BEIJING, China, June 03, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Zhihu Inc. ("Zhihu" or the "Company") (NYSE: ZH; HKEX: 2390), a leading online content community in China, today announced its unaudited financial results for the quarter ended March 31, 2026.
First Quarter 2026 Highlights
-- Total revenues were RMB651.6 million (US$94.5 million), compared with
RMB729.7 million in the same period of 2025.
-- Gross margin was 59.6%, compared with 61.8% in the same period of 2025.
-- Net loss was RMB8.5 million (US$1.2 million), narrowing by 15.6% from the
same period of 2025.
-- Adjusted net income (non-GAAP)[1] was RMB17.2 million (US$2.5 million),
representing an increase of 147.2% from the same period of 2025.
-- Average monthly subscribing members[2] were 13.1 million in the first
quarter of 2026.
"The first quarter of 2026 marked a solid start to the year, as we advanced our high-quality growth strategy," said Mr. Yuan Zhou, chairman and chief executive officer of Zhihu. "Our community ecosystem continued to thrive, driven by a more dynamic user demographic, enhanced user engagement, and deeper social connections, while our content creators remained highly vibrant, consistently contributing authentic, high-quality content. At the same time, we accelerated the integration of AI capabilities across our community and business operations, further unlocking the value of our community. Building on this solid foundation, our core businesses are showing encouraging signs of recovery, while our new business initiatives continued to gain momentum and to deliver meaningful incremental growth. Looking ahead, we remain focused on strengthening operational profitability, steadily advancing AI-related commercialization initiatives, and continuing to unlock the unique value of our real-user community in the AI era, to drive healthy and sustainable business growth."
"First-quarter results demonstrate the resilience of our financial model, evidenced by a non-GAAP net income of RMB17.2 million, representing a 147.2% year-over-year increase and a strong sequential return to profitability," said Mr. Han Wang, chief financial officer of Zhihu. "During the quarter, our gross margin recovered sequentially to 59.6%, driven by disciplined execution of our efficiency-driven strategy that reduced total operating expenses by 10.4% year over year. This supported continued improvements in our earnings quality. Going forward, we will continue to drive high-quality growth through improved operating efficiency and disciplined capital allocation, including share repurchases, with a clear focus on maximizing long-term shareholder value."
First Quarter 2026 Financial Results
Total revenues were RMB651.6 million (US$94.5 million), compared with RMB729.7 million in the same period of 2025.
Marketing services revenue was RMB191.4 million (US$27.7 million), compared with RMB197.0 million in the same period of 2025. The decrease was primarily due to our proactive and ongoing refinement of service offerings.
Paid content and IP operations revenue([) (3) (]) was RMB402.3 million (US$58.3 million), compared with RMB420.9 million in the same period of 2025. The decrease was primarily due to a decline in the number of our average monthly subscribing members, partially offset by the growth of revenues generated from our intellectual property ("IP") operations.
Other revenues([) (3) (]) ([4]) were RMB57.8 million (US$8.4 million), compared with RMB111.8 million in the same period of 2025. The decrease was primarily due to the strategic refinement of our vocational training business.
Cost of revenues decreased by 5.5% to RMB263.2 million (US$38.2 million) from RMB278.6 million in the same period of 2025. The decrease was primarily due to a decrease in cloud services and bandwidth costs resulting from our improved technological efficiency.
Gross profit was RMB388.3 million (US$56.3 million), compared with RMB451.1 million in the same period of 2025. Gross margin was 59.6%, compared with 61.8% in the same period of 2025.
Total operating expenses decreased by 10.4% to RMB451.2 million (US$65.4 million) from RMB503.7 million in the same period of 2025.
Selling and marketing expenses decreased by 11.1% to RMB285.1 million (US$41.3 million) from RMB320.6 million in the same period of 2025. The decrease was primarily due to more disciplined marketing spending and a decrease in personnel-related expenses.
Research and development expenses decreased by 22.4% to RMB110.1 million (US$16.0 million) from RMB141.9 million in the same period of 2025. The decrease was primarily attributable to improvements in our research and development efficiency.
General and administrative expenses were RMB56.0 million (US$8.1 million), compared with RMB41.2 million in the same period of 2025. The increase was primarily attributable to an increase in the allowance for expected credit losses on trade receivables.
Loss from operations was RMB62.9 million (US$9.1 million), compared with RMB52.6 million in the same period of 2025.
