Zhihu (02390) 2025 Q4 financial report released: First time achieving annual profit target.

On March 25th, Zhihu, Inc. Sponsored ADR (02390; ZH.US) released its fourth quarter and full year financial report for 2025. The report shows that Zhihu, Inc. Sponsored ADR had a revenue of 644 million yuan in the fourth quarter of 2025, with a full year revenue of 2.75 billion yuan. The full year adjusted net profit for 2025 was 37.9 million yuan. This marks the first time that Zhihu, Inc. Sponsored ADR has achieved full year Non-GAAP profitability, indicating a continuous improvement in the company's operational quality and signaling the entry of Zhihu, Inc. Sponsored ADR into a stage of comprehensive profitability. Since the fourth quarter of 2024, Zhihu, Inc. Sponsored ADR has achieved Non-GAAP profitability for three consecutive quarters. With steady improvement in operational efficiency and quality, as well as continued investment and drive towards innovative growth directions such as AI, Zhihu, Inc. Sponsored ADR has reached another milestone by achieving full year Non-GAAP profitability. In the fourth quarter of 2025, Zhihu, Inc. Sponsored ADR continued to explore upgrades to its business model and optimize its revenue structure. The paid reading business contributed 334 million yuan in revenue, accounting for 51.8%; marketing services revenue reached 235 million yuan, accounting for 36.5%; and other businesses including education, consumer goods, and copyrights contributed 75.2 million yuan in revenue, accounting for 11.7%. As of the end of the fourth quarter, Zhihu, Inc. Sponsored ADR had a total of 4.45 billion yuan in cash and cash equivalents, fixed-term deposits, restricted funds, and short-term investments. Operationally, Zhihu, Inc. Sponsored ADR has been promoting a positive cycle in the community ecosystem through the synergy of "high-quality content x expert network x AI capabilities", continuously strengthening its unique advantages and professional influence in the AI era. In the fourth quarter, high-quality content from various fields continued to emerge, increasing user activity and engagement, with significant improvement in new user retention. Additionally, paid users of Zhihu, Inc. Sponsored ADR remained active, with an average monthly subscription membership of 12.2 million, leading in the industry. In the field of paid reading, the potential for growth in monetizing high-quality content in the IP sector is huge. In the fourth quarter, revenue from IP copyrights grew over 5 times year-on-year, and the annual revenue from licensing rights authors grew 6 times year-on-year. Zhihu, Inc. Sponsored ADR is leveraging its original high-quality storytelling platform, Yan Yan Stories, to create a path of "high-quality content precipitation - IP asset structuring - multi-scenario capability reuse", expanding original content consumption beyond just reading and realizing long-term value release and compound growth. In the marketing services sector, revenue in the fourth quarter reached 235 million yuan, showing accelerated recovery with a 24% increase compared to the previous quarter. With continuous investment and firm execution in optimizing customer structures and upgrading business products, Zhihu, Inc. Sponsored ADR's commercial IP and services have continued to enhance customer attraction and revenue contribution. Looking towards the future, Zhihu, Inc. Sponsored ADR will continue to invest in innovative businesses and explore growth directions to enhance its positive impact on the community ecosystem and commercial revenue. By accelerating the synergy of "high-quality content x expert network x AI capabilities", Zhihu, Inc. Sponsored ADR will further solidify the ecological barriers of the community and expand its influence across the internet. Building on the paid reading business and the Yan Yan Stories brand, the company will strengthen its AI comic industry layout, unleashing the full potential of original content IP throughout the entire industry chain. Leveraging its strong data advantage and high-quality IP accumulation, Zhihu, Inc. Sponsored ADR will accelerate AI-driven commercial explorations, unlocking greater commercial growth potential. Zhihu, Inc. Sponsored ADR's Founder, Chairman, and CEO, Zhou Yuan, stated: "2025 is a structural turning point for Zhihu, Inc. Sponsored ADR. Building on our achievement of first-quarter Non-GAAP profitability in the fourth quarter of 2024, we have now achieved full year Non-GAAP profitability for the first time in 2025. This milestone demonstrates that the transformation towards high-quality growth has effectively strengthened our operational model and profitability resilience. In the fourth quarter, we made steady progress in our community ecosystem and commercial efficiency. Looking ahead to 2026, while consolidating our core business foundation, we will accelerate our exploration of AI-related commercialization. With a vast network of experts, trustworthy content assets, and diverse real user scenarios, we are building a differentiated moat around our community, further enhancing Zhihu, Inc. Sponsored ADR's strategic position in a broader AI ecosystem." Zhihu, Inc. Sponsored ADR CFO, Wang Han, added: "2025 marks a structural upgrade in the financial status of Zhihu, Inc. Sponsored ADR. By continuously controlling costs, improving operational leverage, and strengthening expense management, we have achieved full year Non-GAAP profitability for the first time while maintaining a healthy gross profit margin. Looking ahead to 2026, we will focus on developing revenue sources with higher profit margins and capital efficiency, further enhancing the quality and scalability of our profitability. At the same time, we will continue to adhere to a rigorous capital allocation strategy, including share repurchases, to support long-term shareholder value."