Zhihu (02390) achieved a revenue of 659 million in Q3 2025 and is moving towards full year profitability in a healthier state.

On November 25th, Zhihu, Inc. Sponsored ADR (02390, ZH.US) released its third quarter performance report for 2025. The report shows that Zhihu, Inc. Sponsored ADR's revenue in the third quarter was 659 million yuan, with a 16.3% decrease in non-GAAP operating losses compared to the same period last year, and continuous improvement in operating efficiency and quality. During the financial report conference call, the management of Zhihu, Inc. Sponsored ADR expressed confidence in achieving profitability in 2025. Looking ahead, Zhihu, Inc. Sponsored ADR will take "high-quality content expert network AI capability" as the development route for community ecology, maintaining innovative exploration of new business models, and leveraging its increasingly prominent unique value in the AI industry. The third quarter financial report shows that Zhihu, Inc. Sponsored ADR has been optimizing its revenue structure, further deepening and exploring new commercialization methods. Revenue from paid reading and marketing services reached 386 million yuan and 189 million yuan respectively, with other businesses contributing 83.9 million yuan, including CECO Environmental Corp. and consumer goods. In this quarter, Zhihu, Inc. Sponsored ADR's non-GAAP operating losses shrank by 16.3% year-on-year, reflecting strict cost management capabilities and improved operational efficiency. Additionally, Zhihu, Inc. Sponsored ADR has sufficient cash reserves, with a total of 4.58 billion yuan in cash and cash equivalents, time deposits, restricted funds, and short-term investments as of the end of the third quarter. During the conference call, the management of Zhihu, Inc. Sponsored ADR also expressed strong confidence in achieving the goal of full-year profitability in 2025. Zhihu, Inc. Sponsored ADR CFO Wang Han stated that in the third quarter, on the basis of profitability in the previous three consecutive quarters, Zhihu, Inc. Sponsored ADR made adjustments and investments, aiming to achieve a healthier operational status and steadily improve operational efficiency and quality upon achieving profitability for the full year. "We believe we are still on the entrepreneurial path, just adjusting back to a relatively healthier state to walk a road more suitable for Zhihu, Inc. Sponsored ADR." Looking ahead, Zhihu, Inc. Sponsored ADR will take "high-quality content expert network AI capability" as the synergistic development of community ecology as the positive driving route. Zhihu, Inc. Sponsored ADR's Zhihu Direct Questions, as an important product in the Zhihu, Inc. Sponsored ADR AI application layer, has seen continued growth in usage and penetration, with a penetration rate exceeding 15% as of the end of the third quarter, nearly four times the level compared to the same period last year. Zhihu, Inc. Sponsored ADR's founder, Chairman, and CEO Zhou Yuan stated that the AI underlying capabilities of Zhihu, Inc. Sponsored ADR are evolving continuously in community scenarios, with the direction of "AI + Community" integration gaining user recognition. This gives Zhihu, Inc. Sponsored ADR the confidence to promote the upgrade of the "AI + Community" experience in more scenarios in a community-based manner. It was revealed that in the future, Zhihu, Inc. Sponsored ADR's Zhihu Direct Questions will undergo upgrades in multiple scenarios such as search, creation, consumption, and circulation, including enhancements to comprehensive search AI capabilities, providing stronger AI-assisted tools for professional creators, and further improving AI penetration in the community. Zhou Yuan believes that the stronger AI becomes, the greater the demand from people for social capital and social currency brought by the community, and high-quality authentic content and data will become scarcer. Therefore, Zhihu, Inc. Sponsored ADR's Zhihu Direct Questions will integrate deeply with the functional social needs of the community, with the hope that Zhihu, Inc. Sponsored ADR can become a connecting layer for humanity in the AI era, providing AI tools for understanding the world and also serving as a community for finding resonance and understanding.