Youdao : Third Quarter 2020 Earnings Conference Call (Earnings Release)

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Youdao Reports Third Quarter 2020 Unaudited Financial Results

Hangzhou, China - November 19, 2020 - Youdao, Inc. ("Youdao" or the "Company") (NYSE: DAO), a leading intelligent learning company in China, today announced its unaudited financial results for the third quarter ended September 30, 2020.

Third Quarter 2020 Financial Highlights

• Total net revenues were RMB896.0 million (US$132.0 million), a 159.0% increase from the same period in 2019.
  o Net revenues from learning services and products were RMB763.5 million (US$112.4 million), a 239.1% increase from the same period in 2019.
  o Net revenues from online marketing services were RMB132.6 million (US$19.5 million), a 9.8% increase from the same period in 2019.
• Gross billings of online courses 1 increased 228.4% year-over-year to RMB955.5 million (US$140.7 million) and gross billings of Youdao Premium Courses2 increased 308.6% year-over- year to RMB877.0 million (US$129.2 million).
• Gross margin was 45.9%, compared with 25.8% for the same period in 2019.
• Deferred revenue from online courses was RMB992.4 million (US$146.2 million), compared with RMB407.9 million as of December 31, 2019.

• Gross billings is a non-GAAP financial measure. Gross billings for a specific period refers to the total amount of consideration for Youdao's online courses sold on Youdao Premium Courses, NetEase Cloud Classroom and China University MOOC, net of the total amount of refunds, in such period. See "Non-GAAP Measures" and "Unaudited Reconciliation of GAAP and non-GAAP Results" at the end of this press release.

• Youdao Premium Courses are Youdao's flagship online learning offerings primarily focused on K-12 students, covering a wide spectrum of subject matters, learning goals and areas of interest.

Third Quarter 2020 Key Operating and Financial Data

		For the three months
		ended September 30
(in millions, RMB)	2019	2020			% of Change
Gross billings of online courses	290.9	955.5	228.4%
Gross billings of Youdao Premium Courses	214.6	877.0	308.6%
Paid student enrollments of
Youdao Premium Courses (in thousands)	237.1	623.5	163.0%
K-12 paid student enrollments	92.7	498.7	437.9%
Adult paid student enrollments	144.4	124.8	-13.5%
Gross billings per paid student enrollment of
Youdao Premium Courses (in RMB)	905	1,406	55.4%

"Significant increases in our K-12 Youdao Premium Course enrollments drove our robust top-line growth in the third quarter," said Dr. Feng Zhou, Chief Executive Officer and Director of Youdao. "With core operating and financial improvements to our business and increased marketing, our online courses reached RMB955.5 million in gross billings, and gross margin of learning services expanded to 53.9% in the third quarter, up from just 26.7% a year ago. We also continue to lead the market in intelligent learning devices, with sales accelerating to RMB163.1 million, primarily from the K-12 population.

"As the online education market quickly gets more expansive and more competitive, our unique product matrix, comprising online courses, intelligent devices, and learning apps, enables us to better address customer needs in innovative ways and to achieve organic growth. We will continue to scale, delivering high quality products and services to more students, to propel our long-term growth." Dr. Zhou concluded.

Third Quarter 2020 Financial Results

Net Revenues

Net revenues for the third quarter of 2020 were RMB896.0 million (US$132.0 million), a 159.0% increase from RMB345.9 million for the same period of 2019.

Net revenues from learning services and products were RMB763.5 million (US$112.4 million) for the third quarter of 2020, a 239.1% increase from RMB225.2 million for the same period of 2019. The year-over-year growth from learning services was primarily attributable to the increased revenues generated from online courses, which were further driven by a substantial increase in both the paid student enrollments for K-12 courses of Youdao Premium Courses and gross billings per paid student enrollment of Youdao Premium Courses. The paid student enrollments for K-12 courses of Youdao Premium Courses increased by 437.9% year-over-year to 498,700 in the third quarter of 2020. Gross billings per paid student enrollment of Youdao Premium Courses increased by 55.4% year-over-year to RMB1,406 in the third quarter of 2020. Revenues generated from Youdao's intelligent learning products also increased by 289.3% year-over-year to RMB163.1 million (US$24.0 million) in the third quarter of 2020, which was primarily driven by the expanded sales volume of Youdao Dictionary Pen.

Net revenues from online marketing services were RMB132.6 million (US$19.5 million) for the third quarter of 2020, a 9.8% increase from RMB120.8 million for the same period in 2019.

Gross Profit and Gross Margin

Gross profit for the third quarter of 2020 was RMB411.6 million (US$60.6 million), a 361.2% increase from RMB89.2 million for the same period of 2019. Gross margin increased to 45.9% for the third quarter of 2020 from 25.8% for the same period of 2019.

Gross margin for learning services and products increased to 48.8% for the third quarter of 2020 from 27.5% for the same period of 2019, primarily attributable to improved gross margin in online courses, which was positively impacted by improved economies of scale and the continuous optimization of Youdao's faculty compensation structure.

