Operator
Hello, ladies and gentlemen. Thank you for standing by for 51 Talk Online Education Group's second quarter 2026 earnings conference call. At this time, all participants are in a listen-only mode. Today's conference call is being recorded. I will now turn the call over to your host, Mr. David Chung, Investor Relations for the Company. Please go ahead, David.
Thank you. Hello, everyone, and welcome to the second quarter, 2026 Earnings Conference Call of 5-1-Talk. The company's results were issued via Newswire services earlier today and are posted online. You can download the earnings press release and sign up for the company's distribution list by visiting ir.5-1-Talk.com. Mr. Jack Huang, our CEO, and Ms. Cindy Tang, our CFO, will begin with some prepared remarks. Following the prepared remarks, there will be a Q&A session. Before we continue, please note that the discussion will contain forward-looking statements made under the Safe Harbor Provisions of the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements involve inherent risks and uncertainties. As such, the company's results may be materially different from the views expressed today. Further information regarding this and other risks and uncertainties is included in the company's Form 20F and other public filings as filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. The company does not assume any obligation to update any forward-looking statements except as required under the applicable law. Please also note that earnings press release and this conference call include discussion of unaudited GAAP financial information as well as unaudited non-GAAP financial measures. 5.1 Talks' press release contains a reconciliation of the unaudited non-GAAP measures to the unaudited most directly comparable GAAP measures. I will now turn the call over to our CEO, Jack Huang. Jack, please go ahead.
Thank you, David. Hello, everyone. Thank you very much for joining our conference call today. Gross billings for the second quarter reached US$39.3 million, once again exceeding the high end of our guidance announced in June 2026 and representing a growth of 38.1% year-over-year. Demand across our key markets remains robust. We generated 4.9 million U.S. dollars of net operating cash inflow during the quarter. On July 1st, we launched our next-generation learning product, Global Communicator, built with our strategic partner, Oxford University Press. The world students learn in, the characters they meet, and the lessons themselves are all generated end-to-end by our AI-powered content production platform. The same platform will power new regions, new languages, and even new subjects. It is the foundation for what we build next. Our priority for the remainder of 2026 is to sustain healthy growth by building on last year's success. Following an exceptionally strong quarter in Q3 2025, we are investing more efficiently in the third quarter of 2026, moving us toward profitability and a long-term shareholder value. With that, I will now turn the call over to Cindy, our CFO.
Thank you, Greg. Now let me walk you through our second quarter financial details. Net revenues for the second quarter were $32.4 million, a 58.8% increase from the same quarter last year, largely driven by the increase of active students with attended lessen consumption. Gross margin for the second quarter was 73.9%. Gross billings grew by 38.1% from the same quarter last year to $39.3 million. Due to operating expenses were $26 million U.S. dollars, an increase of 41.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Specifically, this has been driven by Q2 sales and marketing expenses of $19.3 million U.S. dollars, a 48.8% increase from the same quarter last year. Primarily attributable to higher sales personnel costs, driven by headcount growth in the sales and marketing team, as well as increased marketing and branding expenses from intensified promotional activities. Q2 product development expenses were $2.4 million, a 96.6% increase from the same quarter last year. Finally, Q2 general and administrative expenses were 4.3 million U.S. dollars, broadly flat compared to the same quarter last year. Overall, second quarter operating loss narrowed to 2.1 million U.S. dollars from 3.2 million U.S. dollars in the same quarter last year. And net loss attributable to the company's ordinary shareholders was 3.1 million U.S. dollars compared with 3.5 million U.S. dollars in the same quarter last year due to gap and non-gap earnings per ADS were negative 0.51 US dollars and 0.43 US dollars respectively the company's total cash cash equivalents and time deposits were 40.1 million US dollars at the end of the second quarter advances from students were 86.7 million US dollars at the end of the second quarter. Looking forward to the third quarter of 2026, we currently expect the net growth billings to be between 41 million U.S. dollars and 43 million U.S. dollars. The outlook is based on our current market conditions and reflects the company's current and preliminary estimates of the market and operating conditions and customer demands, which are all subject to change. This concludes our prepared remarks. We will now open the line for questions. Operator, please go ahead.
Operator
We will now begin the question and answer session. To ask a question, please press star then one on your telephone keypad. If you are using a speakerphone, please pick up your handset before pressing the key. To withdraw your question, please press star then two.
Operator
At this time, we will pause momentarily to assemble our roster. Once again, if you would like to ask a question, please press star, then one.
Operator
As we are reaching the end of our conference call, I'd like to turn the call back over to the company for closing remarks. Mr. David, please go ahead.
Thank you once again for joining us today. If you have further questions, please contact 5-1-Talks Investor Relations through the contact information provided on our website.
Operator
This concludes this conference call. You may now disconnect your line. Thank you.
