Weibo Corp. (WB) shares took a hit Thursday after the Chinese social media platform reported a mixed bag of first-quarter results. Revenue came in a bit better than Wall Street expected, but earnings fell short, and the company's user numbers continued to slide.

For the quarter ended March 31, 2026, Weibo reported revenue of $421.3 million, up 6% from a year earlier and above the analyst consensus estimate of $417.9 million. On a constant-currency basis, revenue increased 1% year over year. Adjusted earnings per share came in at $0.34, missing the $0.36 analysts were looking for.

The advertising business, which is Weibo's bread and butter, showed some strength. Advertising and marketing revenue rose 9% year over year to $369.8 million, helped by favorable foreign-exchange impacts and stronger demand from sectors like internet services, automobiles, and local services. Excluding contributions from Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. (BABA), advertising revenue was up 10% to $326.5 million.

Not everything was rosy, though. Value-added services revenue fell 11% to $51.6 million, mainly due to lower revenue from game-related businesses.

The bigger story might be the user numbers. Weibo reported 562 million monthly active users in March 2026, down from 591 million a year earlier — that's a loss of nearly 30 million users in just one year. Average daily active users also declined, to 254 million from 261 million in the prior-year period. The adjusted operating margin narrowed to 28% from 33% a year earlier, and adjusted operating income fell 7.5% year over year.

On the balance sheet, Weibo held $2.59 billion in cash, cash equivalents, and short-term investments as of March 31. Cash from operations was $164 million during the quarter, with capital expenditures of $11.9 million and depreciation and amortization of $15.5 million.

CEO Gaofei Wang said the company is focused on improving user retention and engagement quality by optimizing the information-feed experience and improving conversion efficiency for new users. Wang highlighted Weibo's video business as a key driver, noting that time spent on video playback pages grew at a double-digit rate year over year, thanks to expanded original video content and better recommendation algorithms.

Wang also talked up Weibo's AI initiatives, including AI-powered content creation tools, AI-generated video features, and upgraded multi-turn AI search functions aimed at improving content discovery and creator productivity. According to Wang, AI-related content and discussions are becoming an increasingly important part of the ecosystem, while industries like internet services, local services, and automobiles are supporting advertising growth through AI marketing campaigns, product launches, and celebrity-driven promotions.

Weibo shares were down 4.27% at $7.80 at the time of publication on Thursday.