Appen Limited has reported half-year revenue growth of 17 percent to $119.9 million, delivering a meaningful turnaround in underlying EBITDA performance as the company navigates a divergent trajectory across its two primary geographic divisions. The result underscores the company’s exposure to accelerating AI data demand, though questions persist about profitability and sustainability in the Western market.
The standout performer remains Appen China, which delivered revenue of $76.2 million, up 80 percent versus the prior year period and now representing approximately 64 percent of group revenue. More impressively, the division generated $12.1 million in underlying EBITDA, a 316 percent improvement on the prior year, demonstrating the profitability embedded in the Chinese market opportunity. The annualised revenue run-rate reached over $175 million in June, up from $135 million at the end of 2025, indicating sustained momentum in serving Chinese AI model builders and suggesting that current performance levels are sustainable rather than cyclical.
Appen Global, by contrast, continues its turnaround journey with revenue declining 27 percent to $43.7 million. However, the underlying EBITDA loss improved to $4.5 million from the prior year, representing a 25 percent improvement and narrowing the loss profile. Sequentially, the division showed meaningful acceleration, with Q2 revenue up 20 percent versus Q1. More tellingly, revenue excluding the largest client grew 65 percent sequentially, suggesting that customer diversification efforts are yielding results and the turnaround strategy is taking hold despite the headline revenue decline.
The company identified approximately $12 million in annualised cost reductions achievable through expanded use of AI in its operations, with roughly 70 percent targeted for completion by the end of FY26. This operational efficiency drive could prove material to Appen Global’s path to profitability and demonstrates the company is applying its core expertise to its own cost structure. Gross margins compressed slightly to 36.7 percent from 37.0 percent, a natural outcome of Appen China’s higher revenue contribution given its traditionally lower margin profile relative to the Global division.
Appen enters the second half from a position of financial strength, holding $44.7 million USD in cash, approximately $64.8 million AUD. The company reaffirmed full-year guidance for revenue of $270 million to $300 million and underlying EBITDA margin of 5 to 10 percent, signalling management confidence in the current strategic direction. Key metrics to track include the execution pace of cost reductions in Appen Global, the pipeline of new customer wins in the Western market, and whether the Chinese business can sustain its extraordinary growth rates as the market matures and competitive pressures intensify. This announcement is price sensitive and has been flagged as material by the ASX.
View the full ASX announcement (PDF)
About Appen Limited (ASX: APX)
Appen Limited is an Australian multinational company that develops datasets for building and improving artificial intelligence and machine learning applications. The company provides data solutions including speech and natural language data, image and video data, text and alphanumeric data, and relevance data designed to improve search and social media engines. Headquartered in Chatswood, Australia, Appen was founded in 1996 and operates globally in the AI data services industry.
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