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Image source: The Motley Fool. Wednesday, Aug. 26, 2026 at 7 a.m. ET Investor Relations - Jamie Leung Founder, Chairman and Executive Officer - Yuan Zhou Chief Financial Officer - Wang Han Chief Operating Officer - Zhang Ronghua Operator: Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for standing by, and welcome to the Zhihu, Inc. Second Quarter 2026 Financial Results Conference Call. [Operator Instructions]. Today's conference is being recorded and webcasted. At this time, I would like to turn the conference over to Jamie Leung of Investor Relations. Please go ahead, ma'am. Unknown Executive: Thank you, Sharon. Hello, everyone. Welcome to Zhihu's Second Quarter 2026 Financial Results Conference Call. Joining me today from our senior management team are Mr. Zhou Yuan, Founder, Chairman and Executive Officer; Mr. Wang Han, Chief Financial Officer; and Mr. Zhang Ronghua, Chief Operating Officer. Before we begin, I'd like to remind you that today's discussion will include forward-looking statements made under the safe harbor provisions of the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These statements involve inherent risks and uncertainties. As such, actual results may be materially different from the views expressed today. Further information regarding included in our public filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. The company does not assume any obligation to update any forward-looking statements, except as required under applicable law. Additionally, today's discussion will include both GAAP and non-GAAP financial measures for comparison purposes only. For a reconciliation of these non-GAAP measures to the most directly comparable GAAP measures, please refer to our earnings release issued earlier today. A replay of this conference call will be available on our IR website at ir.zhihu.com. And today, Mr. Zhou Yuan will deliver prepared remarks in Chinese and followed by English translation. Please go ahead, sir. Yuan Zhou: [Interpreted] Hello, everyone, and thank you for joining Zhihu's Second Quarter 2026 Earnings Call. Today, I will cover 3 areas: our core business performance in the second quarter, how AI is expanding the value of our community content, IP and expert network and our priorities for. Let me start with our core businesses. Overall, our core business remained stable, while some areas continue to adjust and recover. In the second quarter, total revenue were RMB 690 million, down 3.7% year-over-year and up 5.9% sequentially with a year-over-year decline narrowing further. Adjusted net loss was RMB 10.25 million, reflecting changes in the revenue mix and phased business investments. Our CFO will discuss the financial details shortly. Community engagement among core users remained stable. Average daily time spent was about 39 minutes, broadly unchanged. Daily creation of high-quality content grew more than 16%. As AIGC makes content creation easier, authentic experiences, clear sourcing and professional judgment are becoming more valuable. These remain the foundation of Zhihu and our long-term value. Turning to Marketing Services. Revenue were RMB 199 million, down 10.7% year-over-year and up 4% sequentially. We continue to focus on key verticals, including technology, automotive, consumer electronics and home appliances and gaming. Spending on performance 1% sequentially, including a 22% increase in gaming. This has not yet translated into a broader recovery in the marketing revenue, but it supports our strategy of strengthening key verticals, products and algorithms. Marketing services remain in structural recovery and we will continue to improve the matching of professional content, user needs and client demand. For paid content and IP, revenue reached RMB 426 million, up 4.4% year-over-year and 5.9% sequentially. Average monthly subscribing members were 13.11 million, broadly stable, while member ARPU also remained stable. We continue to improve membership content and product experience while expanding knowledge-based offerings. IP operation continued to contribute incremental growth. Licensing increasing 105% sequentially and 600% year-over-year. We're expanding Yanyan Story IP from onetime licensing towards multi-format for life cycle development. Overall, challenges remain, but our business mix continues to adjust and our strategic direction remain unchanged. We'll continue to stabilize our core businesses while maintaining the investment discipline. Next, I would like to focus on Zhihu in the AI area. Zhihu starts with the community bringing the value accumulated within Zhihu to more people through new products, formats and use cases. The real users, professional content IP and our expert network remain our most important assets. AI is helping extend these capabilities into new applications and commercial scenarios. First, the community will become more open. AI changing how content is discovered and used. For Zhihu, openness does not mean changing our positioning. It means enabling the high-quality content to reach more users and developers through the AI tools and applications. This requires clear cultures around content sourcing, creator rights and community values. We are further integrating Zhihu Zhida with Zhihu Search, making AI-powered search a new gateway to community content rather than a substitute for it. Early testing has shown positive signals for user retention. We're also exploring community agents. AI Kanshan is one example. Rather than another general purpose chatbot, we wanted to help users explore Zhihu and discover real people, professional content and diverse perspectives. The product remains at an early testing stage and our focus is on content discovery, interaction and retention. AI Works now hosts more than 2,600 AI projects. While the open data platform API has attracted more than 17,600 professional developers, about 20% were not previously Zhihu creators. We also released an updated Zhihu CLI, making it easier to discover and use Zhihu content across AI tools. Through AI search, agents, open platforms and developer tools, Zhihu's content and professional capabilities can reach more user developers and clients beyond the Zhihu app. We believe AI is becoming a new medium that can help existing content, reach new audiences, enable new applications and create new opportunities in content licensing, brand content assets and expert services. Second, marketing services are evolving from traffic value towards the content asset value. As more information discovery happens through AI, brands increasingly care not only about visibility, but also whether the professional information can be