Cheetah Mobile (NYSE:CMCM) executives said 2025 marked a turning point for the company, citing a return to non-GAAP operating profitability and a revenue mix that is increasingly driven by newer initiatives in robotics and AI tools. On the company’s fourth quarter 2025 earnings call, Chairman and CEO Fu Sheng and CFO Thomas Jintao Ren emphasized tighter operating discipline, a subscription-driven shift in the core internet business, and early commercialization progress for the company’s AI agent platform and robotics portfolio.
2025 results: revenue growth and a return to non-GAAP operating profit
Management described 2025 as a year of “meaningful operational recovery,” with Ren reporting total revenue of approximately RMB 1,150 million, up about 48% year over year. The company posted a GAAP operating loss of RMB 179 million, improved from a RMB 437 million GAAP operating loss in 2024. On a non-GAAP basis, operating profit was RMB 14 million, compared with a non-GAAP operating loss of RMB 232 million in the prior year—its first full-year non-GAAP operating profitability in six years, according to Fu.
Internet segment: steady cash flow and subscription shift
Cheetah Mobile’s internet business remained its primary cash-generating foundation, with 2025 revenue rising 19% year over year to RMB 615 million, according to Ren. Internet value-added services grew 21% year over year and represented 65% of segment revenue, driven by paying user growth and higher ARPU. Ren added that the company saw more users subscribing for periods longer than 12 months, which management framed as improving revenue visibility.
On profitability, Ren said the internet business generated roughly CNY 115 million in adjusted operating profit in 2025, with Fu highlighting that the segment generated about RMB 460,000 in adjusted operating profit per working day. Management positioned this recurring cash flow as the financial base supporting investment in robotics and AI initiatives.
AI and “other” segment: rapid growth, narrowing losses, and robotics scaling
Revenue from the AI and other segments increased 85% year over year to RMB 535 million in 2025, raising the segment’s share of total revenue to 46.5% from 35.9% in 2024, Ren said. Within that segment, robotics made up 27% of segment revenue and 13% of total company revenue in 2025, with robotics revenue up about 31% for the year.
Ren said adjusted operating loss for AI and other narrowed 42% year over year to CNY 274 million as the company scaled while maintaining “disciplined investments.” He also noted that overseas advertising agency services and a multi-cloud management platform contributed meaningfully to the segment’s growth, benefiting from increasing overseas expansion by Chinese enterprises.
Fourth-quarter snapshot: robotics acceleration and overall profitability
Ren reported fourth-quarter total revenue of RMB 309 million, up 30% year over year and up 7% quarter over quarter, with AI and other contributing RMB 153 million—“nearly half” of total revenue. He said robotics revenue rose 94% year over year and 43% quarter over quarter, accounting for about 19% of fourth-quarter revenue. Fu separately stated that robotics revenue in the fourth quarter reached about RMB 60 million.
On profitability, the company generated non-GAAP operating profit of RMB 15 million in the fourth quarter, compared with a non-GAAP operating loss of RMB 42 million in the same period last year, Ren said.
Strategic priorities: voice robots, robotic arms, smart wheelchair, and AI agents
Fu called robotics a “key structural growth driver,” highlighting multiple product lines and use cases:
- Voice service robots in China: Fu said voice robots in China delivered 100% year-over-year growth for three consecutive quarters and represented a high single-digit share of fourth-quarter revenue. He described deployments across reception, guided tours, retail, hospitals, and service halls, and said a new version includes built-in skills such as guiding, patrolling, and advertising. Ren later said the company plans to launch a new voice service robot product called “Xiaoming Live,” which combines agent technology and is intended to be usable “out of the box.”
- Robotic arms (primarily overseas): Fu said robotic arms contributed high single digits of fourth-quarter revenue and targeted long-tail demand from research institutions and R&D teams that value openness and customization. Ren said the robotic arm business stabilized after consolidation in 2025 and is expected to contribute steadily in 2026 with a small increase.
- Smart wheelchair (new category): Fu said the company is introducing a smart wheelchair targeted at developed regions such as Western Europe and North America, positioned as a premium solution focused on safety and independence. He said the company entered framework agreements with mobility brands that will handle branding, distribution, and after-sales service, with initial shipments expected to begin in the second quarter of 2026. In the Q&A, management also described June as a starting point for “real sales and launch,” and Ren said the product was not generating revenue at present but is expected to become an incremental revenue source beginning in the second quarter, supported by framework agreements that “established a foundation of certain scale orders.” Fu said the market is larger than service robots, citing third-party reports indicating global electric or smart wheelchair market size above $2 billion and growth above 10% globally for smart wheelchairs.
On AI, Fu described a strategy focused on building practical applications rather than training foundation models, arguing that differentiation in the “agent era” comes from systems built on top of models—task orchestration, tool usage, and cost management—leveraging open ecosystems and APIs.
He discussed internal experimentation with an AI agent system built on the OpenClaw framework and said it evolved into a multi-agent setup capable of running tasks continuously, including generating personalized New Year messages for more than 600 colleagues and automating the sending workflow. Building on that, management introduced EasyClaw (also referred to repeatedly in the Q&A as “EasyCloud” and “EagleEye”), an AI coworker platform for creating and deploying task-oriented AI agents. Fu said the company is focusing on execution capability and noted rapid growth in total token usage as an engagement indicator, although management did not provide specific disclosed user counts or token metrics on the call.
In response to questions about monetization, Fu said EasyClaw/EasyCloud uses a consumption-based model tied to token calls, facilitated by the company’s cloud aggregation relationships with model vendors, and that the company is not relying on heavy token subsidies to acquire users due to the potentially high cost of usage.
On outlook, management said it does not provide specific financial guidance for 2026. Fu said he expects continued “structural improvements,” with robotics maintaining strong growth momentum as commercial validation deepens and AI-enabled products enhancing engagement and monetization across the software ecosystem. Ren added that priorities include disciplined growth, operating efficiency improvements, and balanced capital allocation. Management also cautioned that profitability in certain B2B areas can be influenced by cloud vendors’ and advertising platforms’ policy adjustments, and reiterated an intent to keep investment disciplined while using internet-business cash flow to support newer initiatives.
About Cheetah Mobile (NYSE:CMCM)
Cheetah Mobile Inc operates as a mobile internet company primarily focused on developing and distributing utility and entertainment applications for smartphones and tablets. Its portfolio includes well-known security and optimization products such as Clean Master, Security Master and Battery Doctor, alongside consumer-oriented offerings in mobile gaming and content discovery. The company’s software solutions are designed to enhance device performance, improve privacy protection and deliver engaging digital experiences for end users.
Founded as the mobile internet division of Kingsoft in 2010, Cheetah Mobile spun off as an independent, publicly traded company in late 2014.
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