BRIEF: Zhihu’s loss narrows sharply on improving margins

Online Q&A platform Zhihu Inc. (2390.HK; ZH.US) announced on Tuesday its revenue fell 17.3% year-on-year to 845 million yuan ($120.4 million) in the third quarter. But the company’s gross margin improved to 63.9% from 53.7% over the same period, helping the company to sharply narrow its net loss by 96.8% to 9 million yuan.

In the third quarter, Zhihu’s average monthly active users (MAUs) reached 81.1 million, up from 80.6 million in the second quarter, but down 26.6% year-on-year. Its monthly subscribers totaled 16.5 million in the latest period, up 11% year-on-year.

Zhihu said its total costs and operating expenses decreased by 35.6% and 30.5%, respectively, in the latest quarter, driven by enhanced operational efficiency and disciplined cost management. Its AI search product, Zhihu Zhida, continued to maintain strong growth in the quarter.

Zhihu’s stock fell 2.17% to $3.60 in New York on Tuesday after the release of the report.

By Lee Shih Ta

To subscribe to Bamboo Works weekly free newsletter, click here