accurately understood and cited by AI. We're helping brands build professional content assets with clear sourcing. Unlike a one-off campaign, these assets can continue to be discovered and used across search, AI and other channels, creating longer-term value. Our AI content asset offering remains at early stage. In the second quarter, the number of clients increased 50% sequentially. This does not yet represent a stable or scalable revenue contribution, but it's beginning to demonstrate new commercial value. Going forward, we'll focus on client outcomes with demand and product standardization. Third, AI is accelerating the expansion of IP into multimedia formats. AI is lowering the cost and barriers of turning text-based IP into multimedia formats. For Zhihu, this allows our large base of original content to be developed more efficiently into comic dramas, short dramas, film and television and other formats. A meaningful portion of the comic drama projects monetized this quarter came from the works created in 2025 or earlier. This shows that high-quality IP can return value over time, while technology improves the development efficiency and expands its reach. In the first half, we also explore in-house with some projects showing encouraging early results. However, we'll remain disciplined and will not materially increase asset heavy investment. We flexibly choose more licensing in-house and commission production based on the project economics. Going forward, we'll continue to strengthen our capabilities in IP selection, development and cross-format operations to unlock more value from our content library. Fourth, expert data solutions are evolving from project delivery towards reusable capabilities. AI is creating new ways to use Zhihu's experts capabilities, not only creating content for users, experts can now help translate the professional judgment into model capabilities through training data, model evaluation and complex task design. We position as a research-driven data lab. We identify model capability gaps and develop training data, evaluation systems and complex task environments to help improve the model performance. In the first half, we completed projects across coding, search and deep research, visual reasoning and agents while building capabilities spanning model analysis. Our expert network plays an important role in defining the professional tasks, setting quality standards and evaluating whether model outputs meet the professional requirements. We're also becoming more proactive in identifying model gaps, developing training data and valuation methods in-house and validating the value through the actual model performance. Our goal is not one-off data delivery, but reusable capabilities that can evolve across clients and model iterations. In the next phase, we'll continue and extend them into products, complex, tasks and environments. Finally, let me briefly summarize. In the second quarter, our core community remained resilient. Paid content remained stable, IP operation continued to grow and marketing services improved sequentially. Our position in the AI area is also becoming clear. Our authentic professional and trustworthy community remain the foundation, while AI helps us reach new users application and commercial scenarios. In the second half, we'll focus on 2 priorities. First, will [indiscernible] improving user experience, maintaining a stable membership base, improving IP development efficiency and advancing the structural recovery of marketing services. And second, we'll continue to validate AI-driven opportunities across our open community ecosystem, AI content assets, IP and expert data solutions by focusing on real demand, client value, capability reuse and ROI. Initial validation does not mean these initiatives have become stable growth drivers. Sustainability may fluctuate due to the business timing and phase investments. Our long-term goals of improving operating efficiency and returning sustainable profitability remain unchanged. Over the long term, we want Zhihu to be not only an authentic, professional and trustworthy community, but also an important platform connecting content, knowledge and AI applications. Thank you. I will now hand over to our CFO to review the quarter's financial performance. Wang Han: I will now go over our second quarter issued earlier today. During the second quarter, our revenue trend continued to improve sequentially, supported by growth in paid content and IP operations. At the same time, disciplined cost management drove year-over-year reduction in operating expenses and operating losses. Now turning to the financial highlights of the second quarter. Our total revenues for the quarter were RMB 690.1 million, down 3.7% year-over-year and up 5.9% sequentially. The sequential growth was primarily driven by content and operations. Marketing services revenue was RMB 199 million compared with RMB 222.8 million in the same period of 2025. The decrease primarily reflected our proactive and ongoing refinement of service offerings. Sequentially, marketing services revenue increased by 4%, with improving traction in key verticals and performance-based products. We also continue to make early progress in AI-related commercial use cases. Content and IP operations revenue was RMB 425.9 million, up 4.4% year-over-year and 5.9% sequentially, primarily driven by continued growth in IP operations. Average monthly subscribing members remained stable at 13.1 million. We will continue to strengthen our paid content offerings while developing and monetizing selected IP across multiple formats with disciplined attention to project returns and risk. Other revenues were RMB 86 million in the same period of 2025. The decrease was primarily due to the continued strategic refinement of our vocational training business. Sequentially, other revenues increased by 12.7% and year-over-year decline continued to narrow. Our gross profit for the quarter was RMB 393.4 million compared with RMB 448.2 million in the same period of 2025. Gross margin was 57% compared with 62.5% in the period 2025. The decline in gross margin primarily reflected our continued efforts to broaden and enhance our content offerings. Total operating expenses decreased by 13% to RMB 469.4 million from RMB 539.2 million in the same period of 2025, reflecting continued efficiency improvements across our operations. Selling and marketing expenses decreased by 5.4% to RMB 308.7 million from RMB 326.3 million in the same period disciplined marketing spending. Research and development expenses decreased by 25.4% to RMB 108.6 million from RMB 145.7 million in the same period of 2025, primarily attributable to