Chagee Profit Rises Sixfold as Same-Store Sales Fall
Chagee Holdings reported second-quarter net income of RMB 464.8 million, up from RMB 77.2 million a year earlier, even as same-store sales fell 16.1% in Greater China and 15.1% overseas.
Chagee Holdings posted second-quarter net income of RMB 464.8 million, roughly six times a year earlier, while sales at its established teahouses fell by double digits.
The figures come from the unaudited results the Yunnan-founded tea chain, known in China as Bawang Chaji, filed with the US Securities and Exchange Commission on August 28 for the quarter ended June 30, 2026. Net income of RMB 464.8 million (roughly US$68.5 million) compares with RMB 77.2 million (roughly US$11.4 million) in the same quarter of 2025, and the GAAP net margin rose to 13.6% from 2.3%. On an adjusted basis, net income was RMB 488.7 million, a margin of 14.3%. Sina Finance, covering the same release, reported it as the company's fourteenth consecutive profitable quarter.
Revenue moved far less. Total net revenues were RMB 3,414.6 million (roughly US$503.3 million), up 2.5% year over year from RMB 3,331.9 million, and down 3.7% from the first quarter of 2026, according to the filing. Franchised teahouses supplied RMB 2,474.0 million of that (roughly US$364.6 million) and company-owned stores RMB 940.6 million (roughly US$138.6 million). Quarterly gross merchandise value was RMB 7.66 billion (roughly US$1.1 billion).
The spread between profit and sales is the story. Same-store GMV, which measures outlets open at least a year, fell 16.1% in Greater China and 15.1% overseas against the year-earlier quarter. Over the same period the network grew to 7,639 teahouses, 6,756 of them franchised, up 8.5%. Average monthly GMV per teahouse declined from the first quarter, as did active loyalty membership. More doors, less through each one.
The profit, by the company's own account, came from cost discipline rather than demand: reduced sales, marketing and administrative spending and a heavier mix of company-owned and overseas stores. TipRanks attributed part of the swing to sharply lower share-based compensation and professional fees, expenses still elevated a year earlier in the weeks after Chagee's April 2025 Nasdaq listing. Overseas GMV more than doubled, TipRanks reported, from a small base. Cash, restricted cash and term deposits stood at RMB 6.80 billion (roughly US$1 billion) at quarter end.
Chagee is growing by opening teahouses and earning by spending less on them. Neither is the same as selling more tea.
Sources: Chagee Holdings Limited Form 6-K exhibit, U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, 2026-08-28; Chagee Boosts Q2 2026 Profit Amid China Slowdown and Overseas Growth, TipRanks, 2026-08-28; 霸王茶姬Q2增长稳健：全球GMV76.6亿，海外释放新动能, Sina Finance (via Baidu), 2026-08-28.