(Yicai) Aug. 23 -- Chinese video streaming platform iQiyi returned to profit in the second quarter, scoring its second-best quarterly earnings results, as membership swelled and advertising revenues jumped.

Net profit was CNY365.2 million (USD50.2 million) in the three months ended June 30, versus a net loss of CNY214 million (USD29.8 million) a year earlier, the Beijing-based company’s latest earnings report showed yesterday. Revenue jumped 17 percent to CNY7.8 billion (USD1.1 billion).

The results follow record first-quarter revenue on the back of the phenomenal success of iQiyi’s television series The Knockout and task the Baidu-backed company with the need to continue to create high-quality hit content.

Revenue from membership services surged 15 percent in the second quarter from a year ago to CNY4.9 billion (USD675 million), thanks to an increased number of subscribers and sharpened operations, but growth was slower than in the first quarter.

There were 109.5 million paying users as of June 30, a jump of 14.5 percent from a year ago, but a dip of 8.7 percent from the previous quarter. And the average monthly spend per subscriber climbed 2 percent year on year and 3 percent from the previous quarter to CNY14.82 (USD2).

Revenue from online advertising surged 25 percent to CNY1.5 billion (USD206.4 million) on more targeted ads. Income from content distribution rose 15 percent to CNY553.3 million and other revenue climbed 16 percent to CNY807 million.

The company is actively exploring the use of artificial intelligence-based large language models and other revolutionary technologies to drive growth in the long-form video sector, founder and Chief Executive Officer Gong Yu said on the firm’s earnings conference call.

Nasdaq-listed iQiyi has been applying generative AI and other innovative tech in content production, marketing, user interactions and other scenarios and has succeeded in boosting efficiency in content production and operations, he said.

The firm’s own data shows that the accuracy rate of generative AI in identifying script scenes and characters is about 90 percent, Gong said.

Editors: Shi Yi, Kim Taylor