continued improvements in our research and development efficiency. General and administrative expenses decreased by 22.7% to RMB 52 million from RMB 67.3 million in the same period of 2025, primarily attributable to lower personnel-related expenses. On a non-GAAP basis, adjusted loss from operations narrowed by 32% to RMB 48.7 million from RMB 71.5 million in the same period of 2025. Investment income was RMB 16.4 million compared with RMB 140.8 million in the same period of 2025. The decrease was primarily due to an unrealized gain from the fair value remeasurement of our investment in a privately held company in the same period of 2025. RMB 37.4 million compared with net income of RMB 72.5 million in the same period of 2025. On a non-GAAP basis, adjusted net loss was RMB 10.3 million compared with adjusted net income of RMB 91.3 million in the same period of 2025. As of June 30, 2026, we had RMB 4.4 billion in cash and cash equivalents, time deposits, restricted cash and short-term investments, maintaining a solid liquidity position to support our -- as of June 30, 2026, we had repurchased an aggregate of 41.3 million Class A ordinary shares for a total consideration of USD 77.9 million on both New York Stock Exchange and the Stock Exchange of Hong Kong. During the second quarter, we repurchased 6.5 million Class A ordinary shares for a total consideration of USD 7.2 million. Looking ahead, we will continue to balance selective investments in new initiatives with operating efficiency. So our quarterly profitability may be affected investment. Our long-term objective of improving operating efficiency and returning to sustainable profitability remains unchanged. We will also maintain a disciplined approach to our capital allocation and continue to execute share repurchase to enhance long-term shareholder returns. This concludes my prepared remarks on our financial performance for the quarter. I'll turn the call over to the operator for the Q&A session. Operator: [Operator Instructions] And your first question today comes from the line of Thomas Chong from Jefferies. Thomas Chong: [Interpreted] So my question is how should we think the revenue and profit trend in the second half of the year? And under the business adjustments and new business investments, are there any fluctuation between quarters? Yuan Zhou: [Interpreted] This is speaking on behalf of CEO. Looking into the second half, we do not think it's the sequential improvement seen in the second quarter and different business have different operating rhythms. And marketing services remain in a period of structural recovery like we mentioned before and may continue to be affected by changes in client budgets and industrial demand. Will strengthen our product R&D and especially the performance advertising capabilities and also increase the value per unit of traffic rather than drive. Paid content remains relatively stable, while IP operations will be influenced by project timing. Recent changes in industry standards and filing requirements may also affect the launch timing of certain projects. At the same time, we're still validating the new capabilities like AI content assets and expert data solutions. We have seen like demand and client validation, but it might take time until we see scalable revenue contribution and will also require some near-term investments. So at this stage, we are more focused on the stability of our core businesses while new initiatives can create real client value and reusable stuff and ROI. We'll continue to invest prudently. Our long-term goals remain to improve our revenue mix and return to sustainable profitability. Operator: Your next question today comes from the line of Vicky Wei from Citi. Yi Jing Wei: [Interpreted] Would management share some color about your view on the AI-generated comic dramas? And how should we think of Zhihu's advantages? Zhang Ronghua: [Interpreted] This is speaking on behalf of COO. We are very positive on the AI comic drama market and believe the industry is still in a clear growth trend. On one hand, AI content generation capabilities continue to improve rapidly, including like character consistency, visual quality motion and the overall production efficiency. And on the other hand, as more creators enter the market, we're seeing greater diversity in ideas and formats. So AI comic dramas are gradually becoming a new form of content consumption. As the production continue to improve, we expect content quality and user acceptance to rise further. At the same time, the basis of competition is also changing. In the early stage, the focus was on like who could adopt AI faster and produce content at lower cost. As AI production become more widely available, the real scarcity shifts back to the content itself, like the good stories is a sustainable pipeline of creative ideas and the ability to consistently turn IP into compelling virtual content. And this is where Zhihu has a clear advantage through Yanyan Story and other products. We have built a broader -- a broad ecosystem of original stories and creators. Our advantage is not simply the size of the library, but our ability to continuously generate the new content and identify the strongest titles supported by well-established creators. And this helps reduce the trial and error costs in IP development and improved the overall efficiency of our content portfolio. We're already seeing validated in the AI comic. According to the third-party data, in the first half of 2026, Yanyan story became one of the leading IP providers for native AI comic dramas on TikTok and ranked among the top 3 IP providers on Hongguo. We also began the in-house and commission production in the second quarter and have seen encouraging hit rate so far. As AI creates new media formats, a strong story can be visualized and in this way, AI helps extend the life cycle of quality IP and improve the monetization efficiency of our existing content assets. Strategically, our focus is to build on Zhihu's strength in the content and our creator ecosystem, like we mentioned before. While using AI to improve the development efficiency across the scripting production and distribution, we will remain flexible in our business models, including licensing in-house where the market demand and project economics are well validated, we may selectively move further upstream in the value chain. Over the long term, we believe Zhihu's moat in this market will come from a combination of capabilities including a sustainable supply of the original IP content selection based on real user behavior, a stable creator ecosystem and a clear license framework and AI-enabled cross-media IP development. Operator: Your next question today comes from the line of Xueqing Zhang from CICC. Xueqing Zhang: [Interpreted] Can management elaborate a little more on the business model for expert data solutions and what's Zhihu's advantage in this business? Zhang Ronghua: [Interpreted] As a data lab focused on improving frontier model capabilities. So simply put, we continuously study where models still have capability gaps, identify the tasks they cannot perform reliably and then design the training data, complex task environments and benchmarks around these gaps. We then validate whether these efforts actually improve the performance through the training and evaluation. Our goal is not simply to deliver data, but to solve the specific model capability problems for our clients. Business model currently includes the customized R&D projects based on the clients' frontier needs, where we're also increasing our own research and exploring ways to productize selected like capabilities. As we complete more projects, we aim to standardize and reuse our data pipelines, environment building capabilities, like evaluation frameworks and know-how across like more clients and different generations of models. And these should improve both scalability and capability reuse. Zhihu expert network is an important part. At the same time, we are building an end-to-end R&D loop from identifying model gaps and designing tasks and training signals, to building environments and graders and ultimately validating model performance. In areas such as coding, search and deep research, data production increasingly rely on the model requirements rather than the large-scale manual work. Experts, therefore, play a greater role in setting standards, providing the professional judgment and validating the results. The investment profile of this business will differ from the traditional one. Going forward, more investment will be directed towards compute model usage and R&D infrastructure with the goal of building capabilities that can continuously evolve and be reused. So at this stage, we are focused on 3 things: whether we can consistently improve the model performance, whether the long-term relationships with the clients and whether our capabilities can be reused across them. So if these metrics continue to validate, resources in a measured way based on the client demand and the ROI. And thank you. Operator: That concludes today's Q&A session. At this time, I will turn the conference back Jamie for any additional or closing remarks. The conference has now concluded. Thank you for attending today's presentation. You may now disconnect. [Portions of this transcript that are marked [Interpreted] were spoken by an interpreter present on the live call.] Before you buy stock in Zhihu, consider this: The Motley Fool Stock Advisor analyst team just identified what they believe are the 10 best stocks for investors to buy now… and Zhihu wasn’t one of them. The 10 stocks that made the cut are built for long-term growth and could produce monster returns in the coming years. 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As with all our articles, The Motley Fool does not assume any responsibility for your use of this content, and we strongly encourage you to do your own research, including listening to the call yourself and reading the company's SEC filings. Please see our Terms and Conditions for additional details, including our Obligatory Capitalized Disclaimers of Liability. The Motley Fool has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. Zhihu (ZH) Q2 2026 Earnings Call Transcript was originally published by The Motley Fool

This article first appeared on GuruFocus. Total Revenue: RMB690.1 million, down 3.7% year-over-year and up 5.9% sequentially. Marketing Services Revenue: RMB199 million, down 10.7% year-over-year and up 4% sequentially. Content and IP Operations Revenue: RMB425.9 million, up 4.4% year-over-year and 5.9% sequentially. Other Revenues: RMB86 million, with a year-over-year decline narrowing and a 12.7% sequential increase. Gross Profit: RMB393.4 million, with a gross margin of 55%. Total Operating Expenses: Decreased by 13% to RMB469.4 million. Selling and Marketing Expenses: Decreased by 5.4% to RMB308.7 million. Research and Development Expenses: Decreased by 25.4% to RMB108.6 million. General and Administrative Expenses: Decreased by 22.7% to RMB52 million. Adjusted Loss from Operations: Narrowed by 32% to RMB48.7 million. Net Loss: RMB37.4 million, compared with net income of RMB72.5 million in the same period of 2025. Adjusted Net Loss: RMB10.3 million, compared with adjusted net income of RMB91.3 million in the same period of 2025. Average Monthly Subscribing Members: 13.11 million, broadly stable. Cash and Investments: RMB4.4 billion in cash, cash equivalents, term deposits, restricted cash, and short-term investments as of June 30, 2026. Share Repurchases: Repurchased 6.5 million Class A ordinary shares for USD7.2 million during the second quarter. Warning! GuruFocus has detected 5 Warning Signs with ZH. Is ZH fairly valued? Test your thesis with our free DCF calculator. Release Date: August 26, 2026 For the complete transcript of the earnings call, please refer to the full earnings call transcript. Total revenue grew 5.9% sequentially to RMB619 million, with the year-over-year decline narrowing. Paid content and IP revenue increased 4.4% year-over-year to RMB426 million, driven by IP licensing growth of 105% sequentially. Daily creation of high-quality content grew over 16%, and average daily time spent remained stable at 39 minutes. AI initiatives are gaining traction: AI content asset clients grew 50% sequentially, and the open-data platform attracted over 17,600 developers. Operating expenses decreased 13% year-over-year, and adjusted loss from operations narrowed by 32%. Total revenue declined 3.7% year-over-year, reflecting ongoing business adjustments. Marketing services revenue fell 10.7% year-over-year, with no broad recovery yet despite sequential improvement. Gross margin dropped to 55% from 62.5% due to increased content investment. Adjusted net loss was RMB10.3 million, swinging from adjusted net income of RMB91.3 million in the prior year. Other revenues decreased due to strategic refinements in the vocational training business. Q: How should we think about revenue and profit trending in the second half of the year, and are there any fluctuations between quarters due to business adjustments and new business investments? A: Yuan Zhou (CEO) stated that the sequential improvement seen in the second quarter is expected to continue, but different businesses have different operating rhythms. Marketing services remain in a