Waterdrop, a China-based insurance technology platform, reported a 34.2% year-over-year increase in net profit attributable to ordinary shareholders for the first quarter of 2025, reaching RMB108.2 million.
Net operating revenue for the three months ended March 31, 2025, was RMB753.7 million. Operating expenses, including sales, administrative, and research and development costs, accounted for 40.3% of revenue, down 6.1 percentage points from the same period last year.
Since launching its share repurchase program in September 2021, Waterdrop has bought back around 54.2 million American Depositary Shares (ADSs) on the open market as of May 31, 2025.
Insurance-related revenue for the quarter totaled RMB 658 million, up 8.4% year-on-year. Operating profit from the insurance segment reached RMB 151.4 million. First-year premiums amounted to about RMB2.09 billion, an increase of 19.3% from a year earlier.
The company reported continued growth in short-term premiums, which rose 30.1% year-over-year, supported by changes in its user acquisition strategy and improvements to customer service. Waterdrop noted ongoing product development, including the release of an updated version of its “Jiehaoyun” product and a new medical insurance plan featuring a health declaration waiver and five-year guaranteed renewal.
Waterdrop said its proprietary Guardian AI tools are being used to support both customer-facing and internal operations.
The “AI Insurance Expert – Medical Insurance” application generated over RMB2 million in monthly premiums during the quarter, while the “AI Service Quality Copilot” has increased operational efficiency by 83% since launch.
The company is also working with four property and casualty insurers to test AI-powered tools for the auto insurance sector.
Waterdrop’s medical crowdfunding platform continues to operate at scale. As of March 31, the platform had raised a cumulative RMB68.8 billion for about 3.5 million patients, supported by roughly 475 million individual donations.
The company’s digital clinical trial solutions business recorded RMB23 million in revenue for the quarter, an 11.5% increase year-over-year. A total of 11,217 patients have been enrolled in 1,281 clinical trial programs through its E-Find platform.
Peng Shen, founder, chairman and CEO, said the company’s first-quarter performance reflected steady growth in revenue and profit, supported by its integration of AI in core business functions.
“Moving forward, we will focus on tech-driven value creation with consistent commitment to 'Tech for Good'. We strive to deliver value to all stakeholders through high-quality growth,” Shen said.
