Calls
Source: S&P Capital IQ transcripts via Xpressfeed · latest indexed call 2026-05-26 · generated 2026-07-29.
Latest call digest
Yatsen Holding Limited, Q1 2026 Earnings Call, May 26, 2026 · 2026-05-26T11:30:00
Yatsen's Q1 2026 call (May 26, 2026) paired strong top-line momentum with a quiet return to losses. Management led with 22.5% revenue growth, a 58.5% jump in skincare and a record 80.2% gross margin, framed around its three pillars of R&D-led innovation, brand equity and profitability. The prepared remarks stayed confident on margins, but the quarter itself slipped back into the red: a net loss of RMB 61.9 million versus RMB 5.6 million a year earlier, as the selling and marketing expense ratio rose to 72.2% from 66.4% on higher Douyin traffic costs. The CFO guided Q2 2026 revenue to RMB 1.2 billion to RMB 1.3 billion, up roughly 10% to 20%. Notably, the two analysts on the line did not press on the profit reversal, focusing instead on skincare expansion, foreign competition and DR. WU's drivers. Management also confirmed it completed the first tranche of a convertible-notes and warrants private placement on May 21, 2026, adding Hillhouse as a participating investor.
Participant coverage from the latest call.
| Group | Participants | Count |
|---|---|---|
| Management | Operator; Irene Lyu — Head of Strategic Investments & Capital Markets, Yatsen Holding Limited; Jinfeng Huang — Founder, CEO & Chairman of the Board of Directors, Yatsen Holding Limited; Donghao Yang — CFO & Director, Yatsen Holding Limited | 4 |
| Analysts | Manqi Huang — Associate, China International Capital Corporation Limited, Research Division; Lin Zhang — Beauty & Commerce Analyst, Citic Securities Co., Ltd., Research Division | 2 |
Curated latest-call exchanges; one row per analyst topic.
| Analyst | Firm | Topic | What changed in Q&A |
|---|---|---|---|
| Maggie Huang | CICC | Skincare expansion & foreign competition | Asked how the skincare portfolio expands from here and how Yatsen views high-end foreign rivals; management pointed to building routines around proven hero product families and differentiating through R&D and AI-driven efficiency rather than higher spend. |
| Lin Zhang | Citic Securities | DR. WU growth drivers | Asked what is driving DR. WU's fast growth; management credited a higher B2B, professional and offline channel mix that balances growth, traffic cost and profitability. |
Theme tracker
Themes are curator-classified across supplied calls.
| Theme | Status | Quarters mentioned | Read-through |
|---|---|---|---|
| Skincare-led category upgrade | persisted | Q2 2024, Q3 2024, Q4 2024, Q1 2025, Q2 2025, Q3 2025, Q4 2025, Q1 2026 | Skincare has been the consistent growth engine, with its revenue share climbing to 61.1% of total in the fourth quarter of 2025 and skincare revenue up 58.5% in Q1 2026; the mix shift is the main lever behind rising gross margin. |
| R&D-led innovation | persisted | Q2 2024, Q3 2024, Q4 2024, Q1 2025, Q2 2025, Q3 2025, Q4 2025, Q1 2026 | R&D is management's framing in every call and is credited as the source of the skincare pipeline; R&D expense ran close to 4% of revenue in the most recent quarters (3.9% in Q1 2026). |
| Path to profitability and margin optimization | persisted | Q2 2024, Q3 2024, Q4 2024, Q1 2025, Q2 2025, Q3 2025, Q4 2025, Q1 2026 | Margin optimization recurs every quarter; the company reached full-year 2025 non-GAAP net income (0.2% margin), but Q1 2026 slipped back to a net loss as the marketing expense ratio rose. |
| Perfect Diary / color-cosmetics recovery | dropped | Q2 2024, Q3 2024, Q4 2024, Q1 2025, Q2 2025, Q3 2025 | Perfect Diary's turnaround was a headline theme in prepared remarks through Q3 2025 but disappeared from the Q4 2025 and Q1 2026 remarks, as color cosmetics revenue turned down again (down 5% in Q1 2026). |
| Competition from foreign high-end brands | persisted | Q2 2025, Q3 2025, Q1 2026 | As Yatsen's skincare premiumized, competition from high-end foreign brands became a standing analyst question; management consistently frames its edge as R&D and product differentiation rather than price. |
| Convertible-notes financing | emerged | Q1 2026 | New in Q1 2026: management said it completed the first tranche of a convertible-notes and warrants private placement on May 21, 2026, adding Hillhouse alongside the CEO and Trustar Capital, a capital raise surfacing just as the company returned to a loss. |
Guidance ledger
Quotes, calls, and speakers are source-verified; outcomes are curator-classified.