period of structural recovery and may be affected by client budgets and industry demand. Paid content remains stable, while IP operations will be influenced by project timing and recent industry standard changes. New initiatives like AI content assets and expert data solutions are being validated but may take time to contribute scalable revenue and require near-term investments. The company's long-term goals remain improving revenue mix and returning to sustainable profitability. Q: Could management share some color on the view of AI-generated comic dramas and how should we think of Zhihu's advantages? A: Rongle Zhang (COO) expressed a positive outlook on the AI comic drama market, noting rapid improvements in AI content generation capabilities. As AI production becomes more widely available, the real scarcity shifts back to the content itselfgood stories and a sustainable pipeline of creative ideas. Zhihu has a clear advantage through its Yanyan Story ecosystem, which provides a broad base of original stories and creators. According to third-party data, Yanyan Story became one of the leading IP providers for native AI comic dramas on TikTok and ranked among the top three IP providers on Fongo in the first half of 2026. The company will remain flexible in business models, including licensing and in-house production, and may selectively move further up the value chain where project economics are validated. Q: Could management elaborate on the business model for expert data solutions and what is Zhihu's advantage in this business? A: Yuan Zhou (CEO) explained that Zhihu operates as a research-driven data lab focused on improving frontier model capabilities. The business model includes customized R&D projects based on client needs, with a goal to standardize and reuse data pipelines, environment-building capabilities, and evaluation frameworks across more clients and model generations. Zhihu's expert network is crucial for setting quality standards and validating model outputs. The investment profile differs from traditional data businesses, with more resources directed toward compute, model usage, and R&D infrastructure. The company is focused on three key metrics: consistently improving model performance, building long-term client relationships, and ensuring capabilities can be reused across clients. Q: What were the key financial highlights for the second quarter of 2026? A: Han Wang (CFO) reported total revenues of RMB690.1 million, down 3.7% year-over-year but up 5.9% sequentially. Marketing services revenue was RMB199 million, down 10.7% year-over-year but up 4% sequentially. Content and IP operations revenue reached RMB425.9 million, up 4.4% year-over-year and 5.9% sequentially. Gross margin was 55%, down from 62.5% in the prior year period, reflecting continued efforts to broaden content offerings. Total operating expenses decreased by 13% year-over-year. Adjusted net loss was RMB10.3 million, compared with adjusted net income of RMB91.3 million in the same period of 2025. The company maintained RMB4.4 billion in cash and cash equivalents. Q: How is AI expanding the value of Zhihu's community, content, IP, and expert network? A: Yuan Zhou (CEO) outlined four key areas where AI is creating value. First, the community is becoming more open, with Zhihu Jiuda integrated with Zhihu Search, making AI-powered search a new gateway to community content. The open-data platform API has attracted more than 17,600 professional developers, about 20% of whom were not previously Zhihu creators. Second, marketing services are evolving from traffic value toward content asset value, with AI content asset offerings seeing a 50% sequential increase in clients. Third, AI is accelerating IP expansion into multimedia formats, with a meaningful portion of monetized comic drama projects coming from works created in 2025 or earlier. Fourth, expert data solutions are evolving from project delivery toward reusable capabilities across coding, search, deep research, visual reasoning, and agents. Q: What is the current status of the marketing services business and what is the strategy for recovery? A: Yuan Zhou (CEO) noted that marketing services revenue was RMB199 million, down 10.7% year-over-year but up 4% sequentially. The company continues to focus on key verticals including technology, automotive, consumer electronics, home appliances, and gaming. Performance-based spending increased 1% sequentially, including a 22% increase in gaming. Marketing services remain in structural recovery, and the company will continue to improve the matching of professional content with user needs and client demand. The strategy involves strengthening product R&D, especially performance advertising capabilities, and increasing the value per unit of traffic rather than driving volume. Q: How is the paid content and IP operations business performing? A: Yuan Zhou (CEO) reported that paid content and IP revenue reached RMB426 million, up 4.4% year-over-year and 5.9% sequentially. Average monthly subscribing members were 13.11 million, broadly stable, while member ARPU also remained stable. IP operations continued to contribute incremental growth, with licensing increasing 105% sequentially. The company is expanding Yanyan story IP from one-time licensing toward multi-format, full-lifecycle development. The company will continue to improve membership content and product experience while expanding knowledge-based offerings. Q: What is the company's approach to capital allocation and shareholder returns? A: Han Wang (CFO) stated that as of June 13, 2026, the company had repurchased an aggregate of 41.3 million Class A ordinary shares for total consideration of USD77.9 million on both the New York Stock Exchange and the Stock Exchange of Hong Kong. During the second quarter, the company repurchased 6.5 million Class A ordinary shares for total consideration of USD7.2 million. The company will maintain a disciplined approach to capital allocation and continue to execute share repurchases to enhance long-term shareholder returns. Q: What are the company's priorities for the second half of 2026? A: Yuan Zhou (CEO) outlined two main priorities. First, the company will stabilize core businesses by improving user experience, maintaining a stable membership base, improving IP development efficiency, and advancing the structural recovery of marketing services. Second, the company will continue to validate AI-driven opportunities across the open community ecosystem, AI content assets, IP, and expert data solutions by focusing on real demand, client value, capability For the complete transcript of the earnings call, please refer to the full earnings call transcript.

