Zhihu Inc.
- Open
- 2.82
- Day high
- 2.85
- Day low
- 2.75
- Prev close
- 2.85
- Volume
- 603K
- Mkt cap
- $239M
- P/E (TTM)
- —
- EPS (TTM)
- —
- P/B
- 0.4
- P/S
- 0.6
- Yield
- —
- Per share
- —
- ▼Insiders net selling -$1K over the last 3 months (0 open-market buys, 1 sale)
- 🏛Institutions reducing (13F)
Zhihu Inc. (ZH) is a Communication Services company listed on NYSE. The stock is down 42% over the past year. Over the trailing 3 months, insiders filed 0 open-market buys and 1 sale (SEC Form 4). Drillr has 1 published research article covering ZH.
Zhihu Inc. (ZH) financials & analyst ratings
Fundamentals (TTM)
Source: exchange market data + company filings. Figures are trailing-twelve-month or as most recently reported. For informational purposes only — not investment advice.
ZH earnings date, history & EPS estimates
| Report date | EPS est | EPS actual | Surprise | Revenue | Rev. surprise |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aug 26, 2026 | $-0.01 | $-0.07 | -501.4% | $102M | -1.8% |
| Jun 3, 2026 | — | $-0.02 | — | $94M | +4.1% |
| Mar 25, 2026 | $-0.01 | $-0.37 | -3127.4% | $92M | +0.1% |
| Nov 25, 2025 | $-0.08 | $-0.03 | +62.5% | $93M | -85.5% |
| Aug 27, 2025 | $-0.12 | $0.15 | +225.0% | $100M | -86.7% |
| May 27, 2025 | $-0.03 | $0.01 | +131.6% | $100M | -87.2% |
| Mar 26, 2025 | — | $0.16 | — | $118M | +4.7% |
| Nov 26, 2024 | — | $-0.03 | — | $120M | -10.1% |
| Aug 22, 2024 | — | $-0.07 | — | $129M | -4.0% |
| Jun 12, 2024 | — | $-0.19 | — | $133M | +15.1% |
| Nov 29, 2023 | $-0.46 | $-0.30 | +34.8% | $140M | -10.8% |
| Aug 23, 2023 | $-0.39 | $-0.30 | +23.1% | $144M | +0.1% |
ZH insider trading activity (SEC Form 4)
| Date | Insider | Type | Shares | Price |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jun 12, 2026 | Ni Hopedirector | Option | 33,867 | — |
| Jun 12, 2026 | Chen Derekdirector | Grant | 135,468 | — |
| Jun 12, 2026 | Ni Hopedirector | Grant | 33,867 | $0.01 |
| Jun 12, 2026 | Cheng Li-Landirector | Option | 33,867 | — |
| Jun 12, 2026 | Cheng Li-Landirector | Grant | 33,867 | $0.01 |
| Jun 12, 2026 | Cheng Li-Landirector | Sell | 360 | $2.85 |
| Apr 21, 2026 | Wang Hanofficer: Chief Financial Officer | Grant | 330,000 | $0.01 |
Source: ZH SEC Form 4 filings, latest Jun 12, 2026. For informational purposes only — not investment advice.
See the full ZH insider & 13F page →Zhihu Inc. company profile
Overview
Zhihu Inc. (NYSE:ZH) is a Chinese online content community platform founded in 2010 and headquartered in Beijing. The company went public on the New York Stock Exchange in March 2021. Zhihu operates as China's equivalent to Quora, providing a question-and-answer platform where users seek knowledge, share expertise, and engage in professional discussions. The platform has evolved from a simple Q&A site into a comprehensive content ecosystem that includes paid memberships, vocational training, and AI-powered search capabilities.
Business
Zhihu operates in the online content and information industry, specifically focusing on knowledge-sharing and professional content creation. The platform serves as a digital community where users can ask questions, provide answers, and share expertise across various topics ranging from technology and business to lifestyle and entertainment. The company's core offering is its content community platform, which allows users to post questions, write detailed answers, publish articles, and engage in discussions. Unlike social media platforms focused on entertainment, Zhihu emphasizes high-quality, professional content that provides genuine value to users seeking knowledge or solutions to specific problems. Zhihu's business operates through three main segments: 1. Paid Membership Services (approximately 54% of revenue): This segment offers premium content access, ad-free browsing, exclusive articles, audiobooks, and enhanced user features. Subscribers pay monthly or annual fees for access to premium content and services. 2. Marketing Services (approximately 31% of revenue): This includes both brand advertising and performance-based advertising. Companies pay to promote their products or services to Zhihu's educated, professional user base through various ad formats integrated into the platform. 3. Vocational Training (approximately 15% of revenue): Zhihu offers online courses and professional development programs, leveraging its community of experts to provide educational content in areas like technology, business skills, and career development. The platform has also launched Zhihu Zhida, an AI-powered search feature that helps users find relevant information more efficiently by leveraging artificial intelligence and the platform's extensive content database.
