Half Year 2026 Winking Studios Ltd Earnings Call Transcript
Key Points
- Revenue increased 21.1% to $23.5 million in H1 2026, with 8.9% organic growth, driven by strong demand for art outsourcing services.
- The company maintains a strong balance sheet with $24.6 million in cash, cash equivalents, and bond investments, supporting expansion and M&A.
- Revenue visibility is solid, with $51.6 million in indicated bookings for the next 24 months, up from $49.4 million a year ago.
- AI investments are yielding significant productivity gains, as demonstrated by an 82% reduction in engineering effort on Project Roswell and an 87.5% reduction on a legacy game migration.
- The company has a diversified client base, working with 22 of the top 25 global gaming companies, and repeat revenue from follow-on projects grew at approximately 32% annually since 2020.
- Adjusted EBITDA declined to $1.2 million in H1 2026 from $2.4 million in H1 2025, due to investments in AI, North America expansion, and Mineloader's seasonally softer Q1.
- Operating cash flow turned negative at $5.3 million in H1 2026, compared to a positive $0.6 million in H1 2025, due to higher headcount costs and investments.
- AMPERA's revenue ramp has been slower than expected, with longer sales cycles for large Western contracts, limiting its contribution in 2026.
- The company expects operating cash flow to remain negative in H2 2026 as it continues to invest in AI and AMPERA.
- Gross profit margin was moderated in H1 2026 due to upfront costs and investments, though it would have been stable at 30.1% excluding these items.
Good morning, everyone. Thank you for joining us today. I'm Johnny, founder and CEO of Winking Studios. I have been in the industry for more than 30 years. During this time, I have seen many big transformations from console games to online games, to mobile and today, to a more globalized game development ecosystem driven by outsourcing, cloud development, and AI-enabled workflows.
Joining me today is our CRO, Claude, also the founder of AMPERA and Former Senior Leader at Keywords Studios. He is leading the group's global commercial strategy as well as developing opportunities and supporting growth across Western markets. Also with us is our CFO, Oliver. He has over 30 years of experience in finance. We have known each other for more than 25 years. He has been with us for 12 years. And he has helped us build strong financial discipline as we grow internationally.
Winking is one of the largest external gaming development studios globally. We have more than 25 years of history, and today we are one of the top
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