Interested in Zhihu Inc. Sponsored ADR? Here are five stocks we like better. Revenue declined but improved sequentially: Zhihu’s Q2 2026 revenue fell 3.7% year over year to CNY690.1 million, while rising 5.9% from the prior quarter. Growth in content and IP operations, including a 600% year-over-year increase in IP licensing revenue, offset continued weakness in marketing services. Cost controls narrowed operating losses: Operating expenses fell 13% year over year, reducing the non-GAAP adjusted operating loss by 32% to CNY48.7 million. However, gross margin fell to 57% from 62.5%, and adjusted net income from the prior-year period turned into a CNY10.3 million loss. AI initiatives remain early-stage: Zhihu is expanding AI-powered search, AI-generated content, developer tools and expert data solutions, but management said these businesses have not yet become stable or scalable revenue contributors. The company also warned that second-half results could be affected by uncertain marketing budgets and fluctuating IP project timing. Zhihu (NYSE:ZH) reported second-quarter 2026 revenue of CNY690.1 million, down 3.7% from a year earlier but up 5.9% sequentially, as growth in content and intellectual-property operations helped offset continued pressure in marketing services. Founder, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Zhou Yuan said the company’s core business remained stable while certain areas continued to adjust and recover. He pointed to resilient engagement among core users, with average daily time spent at about 39 minutes and daily creation of high-quality content increasing more than 16%. → What Rising Delivery Forecasts Say About Rivian's Stock Prospects “As AIGC makes content creation easier, authentic experiences, clear sourcing, and professional judgment are becoming more valuable,” Zhou said, describing those attributes as central to Zhihu’s long-term value. Chief Financial Officer Han Wang said content and IP operations revenue rose 4.4% year over year and 5.9% from the prior quarter to CNY425.9 million. The increase was primarily driven by continued growth in IP operations. Average monthly subscribing members remained stable at 13.1 million, while management said member average revenue per paying user was also broadly stable. → NVIDIA Reveals $21 Billion SpaceX Stake: Signal of Confidence or Circular Financing? Zhihu’s marketing services revenue declined 10.7% year over year to CNY199 million, though it increased 4% sequentially. Zhou said the company remains focused on technology, automotive, consumer electronics, home appliances and gaming verticals. Performance-advertising spending increased sequentially, including a 22% rise in gaming, but the improvement has not yet produced a broader recovery in marketing revenue. Wang said the decline in marketing services revenue reflected the company’s “proactive and ongoing refinement of service offerings.” Management plans to continue investing in product development, performance advertising capabilities and improving the value generated per unit of traffic, rather than pursuing growth at any cost. → Berkshire Boosts Its Bet: This AI Hyperscaler Is Now a Top-3 Holding IP operations provided a growing contribution during the quarter. Zhou said licensing revenue increased 105% sequentially and 600% from a year earlier. The company is seeking to move IP development beyond one-time licensing toward multi-format and lifecycle-based operations. Chief Operating Officer Zhang Ronghua said Zhihu sees AI-generated comic dramas as a growing content category. He said improvements in AI-generated character consistency, visual quality, motion and production efficiency are expanding the format’s potential. However, Zhang said the scarcity in the market is increasingly shifting from access to production tools to the availability of strong stories and a sustainable creative pipeline. Zhang said YanYan Story was among the leading IP providers for native AI comic dramas on TikTok during the first half of 2026, according to third-party data, and ranked among the top three providers on Hongguo. Zhihu also began in-house production during the second quarter and saw what he described as encouraging early heat rates. The company said it will remain disciplined in its approach, selecting among licensing, in-house production and commissioned production based on project economics rather than materially increasing asset-heavy investments. Zhihu’s gross profit was CNY393.4 million, compared with CNY448.2 million a year earlier, while gross margin declined to 57% from 62.5%. Wang attributed the margin decline primarily to efforts to broaden and improve the company’s content offerings. Total operating expenses fell 13% year over year to CNY469.4 million. Selling and marketing expense declined 5.4% to CNY308.7 million, research and development expense decreased 25.4% to CNY108.6 million, and general and administrative expense fell 22.7% to CNY52 million. Non-GAAP adjusted loss from operations narrowed 32% year over year to CNY48.7 million. Non-GAAP adjusted net loss was CNY10.3 million, compared with adjusted net income of CNY91.3 million a year earlier. Investment income declined to CNY16.4 million from CNY114.8 million, primarily because the prior-year period included an unrealized gain related to the fair-value remeasurement of an investment in a privately held company. As of June 30, Zhihu held CNY4.4 billion in cash and cash equivalents, term deposits, restricted cash and short-term investments. The company repurchased 6.5 million Class A ordinary shares for $7.2 million during the quarter. Cumulatively, it had repurchased 41.3 million Class A ordinary shares for $77.9 million across the New York and Hong Kong exchanges. Management outlined several AI-related initiatives intended to expand the reach and commercial uses of Zhihu’s professional content, IP library and expert network. Zhou said Zhihu is integrating its Zhida product with search to make AI-powered search a gateway to