quarter, our organizational efficiency achieved a qualitative leap, making execution faster, more precise and more coordinated while overall expense ratio declined. On one hand, organizational adjustments improved execution efficiency. On the other hand, our goals became clearer and more resolute with team from headquarters to key houses forming a strong consensus on executing priorities, channeling limited resources into activities that best create consumer value. In the first quarter, our non-GAAP G&A expense ratio declined by 8.1 percentage points sequentially to 11.6% and our non-GAAP sales and marketing expense ratio declined by 3.6 percentage points sequentially to 8.6%.

[Foreign Language]

[Interpreted] Second, our product expansion. In the first quarter, we launched a total of 12 new products. More importantly, our categories are broadening, gradually extending into tea lattes, special deals and others. Our product innovation and consumer recognition continues to improve. The Da Hong Pao series launched in February, delivered strong performance with first week GMV contribution, cup contribution, repeat purchase rate and direct new customer acquisition, all exceeding historical averages for new product launches. During the Qian Wen campaign, the product Da Hong Pao Tea Latte from the series saw especially strong sequential growth and became an important growth driver. Caramel Pour Latte with its distinctive caramel flavor and interactive sweetness customization created a strong impression among consumers and was a clear point of differentiation. The product was well received by our consumers and shows strong potential to become a long-term best seller.

[Foreign Language]

[Interpreted] Third, clearer and more effective marketing execution. On the marketing side, we introduced a morning Buy One Get One Free campaign and launched a low caffeine beverage section for the evening, successfully extending consumption scenarios in both the early morning and late evening. Since the campaign began, the share of cards sold in the morning has doubled. At the same time, we continue to strengthen our private domain traffic through in-store promotions. As a result, the share of orders from our Mini Program channel and the share of new customers both improved during the campaign period. This demonstrates steady progress in both private domain traffic conversion and new customer acquisition.

[Foreign Language]

[Interpreted] Fourth, growing our teahouse network with quality remains our top priority. We place great importance on customer experience and brand standards. So we have deliberately slowed our pace of teahouse expansion and focused on improving operating quality while comprehensively upgrading our teahouses. At the same time, our new business model has been fully implemented, further aligning the interest of the company and our franchisees. We believe that only when every teahouse delivers a consistent brand value that Chagee truly earn -- can Chagee truly earn consumer long-term trust. At the end of the first quarter, our global teahouse network totaled 7,531 locations, including 7,157 in Greater China and 374 overseas.

[Foreign Language]

[Interpreted] Our overseas markets continue to expand steadily. Currently, our teahouse presence includes 36 in Singapore, 221 in Malaysia, 32 in Thailand, 41 in Indonesia, 13 in Philippines, 22 in Vietnam and 9 in the United States. Our overseas teahouse network maintained a steady growth pace with operating performance in line with our expectations.

[Foreign Language]

[Interpreted] Finally, let me return to the strategic direction that Junjie laid out earlier. Our strategic core is to perfect every small detail that consumers truly care about. Whether consumers genuinely recognize this is not measured by what we say, but by what they do. At the end of the first quarter, the number of our total registered members reached 248 million with nearly 50 million active members, an increase of over 11% quarter-over-quarter. What gives us even greater confidence is that the repurchase rate among active members remained stable at 42.3% and members who made 2 or more purchases contribute over 76% of total orders. Every repeat purchase is generally recognition from our Chagee friends. 248 million Chagee friends are telling us through their repeated purchases that they trust this brand and are willing to return to our teahouse again and again. This is our most valuable assets and our strongest foundation for navigating market cycles. Our strategy is clear. Our execution is delivering and consumer trust is our best answer.

[Foreign Language]

[Interpreted] Looking ahead, our direction remains unwavering. Our product -- on product, we will maintain a steady launch cadence while continuing to expand into new categories such as special deals. On service, we will continue to optimize our membership system and consumer experience. On environment, we will continue to upgrade teahouse differentiation through design. On experience, we will make the third place a place where consumers genuinely want to spend time. On brand value proposition, we will continue to embrace the spirit of connecting through tea, creating emotional resonance with our customers. On teahouse operations, we will continue to prioritize quality in our Greater China market while steadily expanding overseas.

[Foreign Language]

[Interpreted] That concludes my remarks. Now let me turn the call over to our CFO, Aaron, who will walk you through the detailed financials. Thank you.