Adjusted loss from operations (non-GAAP)([) (1]) was RMB37.1 million (US$5.4 million), compared with RMB35.0 million in the same period of 2025.
Net loss narrowed by 15.6% to RMB8.5 million (US$1.2 million) from RMB10.1 million in the same period of 2025.
Adjusted net income (non-GAAP)([) (1]) increased by 147.2% to RMB17.2 million (US$2.5 million) from RMB6.9 million in the same period of 2025.
Diluted net loss per American depositary share ("ADS") was RMB0.11 (US$0.02), compared with RMB0.12 in the same period of 2025.
Cash and cash equivalents, term deposits, restricted cash and short-term investments
As of March 31, 2026, the Company had cash and cash equivalents, term deposits, restricted cash and short-term investments of RMB4,490.3 million (US$651.0 million), compared with RMB4,451.2 million as of December 31, 2025.
Share Repurchase Programs
As of March 31, 2026, the Company had repurchased an aggregate of 34.8 million Class A ordinary shares (including Class A ordinary shares underlying the ADSs) for a total consideration of US$70.7 million on both the New York Stock Exchange and The Stock Exchange of Hong Kong Limited under the Company's existing share repurchase programs. During the first quarter of 2026, the Company repurchased 3.7 million Class A ordinary shares for a total consideration of US$4.2 million.
([1]) Adjusted loss from operations and adjusted net income/(loss) are non-GAAP financial measures. For more information on the non-GAAP financial measures, please see the section "Use of Non-GAAP Financial Measures" and the table captioned "Unaudited Reconciliations of GAAP and Non-GAAP Results" set forth at the end of this press release.
([) (2) (]) Monthly subscribing members refers to the number of members who subscribed for our membership packages in a specified month. Average monthly subscribing members for a period is calculated by dividing the sum of monthly subscribing members for each month during the specified period by the number of months in such period.
([3]) Starting from the first quarter of 2026, the Company reported revenues generated from paid membership and IP operations collectively as "paid content and IP operations revenue" to better present its business and results of operations in line with its overall strategy. Revenues generated from IP operations, which were formerly included in "other revenues," primarily consist of copyrights licensing and content distribution. Revenues for the applicable comparison periods have been retrospectively reclassified.
([) (4) (]) Starting from the third quarter of 2025, the Company simplified its revenue stream by reclassifying vocational training into "others" to align with its overall strategy. Revenues for the applicable comparison periods have been retrospectively reclassified.
Conference Call
The Company's management will host a conference call at 7:00 A.M. U.S. Eastern Time on Wednesday, June 3, 2026 (7:00 P.M. Beijing/Hong Kong Time on Wednesday, June 3, 2026) to discuss the results.
All participants wishing to join the conference call must pre-register online using the link provided below. Once the pre-registration has been completed, each participant will receive a set of dial-in numbers and a unique access PIN which can be used to join the conference call.
Registration Link:
https://register-conf.media-server.com/register/BI3688e4763901491aa49594b4434a6a84
Additionally, a live and archived webcast of the conference call will be available on the Company's investor relations website at https://ir.zhihu.com.
About Zhihu Inc.
Zhihu Inc. (NYSE: ZH; HKEX: 2390) is a leading online content community where people come to find solutions, make decisions, seek inspiration, and have fun. Since the initial launch in 2010, Zhihu has grown into the largest Q&A-inspired online content community in China. For more information, please visit https://ir.zhihu.com.
Use of Non-GAAP Financial Measures
In evaluating the business, the Company considers and uses non-GAAP financial measures, such as adjusted loss from operations and adjusted net income/(loss), to supplement the review and assessment of its operating performance. The Company defines non-GAAP financial measures by excluding the impact of share-based compensation expenses, amortization and impairment of intangible assets resulting from business acquisitions, impairment of goodwill and the tax effects of the non-GAAP adjustments, which are non-cash expenses. The Company believes that the non-GAAP financial measures facilitate comparisons of operating performance from period to period and company to company by adjusting for potential impacts of items, which the Company's management considers to be indicative of its operating performance. The Company believes that the non-GAAP financial measures provide useful information to investors and others in understanding and evaluating the Company's consolidated results of operations in the same manner as they help the Company's management.