community content, with early testing showing positive signals for user retention. AI Works hosted more than 2,600 AI projects, while Zhihu’s open-data platform API had attracted more than 17,600 professional developers, about 20% of whom were not previously Zhihu creators, Zhou said. The company also released an updated Zhihu CLI to help users discover and use its content across AI tools. Zhihu is developing AI content assets for brands, designed to provide professional information with clear sourcing that can be discovered and cited through search and AI channels. The number of clients using the offering increased 50% sequentially in the second quarter, though Zhou said the business has not yet become a stable or scalable revenue contributor. The company is also positioning its expert data-solutions operation as a research-driven data lab that identifies capability gaps in frontier AI models and develops training data, evaluation systems and complex task environments. Zhou said projects completed during the first half covered coding, search, deep research, visual reasoning and agents. Looking ahead, management cautioned that second-half performance may not follow the sequential improvement seen in the second quarter. Marketing services could remain affected by client budgets and industry demand, while IP revenue may fluctuate with project timing and changes in industry standards and filing requirements. Wang said Zhihu will balance selective investments in new initiatives with operating efficiency. Management reiterated that its longer-term objectives remain improving the revenue mix, increasing operating efficiency and returning to sustainable profitability. Zhihu is China's leading online question-and-answer platform, providing a space where users can ask questions, share knowledge, and engage with content across science, technology, business, culture, and lifestyle. Founded in 2011 and headquartered in Beijing, Zhihu has cultivated a community-driven environment that emphasizes credible, in-depth answers from experts, professionals, and enthusiasts. The company's core service revolves around its Q&A platform, enabling registered users to post questions and receive comprehensive responses. This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to [email protected]. The article "Zhihu Q2 Earnings Call Highlights" was originally published by MarketBeat. View MarketBeat's top stocks for August 2026.

BEIJING, China, Aug. 26, 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 June 30, 2026. Second Quarter 2026 Highlights Total revenues were RMB690.1 million (US$101.7 million), compared with RMB716.9 million in the same period of 2025. Gross margin was 57.0%, compared with 62.5% in the same period of 2025. Net loss was RMB37.4 million (US$5.5 million), compared with a net income of RMB72.5 million in the same period of 2025. Adjusted net loss (non-GAAP)[1] was RMB10.3 million (US$1.5 million), compared with an adjusted net income of RMB91.3 million in the same period of 2025. Average monthly subscribing members[2] were 13.1 million in the second quarter of 2026. “During the second quarter, Zhihu’s authentic, professional, and trustworthy community remained resilient, with stable engagement depth among our core users and continued growth in high-quality content and professional creators,” said Mr. Yuan Zhou, chairman and chief executive officer of Zhihu. “AI is increasingly becoming a new medium connecting users with content, enabling Zhihu’s long-established content, IP and expert capabilities to extend into a broader range of use cases and commercial applications. Our new businesses remain at the commercial validation stage. We will allocate resources based on genuine market demand, customer value and investment returns, while working to stabilize our core businesses and prudently assessing the sustainability of new business opportunities.” “During the second quarter, our total revenues increased by 5.9% quarter-over-quarter, while the year-over-year decline narrowed further,” said Mr. Han Wang, chief financial officer of Zhihu. “Notably, paid content and IP operations achieved year-over-year growth, and our expert data solutions initially validated the end-to-end process from understanding customer needs through delivery at scale. We will continue to balance investments in key businesses with operating efficiency and optimize our revenue mix. We will maintain our disciplined approach and continue to execute share repurchases to maximize long-term value for our shareholders.” Second Quarter 2026 Financial Results Total revenues were RMB690.1 million (US$101.7 million), compared with RMB716.9 million in the same period of 2025. Marketing services revenue was RMB199.0 million (US$29.3 million), compared with RMB222.8 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 RMB425.9 million (US$62.8 million), compared with RMB408.2 million in the same period of 2025. The increase was primarily due to the growth of revenues generated from our IP operations. Other revenues[3][4] were RMB65.2 million (US$9.6 million), compared with RMB86.0 million in the same period of 2025. The decrease was primarily due to the strategic refinement of our vocational training business. Cost of revenues was RMB296.7 million (US$43.7 million), compared with RMB268.7 million in the same period of 2025. The increase was primarily due to an increase in content-related costs. Gross profit was RMB393.4 million (US$58.0 million), compared with RMB448.2 million in the same period of 2025. Gross margin was 57.0%, compared with 62.5% in the same period of 2025. The decrease in gross margin was primarily due to our continued efforts in broadening and enhancing content offerings for all of our users. Total operating expenses decreased by 13.0% to RMB469.4 million (US$69.2 million) from RMB539.2 million in the same period of 2025. Selling and marketing expenses decreased by 5.4% to RMB308.7 million (US$45.5 million) from RMB326.3 million in the same period of 