Bilibili (Nasdaq: BILI, also listed as 9626.HK) went public in March 2018 and is the leading video and ACG — anime, comics, games — community for young internet users in China. This article shows what $1,000 invested in Bilibili at its IPO or 1, 3, or 5 years ago would be worth today, with CAGR.
Revenue comes from value-added services such as premium memberships and live-stream tipping, advertising, mobile games, and e-commerce. The community grew out of danmaku scrolling-comment culture and an anime-focused member base, then widened into knowledge, lifestyle, and game content. Games remain hit-driven, while ads and VAS now carry growth and margin.
Lockdown demand and a "China's YouTube" narrative pushed the valuation to extremes in 2020 and 2021 while the company was still deeply lossmaking. Rising rates, tighter platform and gaming regulation, and a weak ad market then drove a drawdown of more than 80% before a pivot to cost discipline moved the business close to breakeven.
Advertising growth and revenue per user, whether profitability holds in quarters without a hit game, competition from Douyin, Kuaishou, and Tencent Video, content and game-licence regulation, convertible-driven dilution, and the ADS VIE structure with US–China audit and delisting risk.
Bilibili is the classic platform with many users that took a long time to make money. Track ad revenue, gross margin, and free cash flow each quarter rather than the label — a no-dividend, high-volatility name suits a small position built gradually.
Note: Bilibili has never paid a cash dividend, so total return is entirely price appreciation. Excludes taxes, brokerage fees, and FX impact. Data updates daily.