So-Young International is converting a fading listings marketplace into a branded aesthetic-clinic chain, and the second-quarter print is the first recent quarter in which that chain starts to look capable of carrying the group. Clinic revenue more than doubled again. Same-store sales accelerated sharply. The attributable loss narrowed after two widening quarters. The debate is whether a labor-heavy treatment model can reach consolidated profit before the legacy platform finishes shrinking and cash funds another year of openings.
The mix shift now dominates the income statement. Aesthetic treatment services generated RMB331 million, a gain of about 130 percent, and now represent roughly two thirds of sales. Information and reservation fees fell by about a third as fewer third-party clinics paid for listings. Device sales and insurance brokerage also declined. Forty-seven of sixty-five centers printed a local profit, and same-store sales growth reached 52 percent, up from 14 percent a year earlier. That combination is the first clean evidence that older sites are filling in rather than merely being diluted by new doors.
Cash and short-term investments still exceed RMB848 million. That stockpile is enough to fund the current opening pace for several more years if burn stays near the first-half run rate. The third-quarter clinic-revenue guide implies growth that is still very fast but slower than the second-quarter rate. The next few prints decide whether clinic-level profits climb through corporate overhead, or whether another wave of openings and a still-falling marketplace keep the group in the red.