Kingsoft Cloud Holdings Limited (NASDAQ:KC) Q4 2023 Earnings Call Transcript March 20, 2024

Kingsoft Cloud Holdings Limited misses on earnings expectations. Reported EPS is $-0.14 EPS, expectations were $-0.12. KC isn't one of the 30 most popular stocks among hedge funds at the end of the third quarter (see the details here).

Operator: Good day and thank you for standing by. Welcome to the Kingsoft Cloud's Fourth Quarter and Fiscal Year 2023 Earnings Conference Call and Webcast. At this time, all participants are in listen only mode. After the speakers' presentation, there will be a question-and-answer session. [Operator Instructions] Please note that today's conference is being recorded. I would now like to turn the conference over to Nicole Shan, IR Manager of Kingsoft Cloud. Please go ahead.

Nicole Shan: Thank you, operator. Hello, everyone, and thank you for joining us today. Kingsoft Cloud's fourth quarter and fiscal year 2023 earnings release was distributed earlier today and is available on our IR website at ir.ksyun.com, as well as our GlobeNewswire services. On the call today from Kingsoft Cloud, we have our Vice Chairman and CEO, Mr. Zou Tao; and CFO, Mr. Haijian He. Mr. Zou will review our business strategies, operations and the company highlights followed by Mr. He, who will discuss the financials and guidance. They will be available to answer your questions during the Q&A session that follows. There will be consecutive interpretations. All interpretations are for your convenience and reference purposes only.

In case of any discrepancy, the management's statement in the original language will prevail. Before we begin, I would like to remind you that this conference call contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 as amended and as defined in the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These forward-looking statements are based upon management's current expectations and current market and operating conditions and relate to event that involve known or unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors, all of which are difficult to predict and many of which are beyond the company's control, which may cause the company's actual results, performance, or achievements to differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements.

Further information regarding this and other risks, uncertainties or factors are included in the company's filings with the U.S. SEC. The company does not undertake any obligation to update any forward-looking statements as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required under applicable law. Finally, please note that unless otherwise stated, all financial figures mentioned during this conference call are denominated in RMB. It's now my pleasure to introduce our Vice Chairman and CEO, Mr. Zou. Please go ahead.

Zou Tao: Hello, everyone, and thank you all for joining Kingsoft Cloud's fourth quarter fiscal year 2023 earnings call. In 2023, we continued to uphold the principle of high quality and sustainable development and accomplished significant achievements. For the full year of 2023, adjusted gross margin was 12.2%, a significant increase of 6.8 percentage points, up from 5.4% in 2022. Adjusted gross profit was RMB860 million almost doubling the amount of RMB445 million in 2022. Normalized adjusted EBITDA was negative 3.4%, another significant improvement from negative 8.9% in 2022. During the year, we started building our success based on technology and innovations, forging our reputation throughout the entire business process, enhancing our operations management and building in the strength.

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