Please be advised that today's conference call is being recorded. I will now turn the conference over to your first speaker today, Muzi Guo from Investor Relations. Please go ahead.
Thank you, operator. Welcome to Phoenix New Media's earnings conference call for the third quarter of 2026. Today's call will begin with an overview of our quarterly results, followed by a Q&A session. Our quarterly financial results and the webcast of this conference call are available on our website at ir.ifeng.com. Before we continue, please note the safe harbor statement included in our earnings press release, which applies to any forward-looking statements made during this call. Unless otherwise stated, all figures mentioned are in CNY. Joining me today are our CEO, Li Qi, and our CFO, Edward Lu. I will now pass the call to Mr. Li for his opening remarks. I will provide translation as needed.
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Hello, everyone, and thank you for joining our call. During the third quarter, we continued to focus on strengthening our content and commercial capabilities through timely coverage of major news events, continued investment in original content, and new business opportunities in key industry sectors. We made further use of Phoenix's strong brand and content expertise. We will build on these strengths, deepen our client relationships, and work to create more consistent business opportunities. We are also exploring how to make our content more accessible to AI models and platforms as we prepare for changes in how people find and consume information, and that is how AI models evolve to become the traffic window. Now I would like to invite our CFO, Edward Lu, to share more details on our business progress and financial performance during the quarter.
During the third quarter, we continued to build on our strengths in international news reporting and in-depth analysis. Our coverage of President Xi Jinping's visit to the U.S. included timely news updates and expert interviews across multiple platforms, helping our audience better understand China-U.S. relationships and other international developments. Related short videos received more than 50 million views in total. Our reporting also gained attention beyond our own channels. For example, our interview on China-U.S. cooperation in AI was reposted by the official social media accounts of China's permanent mission to the United States. We also continued to cover major social issues, including natural disasters and public safety incidents. Through on-the-ground reporting, data analysis, and in-depth research, we provided timely and reliable news coverage that went beyond the headlines. These efforts reflect the value of professional journalism in today's fast-changing media environment.
Turning to our business in key industry sectors, our technology channel made strong progress, particularly in AI and robotics. We continued to strengthen our industry knowledge and produce specialized content, helping us win new business from clients in these fields. In the first nine months of 2026, revenue from AI and robotics clients was more than 3x the amount generated in the full year of 2025, with most of the revenue coming from original content services. We also expanded our work around major industry events, including the World Artificial Intelligence Conference and the World Robot Conference. By combining specialized content, event coverage, and marketing services, we are finding new ways to serve clients and build long-term relationships. We believe this model could also work in other industry sectors. In our original content business, we continue to bring quality storytelling and brand partnerships together.
Our documentary series, including "The Journey," attracted audiences with real-life stories and topics that matter to society. During the quarter, our brand-sponsored documentaries reached wide audiences across multiple platforms. They featured our clients' brands in a natural way, without taking away from the stories themselves. This helps us maintain the quality of our content while delivering value to our brand partners. We also hosted the Phoenix Greater Bay Area Finance Forum during the third quarter, in partnership with Phoenix TV. The forum brought together government representatives, business leaders, and investors to discuss AI, international business expansion, and cross-border finance. Through live streaming and coverage across multiple platforms, the event generated more than 800 million impressions. Events like this allow us to strengthen our industry connections, reach wider audiences, and develop new opportunities with brand partners.
On the technology and product side, we continue to improve how we organize and distribute content while exploring new uses for AI. We are using AI to improve our content production and operating efficiency. At the same time, we are working to make our content more accessible to AI models and platforms so that it can continue to reach audiences as the way people search for information changes. Looking ahead, we will continue to focus on our strengths in professional journalism and our trusted brand. Our priorities are to expand our original content business, deepen our work in key industry sectors, and improve operating efficiency. We will also continue to explore AI applications at a measured pace. Together, these efforts will help us strengthen our business and support the company's long-term development. This concludes our CEO, Mr. Li's, prepared remarks.
I will now walk you through our financial performance for the third quarter of 2026. All figures mentioned will be in CNY. Our total revenues were CNY 217.6 million, representing an 8.3% increase year-on-year from CNY 200.9 million. Specifically, net advertising revenues were CNY 149.2 million compared to CNY 159.3 million in the same period of last year. Paid services revenues were CNY 68.4 million, representing a 64.4% increase year-on-year from CNY 41.6 million, primarily driven by the revenue generated from our digital reading services offered through mini-programs on third-party applications. Cost of revenues decreased by 12.4% to CNY 92.2 million from CNY 105.2 million in the same period of last year. Gross margin for the third quarter improved to 57.6% from 47.6% in the same period of last year. Total operating expenses were CNY 128.6 million, reflecting an 18% increase year-on-year from CNY 109 million.
This increase was primarily due to higher sales and marketing expenses incurred for the digital reading services mentioned earlier. Loss from operations was CNY 3.2 million compared to CNY 13.3 million in the same period of last year. Net loss attributable to Ifeng was CNY 24.3 million compared to CNY 4.9 million in the same period of last year. Moving on to our balance sheet. As of September 30, 2026, the company's cash and cash equivalents, term deposits, short-term investments, and restricted cash totaled CNY 935.4 million, or approximately $139.5 million. Finally, I'd like to provide our business outlook for the fourth quarter of 2026. We forecast total revenues to be between CNY 236.7 million and CNY 251.7 million. For net advertising revenues, we projected between CNY 148.4 million and CNY 158.4 million. While for paid service revenues, we project between CNY 88.3 million and CNY 93.3 million.
These forecasts reflect our current and preliminary view, which is subject to change and substantial uncertainties. This concludes the prepared portion of our call. We are now ready for questions. Operator, please go ahead.
Thank you very much, management. As a reminder, to ask a question, please press star one one on your telephone and wait for your name to be announced. To withdraw your question, please press star one one again. Just a moment for our first question, please. First question comes from the line of Alexander Lu from First Shanghai. Your line is now open.
Thank you, management. I have a question related to advertising. How do you see the advertising market at the moment, and what were the main challenges and opportunities for Phoenix this quarter, and what will you focus on over the next few quarters? Thank you.
Hi, morning, Alex. Actually, first, thank you very much for the question. In my opinion, advertisers are still careful with their budgets. They want to know what each campaign can achieve and why it is worth the investment. We also see differences across industries and individual clients. For this quarter, revenue from home appliances, e-commerce, and automotive clients was lower. Revenue from liquor and food and beverage clients grew. We also made progress with tech clients, especially in AI and robotics. In these newer fields, our in-depth content and strong coverage of major industry events have helped us build our reputation and influence. Brands work with us because we understand their industries and have an audience they want to reach. Our focus is to turn these opportunities into long-term client relationships.
For example, a project around an industry event could lead to a follow-up content or a campaign for the client's next product launch. We are also working to bring our content to more channels. As more people use AI tools to find information, we are exploring ways to make our content more visible through large language models. This work is still at an early stage, but it is part of how we are adapting to changes in how people get information and how brands reach them. Thank you. I hope I have answered your question.
Thank you.
Thank you, management. I see no further questions at that time. I will now turn the conference back to Muzi for closing remarks.
Thank you. This concludes our conference call for the third quarter. If you have any additional questions, please don't hesitate to reach out to us. Thank you for your time, and have a great day.
This concludes today's conference call. Thank you for participating. You may now disconnect.