iQIYI, a leading provider of online entertainment video services in China, announced on Wednesday its financial results for the fourth quarter and fiscal year ending on December 31, 2023.

Unaudited financial results show that the Nasdaq-listed company's total revenues in 2023 were 31.9 billion yuan ($4.5 billion), up 10 percent from 2022. Its net income reached 1.9 billion yuan, marking a huge increase as the company reported 136.2 million yuan in net loss in 2022.

The company's fourth-quarter revenue reached 7.7 billion yuan, up one percent year over year. It raked in 466.2 million yuan in net income, up 53 percent year over year.

"Building on the momentum of an iconic turnaround in 2022, 2023 stood as our best-performing year in corporate history. Key financial metrics, including total revenues, operating and net income, and cash flows, all hit historical highs. In addition, ARM (average revenue per membership) grew for five consecutive quarters, which reflected the high attractiveness of our content and the growing value of our membership service," said Gong Yu, founder and chief executive officer of iQIYI, during his earnings call speech.

"I am enthusiastic to witness our business resilience and operational excellence," he added.

2023 saw the company's membership services revenue exceed 20 billion yuan, up 15 percent year over year and remaining the largest revenue contributor, and the rapid growth driven by the increases of both ARM and subscriber base, according to the CEO.

The fourth quarter contributed 4.8 billion yuan in membership services revenue and ARM hit a record high, reaching 15.98 yuan, up 13 percent annually and three percent sequentially. The video-streaming giant reported 101.1 million paying users as of December 31, 2023.

Online advertising services, the company's second-largest business line, garnered annual revenue of 6.2 billion yuan in 2023, increasing 17 percent year over year. They generated 1.7 billion yuan in revenue in the fourth quarter, representing a year-on-year growth of six percent.

According to the report, revenues generated by content distribution and other sources reached 2.5 billion yuan and 2.9 billion yuan respectively in 2023. The two figures for the fourth quarter are 506 million yuan and 741 million yuan.

"In addition to the satisfying revenue and profit performance, our financial health also strengthened considerably as both operating and free cash flows exceeded 3.3 billion yuan in 2023," commented Wang Jun, iQIYI's chief financial officer. "With that, we believe we are on the right path to generate long-term value for our stakeholders."

According to Enlightent, a big data platform for the entertainment industry, iQIYI ranked #1 in drama viewership share for three consecutive years. In 2023, iQIYI broadcast seven out of the top 10 most-viewed new dramas in the market. In addition to dramas, the giant also dominated the online movie streaming segment with a total viewership share of 47 percent.

"Our market share leadership is deeply rooted in our unique capacity to produce original, premium content," Gong remarked. In 2023, more than 65 percent of key dramas released by the platform were its original productions, an annual record in its history.