Thank you, Aiden, and hello, everyone, excuse me for my voice. Thank you for joining our earnings call. Before we begin, please note that all amount in RMB and all comparisons are on a year-over-year basis, unless otherwise stated. As Junjie and Aiden just outlined, 2026 was about disciplined execution, a sharper operating focus and a visible progress in restoring growth quality. I'm delighted to see that this strategy is already translating into improved financial performance. For the first quarter of 2026, our total GMV was RMB 7,917.8 million and 8.1% sequential increase from RMB 7,322.9 million in the fourth quarter of 2025. As of March 31, 2026, our teahouse network totaled 7,531 locations across Greater China and overseas, up 12.7% from 6,681 a year ago. Of this, 6,741 were franchisee teahouse and 790 were company-owned teahouses, reflecting the continued conversion of selected location into company-owned store as a part of our network optimization strategy. In Greater China, average monthly GMV per teahouse was RMB 356,080 in the first quarter, representing a quarter-over-quarter increase of 5.5% from RMB 337,358 in the fourth quarter of 2025. At the same time, overseas total GMV for the first quarter grew 139% year-over-year and 14.6% quarter-over-quarter to RMB 426.4 million. On the revenue line, our net revenues from the first quarter -- for the first quarter of 2026 were RMB 3,546 million compared to RMB 3,392.7 million in the same quarter of 2025 and up 19.2% sequentially. Net revenues from franchisee teahouses were RMB 2,743.9 million, representing 77.4% of total revenue compared to RMB 3,149.9 million a year ago and up 12.7% sequentially. Net revenue from company-owned teahouses were RMB 802.1 million, up 230.4% from RMB 242.8 million a year ago, mainly as a result of our continued development of company-owned teahouses network across Greater China and overseas markets. Turning to margin. Our gross margin -- our gross profit calculated by excluding cost of materials, storage and logistics from net revenue reached RMB 1,971.5 million this quarter, resulting in a gross margin of 55.6%. This marks an improvement from 53.1% a year ago. This improvement was primarily supported by increased revenue contribution from company-owned teahouses, which generate a higher gross margin. Operating expenses remained well controlled relative to scale of business. Share-based compensation expenses this quarter were RMB 59 million, reflecting our commitment to long-term employee engagement and aligning their goal with shareholders. To provide greater clarity on underlying operational performance, we will continue to reference non-GAAP operating results with full reconciliation available in our earnings release and the Form 6-K. Operating income was RMB 547.2 million, representing an operating income margin of 15.4% and marking a sequential turnaround from an operating loss in the previous quarter. Excluding share-based compensation expenses, non-GAAP operating income was RMB 606.2 million, representing a 17.1% margin compared to a 1% margin in the previous quarter. This sequential improvement reflects both stronger operating leverage and the benefit of organization adjustment and the strategic investment we have made to support future growth. Operating costs for company-owned teahouses were RMB 497.2 million, up 216.6% from RMB 150 million a year ago. As of March 31, 2026, we operated 790 company-owned teahouses, up from 615 in the fourth quarter of 2025 and 191 in the first quarter of 2025. Other operating costs decreased by 7.8% to RMB 159 million, largely due to lower payroll expense driven by organizational restructuring and the continued headcount optimization. On a non-GAAP basis, other operating costs accounts for 4.3% of revenue compared to 5.1% a year ago. Sales and marketing expenses for the quarter were RMB 306.2 million, up 2.3% from RMB 299.3 million a year ago, mainly due to our investment in strategic brand activities, new product launches and marketing campaigns. On a non-GAAP basis, sales and marketing expenses representing 8.6% of revenue compared to 8.8% a year ago and 12.2% in the previous quarter. General and administrative expenses reached RMB 462 million, up 30.9% year-over-year from RMB 352.8 million. The increase in G&A primarily reflecting our continued investment in global corporate infrastructure as we further expanded our international business footprint. On a non-GAAP basis, G&A expenses represented 11.6% of revenue compared to 10.4% a year ago and 19.7% in the previous quarter. Income tax expenses represented 21.2% of income before income tax, slightly higher than 19% a year ago. This was primarily driven by the impact of share-based compensation expenses recognized during the quarter. Notably, we continued to deliver profitable -- profitability on both GAAP and non-GAAP basis, extending our track record of 13 consecutive quarters of positive net income. GAAP net income was RMB 447.7 million. Non-GAAP net income, excluding RMB 59 million of share-based compensation expenses, was RMB 506.7 million with a non-GAAP net margin of 14.3% compared to 20% a year ago and 3.4% in the fourth quarter of 2025. For the first quarter, basic and diluted net income per ordinary share was RMB 2.36 and RMB 2.34, respectively. On a non-GAAP basis, basic net income per ordinary share was RMB 2.67 and diluted net income per ordinary share was RMB 2.65. Turning to liquidity. We ended the quarter with RMB 7,146.3 million in cash and cash equivalents, restricted cash and time deposits. Compared to RMB 7,892.4 million as of December 31, 2025, we maintained a robust balance sheet, which provides us with the flexibility to fund expansion plan and continue to return value to our shareholders. As we move through 2026, we remain focused on executing our established strategy, strengthening our brand value and maintaining disciplined investment to support sustainable growth. We are always committed to creating long-term value for our shareholders. With that, I will turn the call back to the operator to begin Q&A. Operator, please go ahead.

[Operator Instructions] Our first question comes from the line of Lillian Lou of Morgan Stanley.

[Foreign Language] Let me translate my question. So thanks everyone, management of the detailed explanation of first Q performance. I just want to follow up on the more detailed factors that has driven the good sequential improvement on the unit GMV improvement in China and overall, trying to understand what factors have been putting in place in terms of the new products, the traffic, pricing, et cetera, and what can be sustained?