Revenue model
Zhihu generates revenue through multiple business models targeting different customer segments. The company primarily makes money through subscription fees, advertising revenue, and course sales. The Paid Membership business operates on a subscription model where individual users pay monthly or annual fees (typically ranging from RMB 19-30 per month) for premium features including ad-free browsing, exclusive content access, audiobooks, and enhanced search capabilities. With 14.1 million average monthly subscribers, this represents the company's largest and most stable revenue stream. The Marketing Services segment generates revenue through advertising fees paid by businesses wanting to reach Zhihu's educated, professional user base. This includes both brand advertising (companies paying for awareness campaigns) and performance-based advertising (companies paying based on clicks, conversions, or other metrics). Advertisers are typically attracted to Zhihu's high-quality audience demographics. The Vocational Training business sells online courses and professional development programs directly to consumers, with course prices varying based on content complexity and duration. This segment has shown strong growth, expanding from 5% to 15% of total revenue. Several factors affect Zhihu's margins positively or negatively. Positive margin drivers include the scalable nature of digital content (once created, content can serve unlimited users), growing paid membership adoption, and AI automation reducing content moderation costs. Negative margin pressures come from intense competition with other Chinese internet platforms like Tencent and ByteDance, content creator incentive payments needed to maintain quality, regulatory compliance costs in China's evolving internet landscape, and significant technology infrastructure investments required for AI development and platform scaling.
Competitive moat
Zhihu's competitive moat is moderately strong but faces significant challenges. The company's primary moat stems from its network effects and content repository. With over 874 million cumulative content pieces and 77 million content creators, Zhihu has built China's largest repository of professional, question-and-answer content. This creates a virtuous cycle where more users attract more content creators, which in turn attracts more users seeking high-quality information. The platform benefits from switching costs as users become accustomed to Zhihu's interface, build their reputation through contributions, and develop social connections within the community. Content creators invest significant time building their follower base and expertise reputation, making them reluctant to start over on competing platforms. However, Zhihu's moat faces substantial threats. Big Tech competition poses the greatest risk, as companies like Tencent, Alibaba, and ByteDance have significantly more resources and could launch competing knowledge-sharing platforms. The rise of AI-powered search and chatbots like ChatGPT and Baidu's Ernie Bot could potentially reduce demand for human-generated Q&A content, as users might prefer instant AI responses over browsing community discussions. Additionally, regulatory risks in China's internet sector create uncertainty, as government policies could impact content moderation requirements, data usage, or platform operations. The company's dependence on the Chinese market also limits diversification options compared to global platforms. While Zhihu has established itself as China's leading knowledge-sharing platform, its moat is not insurmountable and requires continuous innovation and community engagement to maintain its competitive position.
Risks & safety
Zhihu demonstrates a strong margin of safety from a balance sheet perspective, though operational profitability remains elusive. **Financial Strength:** - Cash and short-term investments: RMB 5.45 billion (approximately $750 million) - Current ratio: 3.6x indicating strong liquidity - Debt-to-equity ratio: 0.005 showing minimal debt burden - No significant solvency risk given substantial cash reserves **Profitability Concerns:** - Negative EBITDA of RMB 63 million in FY 2024 - Operating cash flow negative RMB 38 million - Company targeting quarterly profitability by Q4 2024 but has missed previous targets **Valuation Metrics:** - Price-to-book ratio: 0.57x suggesting potential undervaluation - Graham net-net working capital suggests intrinsic value around $13 per share vs current price near $1.30 - EV/EBITDA negative due to losses but improving trend **Other Considerations:** - Active share buyback program with $121.5 million repurchased in Q3 2024 - Revenue declining but cost structure improving - Strong competitive position in Chinese knowledge-sharing market provides strategic value
Recent development
Over the past few years, Zhihu has undergone significant strategic transformation focused on achieving profitability and embracing artificial intelligence. The company's most notable development has been the launch of Zhihu Zhida, an AI-powered search platform that leverages the company's extensive content database. Launched in late 2023, Zhida has grown to 10 million monthly active users and represents Zhihu's attempt to compete in the AI-driven information retrieval market. The company has also pursued aggressive cost optimization initiatives, reducing total operating expenses by 30.5% year-over-year in Q3 2024. This includes organizational restructuring and improved operational efficiency measures aimed at achieving the long-stated goal of quarterly profitability by Q4 2024. In terms of business diversification, Zhihu has expanded its vocational training segment, which has grown from contributing 5% of revenue in 2022 to 15% by 2024. The company launched new course categories and integrated AI tools to enhance learning experiences. Additionally, Zhihu introduced the Yanyan Stories app, a standalone platform for fiction content, separating entertainment content from its core professional knowledge-sharing platform. The platform has also enhanced its creator economy initiatives, implementing new revenue-sharing models and support programs to attract and retain high-quality content creators. This includes expanding beyond text to include video content, audiobooks, and live streaming capabilities. Most recently, Zhihu has focused on community quality improvements, implementing stricter controls on AI-generated content and algorithm optimizations to promote professional, authentic content over low-quality posts. The company reinstated popular features like Zhihu Column and diversified creator monetization options to strengthen its content ecosystem.
ZH company profile · for informational purposes only — not investment advice.
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