The non-GAAP financial measures are not defined under U.S. GAAP and are not presented in accordance with U.S. GAAP. The presentation of the non-GAAP financial measures may not be comparable to similarly titled measures presented by other companies. The use of the non-GAAP financial measures has limitations as an analytical tool, and investors should not consider them in isolation from or as a substitute for analysis of our results of operations or financial condition as reported under U.S. GAAP. For more information on the non-GAAP financial measures, please see the tables captioned "Unaudited Reconciliations of GAAP and Non-GAAP Results" set forth at the end of this press release.
Exchange Rate Information
This announcement contains translations of certain Renminbi amounts into U.S. dollars at a specified rate solely for the convenience of the reader. Unless otherwise noted, all translations from Renminbi to U.S. dollars were made at a rate of RMB6.8980 to US$1.00, the exchange rate in effect as of March 31, 2026 as set forth in the H.10 statistical release of the Federal Reserve Board.
Safe Harbor Statement
This announcement contains forward-looking statements. These statements are made under the "safe harbor" provisions of the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Statements that are not historical facts, including statements about the Company's beliefs and expectations, are forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements involve inherent risks and uncertainties, and a number of factors could cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in any forward-looking statement. In some cases, forward-looking statements can be identified by words or phrases such as "may," "will," "expect," "anticipate," "target," "aim," "estimate," "intend," "plan," "believe," "potential," "continue," "is/are likely to," or other similar expressions. Further information regarding these and other risks, uncertainties or factors is included in the Company's filings with the SEC and the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. All information provided in this press release is as of the date of this press release, and the Company does not undertake any duty to update such information, except as required under applicable law.
For investor and media inquiries, please contact:
Zhihu Inc.
Email: ir@zhihu.com
Christensen Advisory
Roger Hu
Tel: +86-10-5900-1548
Email: zhihu@christensencomms.com
ZHIHU INC.
UNAUDITED CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF OPERATIONS
(All amounts in thousands, except share, ADS, per
share data and per ADS data)
For the Three Months Ended
--------------------------------------------------------
March 31, December 31, March 31,
2025 2025 2026
------------ ------------
RMB RMB RMB US$
Revenues:
Marketing
services 196,959 234,808 191,413 27,749
Paid content and
IP operations 420,875 347,523 402,322 58,324
Others 111,831 61,185 57,831 8,384
----------- ----------- ----------- -----------
Total revenues 729,665 643,516 651,566 94,457
Cost of revenues (278,561) (298,699) (263,235) (38,161)
----------- ----------- ----------- -----------
Gross profit 451,104 344,817 388,331 56,296
----------- ----------- ----------- -----------
Selling and
marketing expenses (320,632) (275,243) (285,146) (41,337)
Research and
development
expenses (141,866) (123,085) (110,065) (15,956)
General and
administrative
expenses (41,209) (84,009) (56,005) (8,119)
Impairment of
goodwill - (126,344) - -
----------- ----------- ----------- -----------
Total operating
expenses (503,707) (608,681) (451,216) (65,412)
----------- ----------- ----------- -----------
Loss from operations (52,603) (263,864) (62,885) (9,116)
Other
income/(expenses):
Investment income 19,349 34,629 28,594 4,145
Interest income 20,610 13,379 15,608 2,263
Exchange losses (96) (56) (90) (13)
Others, net 2,399 (2,487) 11,856 1,719
----------- ----------- ----------- -----------
Loss before income
tax (10,341) (218,399) (6,917) (1,002)
Income tax
benefits/(expenses) 233 7,609 (1,610) (233)
----------- ----------- ----------- -----------
Net loss (10,108) (210,790) (8,527) (1,235)
Net loss
attributable to
noncontrolling
interests 14 2,156 23 3
----------- ----------- ----------- -----------
Net loss
attributable to
Zhihu Inc.'s
shareholders (10,094) (208,634) (8,504) (1,232)
Net loss per share
Basic (0.04) (0.89) (0.04) (0.01)
Diluted (0.04) (0.89) (0.04) (0.01)
Net loss per ADS
(One ADS represents
three Class A
ordinary shares)
Basic (0.12) (2.66) (0.11) (0.02)
Diluted (0.12) (2.66) (0.11) (0.02)
Weighted average
number of ordinary
shares outstanding
Basic 244,504,405 235,516,843 231,674,268 231,674,268
Diluted 244,504,405 235,516,843 231,674,268 231,674,268
ZHIHU INC.