[Foreign Language]

[Interpreted] Thank you, Lillian, for the question. In Q1, our overall same-store GMV growth was down 16%, but that was about 10 percentage points better than Q4 last year. So the trend has clearly improved and the recovery was mainly driven by a few things.

[Foreign Language]

[Interpreted] First, we got an incremental lift from the Qian Wen campaign. During the peak period from February 6 to 10, the Qian Wen channel contributed about 3 million orders per day on average. Our ability to effectively capture this traffic and convert it into performance results was driven by 2 factors. First, a more agile response mechanism; and second, the continued improvement in executing efficiency following the earlier adjustments.

[Foreign Language]

[Interpreted] Second, our new product launch helped as well. As Aiden mentioned, we launched 12 new products in the first quarter, which helped to drive sequential growth in both card volume and GMV. In addition, recently, we continue to expand morning and evening consumption scenario, taking Caramel for tea latte and Long Jing tea latte as examples. Their combined cup contribution during morning hours reached 45% during the campaign period, representing a relatively significant incremental contribution.

[Foreign Language]

[Interpreted] Lastly, in the overseas market, the decline in same-store GMV growth has also narrowed significantly. We launched locally tailored products in different markets. For example, the Caramel Oolong Tea Latte and in Singapore captured an 18% cup share during the campaign period. The Hojicha Genmai launched in multiple markets in March generated an average of 440 daily cups per teahouse in Singapore during its first week of launch. These initiatives all played a positive role in improving overall same-store performance.

The next question comes from the line of Sijie Lin from CICC.

[Foreign Language] Congrats on stabilizing earnings results again. My question is, will the new business model, which is the take rate based on GMV affect profitability and how to evaluate the impact?

[Foreign Language]

[Interpreted] Thank you, Sijie, for the question. As previously disclosed in our annual report, since the beginning of the year, we officially switched to a GMV-based revenue sharing model for our franchised teahouse in Greater China. Under the new model, the brand takes a higher fee rate based on the franchised teahouse GMV, but the markup on materials has come down significantly and also locked up or secured the discount rate for our franchisees. As a result, our revenue mix has changed accordingly. The proportion of revenue from product sales, including raw materials and packaging, teahouse equipment and other supplies has declined, while the proportion of revenue from franchising services has increased. However, this change in revenue mix does not affect the company's profitability. Based on our Q1 results, our gross margin remained at 55.6% with a significant -- with a slight sequential increase.

[Foreign Language]

[Interpreted] Let me further explain the reason of the gross margin increase, which is a result from the increase of the self-owned teahouse GP margin increase. If we exclude the self-owned teahouse GP margin, the franchisee teahouse GP margin is flat versus -- sequentially versus Q4 and also -- or a little bit slightly decreased from the previous GP margin.

[Foreign Language]

[Interpreted] Lastly, we believe that under the new model, the company and its franchisees truly become a community of shared interest for franchisees, lower raw material and equipment procurement costs, along with shared risk with the brand should help improve teahouse profitability and resilience. So for the company, our revenue is now more closely tied to teahouse performance. So when teahouse sales improve, both our revenue and gross margin can benefit, creating a win-win outcome. Our goal is to build a long-term sustainable profit model through closer collaboration. I hope this answers your question. Next, please.

Our next question comes from Jessie Xu from JPMorgan.

[Foreign Language] This is Jessie Xu from JPMorgan. Very happy to see visible improvement in product launches, consumer engagement and also market impact in the first quarter. The USD 150 million repurchase program is indeed a positive surprise. What's your thoughts behind this decision? Did you prefer repurchase or cash dividend in the future? Anything you can share on shareholder return would be great.

[Foreign Language]

[Interpreted] Thank you for the question. As we just shared, the Board has approved a share repurchase program authorizing the company to purchase up to USD 150 million of the ADS over the next 12 months. We will adjust the pace of repurchases depending on market conditions and valuation during the authorization period.

[Foreign Language]

[Interpreted] Second, our balance sheet structure remains healthy and our liquidity position is strong. As of the end of March, we had about RMB 7.15 billion in cash, restricted cash and time deposits or roughly USD 1.04 billion.

[Foreign Language]

[Interpreted] Thirdly, we believe the current share price does not fully reflect the continued recovery in our business fundamentals or our long-term growth potential. Through this buyback, we want to show the Board and management's strong confidence in the company's future growth prospects as well as our commitment to create value and delivering better long-term results for shareholders.

[Foreign Language]

[Interpreted] Looking ahead, we will continue to optimize our capital allocation strategy while ensuring the health development of our core business. We aim to deliver a tangible improvement in shareholder returns and ensure that the market fully understands our value.

[Foreign Language]

[Interpreted] That's it from -- that's my answer, and thank you, all the shareholders and investors to join our call today.

As there are no further questions, I would like to hand the conference back to management for closing remarks.

Thank you. As there is -- there are no further questions, I'd like to hand the conference back to the management, and thank you for the call today. We look forward to speaking with everyone again on our next call. Have a great day. Thank you.

Thank you all. Have a great day.

This concludes today's event. Thank you for participating. You may now disconnect.