Kanzhun Limited, the operator of BOSS Zhipin, has defied the broader hiring market downturn by posting impressive third-quarter results. On November 18, 2025, the company released its unaudited financial report for Q3 ending September 30, showing a 13.2% year-over-year revenue increase to 2.163 billion yuan. GAAP net profit surged 67.2% to 775 million yuan, while adjusted net profit reached 992 million yuan, setting new historical highs for both profit scale and growth rate.
The company's success stems from its "cost reduction and efficiency improvement" strategy. Total paying enterprise clients grew 13.3% year-over-year to 6.8 million in the past 12 months, driving online recruitment service revenue up 13.6% to 2.15 billion yuan, accounting for 99.4% of total revenue. Meanwhile, C-end value-added services were strategically scaled back, with other service revenue dropping 27.3% to 16.4 million yuan.
Profitability metrics showed remarkable improvement, with GAAP net profit margin reaching 35.8%, up 11.5 percentage points year-over-year. Adjusted operating profit margin rose to 41.8%, reflecting a 10.1 percentage point increase. These gains were achieved through disciplined cost control, including a 24.6% reduction in marketing expenses and a 12.1% decrease in R&D costs.
The company also made significant governance changes, appointing former CMO Chen Xu as President in August 2025 to optimize operational efficiency. Founder and CEO Zhao Peng has shifted focus to strategic initiatives, particularly AI integration in recruitment scenarios. Kanzhun's early AI investments, including its proprietary "Nange" language model and adoption of DeepSeek-R1, have given it a competitive edge, helping maintain its industry-leading position with 63 million MAU as of September 2025.
However, challenges remain as industry growth slows and AI adoption becomes more widespread among competitors. Traditional rivals like Liepin and 51job are accelerating their AI transformations, while new entrants like OpenAI's planned recruitment platform threaten to disrupt the market. Despite these pressures, management remains confident in the company's data advantage and technological leadership in the evolving recruitment landscape.
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