| Verbatim guidance | Call | Speaker | Curator outcome | Outcome note |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| “we expect our total net revenues to be between RMB 1.2 billion and RMB 1.3 billion, representing a year-over-year increase of approximately 10% to 20%” | Yatsen Holding Limited, Q1 2026 Earnings Call, May 26, 2026 · 2026-05-26T11:30:00 | Donghao Yang | pending | Guidance for Q2 2026; the Q2 2026 results were not reported within the supplied call history. |
| “we expect our total net revenues to be between RMB 958.6 million and RMB 1.08 billion, representing a year-over-year increase of approximately 15% to 30%” | Yatsen Holding Limited, Q4 2025 Earnings Call, Mar 02, 2026 · 2026-03-02T12:30:00 | Donghao Yang | kept | Q1 2026 revenue came in at RMB 1.02 billion, up 22.5%, within the guided range. |
| “we expect our total net revenues to be between RMB 1.32 billion and RMB 1.49 billion, representing a year-over-year increase of approximately 15% to 30%” | Yatsen Holding Limited, Q3 2025 Earnings Call, Nov 17, 2025 · 2025-11-17T12:30:00 | Donghao Yang | kept | Q4 2025 revenue was RMB 1.38 billion, up 20.1%, within the guided range. |
| “we expect our total net revenues to be between RMB 778.6 million and RMB 880.1 million, representing a year-over-year increase of approximately 15% to 30%” | Yatsen Holding Limited, Q2 2025 Earnings Call, Aug 21, 2025 · 2025-08-21T11:30:00 | Donghao Yang | kept | Q3 2025 revenue reached RMB 998.4 million, up 47.5%, above the top of the guided range. |
| “we expect our total net revenues to be between RMB 810.4 million and RMB 889.9 million, representing a year-over-year increase of approximately 2% to 12%” | Yatsen Holding Limited, Q1 2025 Earnings Call, May 16, 2025 · 2025-05-16T11:30:00 | Donghao Yang | kept | Q2 2025 revenue was RMB 1.09 billion, up 36.8%, well above the guided range. |
| “we expect our total net revenues to be between RMB 788.8 million and RMB 866.2 million, representing a year-over-year increase of approximately 2% to 12%” | Yatsen Holding Limited, Q4 2024 Earnings Call, Feb 25, 2025 · 2025-02-25T12:30:00 | Donghao Yang | kept | Q1 2025 revenue was RMB 833.5 million, up 7.8%, within the guided range. |
| “we may repurchase up to $30 million worth of our ordinary shares over the next 24 months, commencing on May 16, 2025” | Yatsen Holding Limited, Q1 2025 Earnings Call, May 16, 2025 · 2025-05-16T11:30:00 | Jinfeng Huang | unknown | Up to $30 million buyback authorized over 24 months from May 16, 2025; the supplied calls do not disclose amounts subsequently repurchased. |
Q&A pressure map
Question counts and firms are curator tallies; analyst coverage shown above.
| Topic | Questions | Firms | Pressure / response |
|---|---|---|---|
| Profitability and margin improvement | 7 | CICC, Citic Securities | The most pressed theme across the last two years. Analysts repeatedly asked how Yatsen would lift margins while sustaining growth; management consistently answered with the higher-margin skincare mix, product and channel optimization, and operating leverage. |
| Skincare growth drivers and portfolio expansion | 5 | CICC, Citic Securities | Analysts frequently probed how the skincare surge is sustained and expanded; management pointed to R&D, hero-product families and channel-mix balance, notably DR. WU's B2B and professional tilt. |
| Competition from foreign high-end brands | 3 | CICC | As skincare premiumized, CICC repeatedly raised competition from high-end foreign brands; management acknowledged intense, price-led competition but argued its R&D and differentiation let it compete without simply spending more. |
| Shopping-festival performance | 5 | CICC | Double 11, 618 and Women's Day results were a recurring CICC question; management characterized outcomes as in line with expectations each time and, in Q1 2024, declined to give segment-level growth forecasts beyond quarterly revenue guidance. |
Language shifts
Only language evidence verified against the referenced component is shown.
| Observation | Verbatim evidence | Call ID | Component |
|---|---|---|---|
| After several quarters of turnaround language, Q1 2026 reintroduced explicit caution on marketing costs, flagging higher Douyin traffic acquisition as a drag even as growth stayed strong. | “our selling and marketing expenses as a percentage of total net revenues experienced an increase as a result of both the continued investment in building our core brands and the elevated industry-wide traffic acquisition costs on the Douyin platform” | 2001072138 | 2 |
| In Q1 2025 management adopted confident turnaround language, marking the swing back to non-GAAP profitability. | “we achieved a non-GAAP net income of RMB 7.1 million, representing a significant turnaround from the non-GAAP net loss of RMB 83.8 million for the prior year period” | 1942901159 | 2 |
| By Q3 2025 the CEO's language on competition sharpened, describing high-end rivals resorting to deep discounting rather than downplaying the threat. | “some of the high-end brands are struggling with very big and also deep price cut for their hero products” | 1969803192 | 6 |
| Even with the quarter back in the red, Q1 2026 held an unwavering-confidence register on margins. | “our commitment to long-term profitability optimization remains unwavering” | 2001072138 | 2 |
The call history shows a company that has convincingly rebuilt its top line around skincare and R&D, but the return to a net loss in Q1 2026, alongside a fresh convertible-notes raise, is a reminder that profitability remains fragile and dependent on marketing discipline that slipped this quarter. The unusually soft Q&A left that tension underexamined.