Gross margin for online marketing services was 29.5% for the third quarter of 2020, compared with 22.6% for the same period of 2019. The increase was mainly attributable to more revenue generated from brand advertising services, which carry a higher gross margin profile.

Operating Expenses

Total operating expenses for the third quarter of 2020 were RMB1.3 billion (US$192.3 million), representing an increase of 303.0%, compared with RMB324.0 million for the same period of last year.

Sales and marketing expenses for the third quarter of 2020 were RMB1.1 billion (US$169.1 million), representing an increase of 397.0%, compared with RMB231.0 million for the same period of 2019. This increase was mainly driven by intensified sales and marketing efforts associated with student acquisition and branding enhancement during Youdao's summer campaign, as well as increased compensation expenses related to the expansion of the sales and marketing team for Youdao's online courses.

Research and development expenses for the third quarter of 2020 were RMB121.0 million (US$17.8 million), representing an increase of 61.5%, compared with RMB74.9 million for the same period of 2019. The increase was primarily due to increased payroll-related expenses including share-based compensation expenses, as well as rental and facility expenses associated with an increased number of course development and technology professionals.

General and administrative expenses for the third quarter of 2020 were RMB36.6 million (US$5.4 million), representing an increase of 102.7%, compared with RMB18.1 million for the same period of 2019. The increase was mainly attributable to increased payroll-related expenses including share-based compensation expenses charged in the third quarter of 2020.

Loss from Operations

Loss from operations for the third quarter of 2020 was RMB894.0 million (US$131.7 million), compared with RMB234.7 million for the same period in 2019. The margin of loss from operations was 99.8%, compared with 67.9% for the same period of last year.

Net Loss Attributable to Youdao's Ordinary Shareholders

Net loss attributable to Youdao's ordinary shareholders for the third quarter of 2020 was RMB877.8 million (US$129.3 million), compared with RMB242.2 million for the same period of last year. Non- GAAP net loss attributable to Youdao's ordinary shareholders for the third quarter of 2020 was RMB865.7 million (US$127.5 million), compared with RMB238.8 million for the same period of last year.

Basic and diluted net loss per American Depositary Share ("ADS") attributable to ordinary shareholders for the third quarter of 2020 was RMB7.73 (US$1.14), compared with RMB2.63 for the same period

of 2019. Non-GAAP basic and diluted net loss per ADS attributable to ordinary shareholders was RMB7.63 (US$1.12), compared with RMB2.60 for the same period of 2019.

Balance Sheet

As of September 30, 2020, Youdao's cash, cash equivalents, time deposits and short-term investments totaled RMB1.1 billion (US$166.9 million), compared with RMB1.6 billion as of December 31, 2019. The decrease was primarily attributable to more payment made due to increased sales and marketing activities during the summer campaign. For the third quarter of 2020, net cash used in operating activities was RMB593.4 million (US$87.4 million), capital expenditures totaled RMB12.1 million (US$1.8 million), and depreciation and amortization expenses amounted to RMB4.3 million (US$0.6 million).

As of September 30, 2020, the Company's contract liabilities, which mainly consist of deferred revenues generated from Youdao's online courses, were RMB1.1 billion (US$156.9 million), representing an increase of 133.3% from RMB456.8 million as of December 31, 2019.

Conference Call

Youdao's management team will host a teleconference call with simultaneous webcast at 6:00 a.m. Eastern Time on Thursday, November 19, 2020 (Beijing/Hong Kong Time: 7:00 p.m., Thursday, November 19, 2020). Youdao's management will be on the call to discuss the financial results and answer questions.

Dial-in details for the earnings conference call are as follows:

United States (toll free):	[phone]
International:	[phone]
Mainland China (toll free):	400-120-1203
Hong Kong (toll free):	800-905-945
Hong Kong:	[phone]
Conference ID:	10149588

A live and archived webcast of the conference call will be available on the Company's investor relations website at http://ir.youdao.com.

A replay of the conference call will be accessible by phone one hour after the conclusion of the live call at the following numbers, until November 26, 2020:

United States:	[phone]
International:	[phone]
Replay Access Code:	10149588

About Youdao, Inc.

Youdao, Inc. (NYSE: DAO) is a leading intelligent learning company in China dedicated to developing and using technologies to provide learning content, applications and solutions to users of all ages. Building on the popularity of its online knowledge tools such as Youdao Dictionary, Youdao Cloudnote and Youdao Translation, Youdao now offers online courses covering a wide spectrum of age groups, subject matters, learning goals and areas of interest. In addition, Youdao has developed a variety of interactive learning apps and smart learning devices. Youdao was founded in 2006 as part of NetEase, Inc. (NASDAQ: NTES; HKEX: 9999), a leading internet technology company in China.

For more information, please visit: http://ir.youdao.com.