UNAUDITED CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF OPERATIONS
(CONTINUED)
(All amounts in thousands, except share, ADS, per
share data and per ADS data)
For the Three Months Ended
------------------------------------------
March 31, December 31, March 31,
2025 2025 2026
--------- ------------
RMB RMB RMB US$
Share-based compensation
expenses included in:
Cost of revenues (872) 157 386 56
Selling and
marketing expenses 262 497 (271) (39)
Research and
development
expenses (599) 4,145 7,158 1,038
General and
administrative
expenses 15,367 29,503 17,005 2,465
ZHIHU INC.
UNAUDITED CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED BALANCE SHEETS
(All amounts in thousands)
As of December 31, As of March 31,
2025 2026
------------------ ------------------
RMB RMB US$
ASSETS
Current assets:
Cash and cash equivalents 3,369,154 2,992,056 433,757
Term deposits 30,000 - -
Short-term investments 840,938 1,288,233 186,755
Restricted cash 1,078 - -
Trade receivables 357,998 389,837 56,514
Amounts due from related
parties 25,570 27,327 3,962
Prepayments and other current
assets 107,265 100,083 14,509
------------------ --------- -------
Total current assets 4,732,003 4,797,536 695,497
------------------ --------- -------
Non-current assets:
Property and equipment, net 5,349 4,312 625
Intangible assets, net 29,588 27,908 4,046
Long-term investments, net 158,480 33,638 4,876
Term deposits 210,000 210,000 30,444
Right-of-use assets 42,063 31,938 4,630
Other non-current assets 13,391 13,866 2,010
------------------ --------- -------
Total non-current assets 458,871 321,662 46,631
------------------ --------- -------
Total assets 5,190,874 5,119,198 742,128
================== ========= =======
LIABILITIES AND SHAREHOLDERS'
EQUITY
Current liabilities
Accounts payable and accrued
liabilities 681,307 678,778 98,402
Salary and welfare payables 188,038 193,412 28,039
Taxes payables 16,285 36,953 5,357
Contract liabilities 186,034 222,023 32,186
Amounts due to related parties 16,135 6,017 872
Short term lease liabilities 21,382 18,118 2,627
Short-term borrowings 35,000 - -
Other current liabilities 124,233 112,491 16,308
------------------ --------- -------
Total current liabilities 1,268,414 1,267,792 183,791
------------------ --------- -------
Non-current liabilities
Long term lease liabilities 15,592 9,345 1,355
Deferred tax liabilities 27,174 6,221 902
Other non-current liabilities 4,650 5,968 865
------------------ --------- -------
Total non-current
liabilities 47,416 21,534 3,122
------------------ --------- -------
Total liabilities 1,315,830 1,289,326 186,913
------------------ --------- -------
Total Zhihu Inc.'s shareholders'
equity 3,804,136 3,755,588 544,446
Noncontrolling interests 70,908 74,284 10,769
------------------ --------- -------
Total shareholders' equity 3,875,044 3,829,872 555,215
------------------ --------- -------
Total liabilities and
shareholders' equity 5,190,874 5,119,198 742,128
================== ========= =======
ZHIHU INC.
UNAUDITED RECONCILIATIONS OF GAAP AND NON-GAAP RESULTS
(All amounts in thousands)
For the Three Months Ended
--------------------------------------------
March 31, December 31, March 31,
2025 2025 2026
--------- ------------
RMB RMB RMB US$
Loss from
operations (52,603) (263,864) (62,885) (9,116)
Add:
Share-based
compensation
expenses 14,158 34,302 24,278 3,520
Amortization
and impairment
of intangible
assets
resulting from
business
acquisitions 3,490 13,950 1,510 219
Impairment of
goodwill - 126,344 - -
-------- ----------- ------- ------
Adjusted loss from
operations (34,955) (89,268) (37,097) (5,377)
======== =========== ======= ======
Net loss (10,108) (210,790) (8,527) (1,235)
Add:
Share-based
compensation
expenses 14,158 34,302 24,278 3,520
Amortization
and impairment
of intangible
assets
resulting from
business
acquisitions 3,490 13,950 1,510 219
Impairment of
goodwill - 126,344 - -
Tax effects on
non-GAAP
adjustments (600) (3,215) (105) (15)
-------- ----------- ------- ------
Adjusted net
income/(loss) 6,940 (39,409) 17,156 2,489
======== =========== ======= ======
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
June 03, 2026 05:10 ET (09:10 GMT)
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