The9 reports record $23 million Q1 2026 net income

• The9 (NASDAQ:NCTY) reported unaudited net income of $23 million for the first quarter of 2026, marking its strongest quarterly performance since its 2004 IPO.
• Profitability was primarily driven by the receipt of 1.425 billion 9BIT tokens, pushing the company's estimated total cryptocurrency holdings to approximately $110 million.
• The company's AI-powered game creation platform, the9bit, has surpassed 8 million registered users and enabled the creation of over 110,000 games since its August 2025 launch.

The9 (NASDAQ:NCTY) reported its first-quarter 2026 financial results, generating an unaudited net income of $23 million for the period ended March 31, 2026.

Management described the quarter as the strongest since the company's initial public offering in 2004.

This significant profit was primarily driven by the receipt of 1.425 billion 9BIT tokens, which were measured at fair value on cryptocurrency exchanges.

Under a broader cooperation agreement with the 9BIT Foundation, The9 is slated to receive a total allocation of roughly 1.9 billion 9BIT tokens.

This total includes an additional 475 million tokens that were received in April 2026.

Following these distributions, the company estimates the total value of its cryptocurrency holdings at approximately $110 million.

Beyond its cryptocurrency assets, The9 highlighted the continued expansion of its AI-powered game creation platform, the9bit.

Launched in August 2025, the platform has now surpassed 8 million registered users and has facilitated the creation of more than 110,000 user-generated games.

To align executive compensation with ongoing financial momentum, the Board of Directors approved a new long-term incentive plan for senior management.

Under this structure, executives may receive equity awards representing up to 12 percent of outstanding shares.

However, these awards will only vest if the company's quarterly net income exceeds first-quarter levels in each of the remaining quarters of 2026.

The granted awards are also subject to a multi-year vesting schedule and a stringent three-year lock-up period.