NEW YORK, May 28, 2026, 14:05 (EDT)
- Agora was trading at $4.27, up 4 cents, on Thursday afternoon. The stock reached an intraday high of $4.38 earlier in the session.
- Revenue for the first quarter climbed 13.5% to $37.7 million and net income reached $1.1 million.
- The company expects second-quarter revenue between $39 million and $40 million. Gross margin dropped as conversational AI products are still sub-scale.
Agora Inc shares rose Thursday as the Nasdaq-traded real-time communications software firm logged higher first-quarter revenue and stayed profitable for a sixth straight quarter. The company also said it sees growth picking up this quarter.
The stock traded at $4.27 in the latest move, rising 4 cents, as more than 537,000 shares changed hands. It wasn’t a big jump, but the action kept the focus on a small software company looking to convert conversational AI interest into paying customers.
Agora gave its results to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on a Form 6-K dated May 28, two days after the quarter came out. The filing included the earnings release. Chief Financial Officer Jingbo Wang signed it.
Agora reported that revenue climbed to $37.7 million from $33.3 million last year as live shopping, social and entertainment, and financial services drove usage. Net income reached $1.1 million under GAAP, up from $407,000 in the prior year.
Active customers reached 3,946, up from 3,800. Dollar-based net retention moved to 99%, compared with 95% previously.
Agora CEO Tony Zhao said the firm is seeing “robust customer adoption” as more clients shift from AI pilots to live use. Agora rolled out Agent Studio, its no-code builder for voice AI agents, and also released new templates for customer service and outbound marketing. GlobeNewswire
Agora beat its revenue target, Wang said on the call, adding that second-quarter guidance signals “further acceleration.” The company is looking for revenue between $39 million and $40 million for Q2. That range would mean growth of 13.7% to 16.6% from a year earlier. Investing
Bank of America Securities’ Harry Zhou asked management about regional expansion, conversational AI, and when the company expects to reach operating break-even. CEO Wang said both China and U.S./international units grew fast, though U.S. growth was still a bit ahead. He named live shopping, financial services, and gaming as leading international verticals.
Agora has cash to keep spending, with $366.1 million in cash, cash equivalents, bank deposits and bank-issued products as of March 31. The company bought back around 3.1 million American depositary shares in the quarter, paying about $13.1 million.
Twilio was up $3.86 to $185.43 and Zoom tacked on 30 cents at $100.26 as more communications software names traded higher. Both firms are much bigger than Agora, but their offerings don’t match Agora’s developer-focused real-time engagement tools. The space is getting crowded as these communications API companies keep pushing forward.
AI is weighing on costs at Agora. The company’s gross margin dropped to 63.4% from 68.0% last year, mostly because of product mix, with conversational AI products still sub-scale. Cost of revenue rose 29.9%, topping sales growth.
Zhao said there’s “a lot of competition” for conversational AI in Silicon Valley and in the U.S. Wang said proof-of-concept trials are dragging on costs ahead of any major revenue, but margins should go positive when deployments pick up. Investing
Agora’s next hurdle is clear for investors—can it turn AI demand into real revenue and hold on to margins? The stock rose Thursday on the company’s growth outlook. But the market is still waiting for answers on margins.