2025. The decrease was primarily due to more disciplined marketing spending. Research and development expenses decreased by 25.4% to RMB108.6 million (US$16.0 million) from RMB145.7 million in the same period of 2025. The decrease was primarily attributable to improvements in our research and development efficiency. General and administrative expenses decreased by 22.7% to RMB52.0 million (US$7.7 million) from RMB67.3 million in the same period of 2025. The decrease was primarily attributable to a decrease in personnel-related expenses. Loss from operations narrowed by 16.6% to RMB75.9 million (US$11.2 million) from RMB91.0 million in the same period of 2025. Adjusted loss from operations (non-GAAP)[1] narrowed by 32.0% to RMB48.7 million (US$7.2 million) from RMB71.5 million in the same period of 2025. Investment income was RMB16.4 million (US$2.4 million), compared with RMB140.8 million in the same period of 2025. The decrease was primarily attributable to unrealized gains as a result of re-measuring the fair value of our investment in a privately held company associated with an observable price change in the second quarter of 2025. Net loss was RMB37.4 million (US$5.5 million), compared with a net income of RMB72.5 million in the same period of 2025. Adjusted net loss (non-GAAP)[1] was RMB10.3 million (US$1.5 million), compared with an adjusted net income of RMB91.3 million in the same period of 2025. Diluted net loss per American depositary share (“ADS”) was RMB0.49 (US$0.07), compared with a diluted net income per ADS of RMB0.88 in the same period of 2025. Cash and cash equivalents, term deposits, restricted cash and short-term investmentsAs of June 30, 2026, the Company had cash and cash equivalents, current and non-current term deposits, restricted cash and short-term investments of RMB4,423.8 million (US$652.0 million), compared with RMB4,451.2 million as of December 31, 2025. Share Repurchase Programs As of June 30, 2026, the Company had repurchased an aggregate of 41.3 million Class A ordinary shares (including Class A ordinary shares underlying the ADSs) for a total consideration of US$77.9 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 second quarter of 2026, the Company repurchased 6.5 million Class A ordinary shares for a total consideration of US$7.2 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,” consist primarily 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, August 26, 2026 (7:00 P.M. Beijing/Hong Kong Time on Wednesday, August 26, 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/BI3c94fe2d0990465dab12836827011f11 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 RMB6.7851 to US$1.00, the exchange rate in effect as of June 30, 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: [email protected] Christensen AdvisoryRoger HuTel: +86-10-5900-1548Email: [email protected]

BEIJING, China, June 30, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Zhihu Inc. (NYSE: ZH; HKEX: 2390) (“Zhihu” or the “Company”), a leading online content community in China, today announced that each of the proposed resolutions submitted for shareholders’ approval (the “Proposed Resolutions”) as set forth in the notice of annual general meeting dated June 8, 2026 (the “AGM Notice”) has been adopted at its annual general meeting of shareholders held in Beijing, China today. After the adoption of the Proposed Resolutions, all corporate authorizations and actions contemplated thereunder are approved, including, among other things, that (i) Mr. Qu Chen, Mr. Zhaohui Li, and Ms. Hope Ni are re-elected as directors of the Company, (ii) the directors of the Company are granted a general mandate to issue, allot, and deal with additional Class A ordinary shares of the Company or equivalents and a general mandate to repurchase the Company’s own shares, respectively, on the terms and in the periods as set out in the AGM Notice, and (iii) the amended and restated 2022 share incentive plan is adopted. 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. 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: [email protected] Christensen AdvisoryRoger HuTel: +86-10-5900-1548Email: [email protected]

Investors in Zhihu Inc. (NYSE:ZH) had a good week, as its shares rose 6.1% to close at US$3.13 following the release of its quarterly results. Overall the results were a little better than the analysts were expecting, with revenues beating forecasts by 3.9%to hit CN¥652m. The analysts typically update their forecasts at each earnings report, and we can judge from their estimates whether their view of the company has changed or if there are any new concerns to be aware of. So we gathered the latest post-earnings forecasts to see what estimates suggest is in store for next year. We've found 21 US stocks that are forecast to pay a dividend yield of over 6% next year. See the full list for free. Following the recent earnings report, the consensus from six analysts covering Zhihu is for revenues of CN¥2.62b in 2026. This implies a small 2.0% decline in revenue compared to the last 12 months. Losses are predicted to fall substantially, shrinking 61% to CN¥0.94. Before this earnings announcement, the analysts had been modelling revenues of CN¥2.50b and losses of CN¥0.35 per share in 2026. While this year's revenue estimates increased, there was also a sizeable expansion in loss per share expectations, suggesting the consensus has a bit of a mixed view on the stock. View our latest analysis for Zhihu The consensus price target stayed unchanged at US$4.55, seeming to suggest that higher forecast losses are not expected to have a long term impact on the valuation. The consensus price target is just an average of individual analyst targets, so - it could be handy to see how wide the range of underlying estimates is. Currently, the most bullish analyst values Zhihu at US$5.70 per share, while the most bearish prices it at US$3.60. Still, with such a tight range of estimates, it suggeststhe analysts have a pretty good idea of what they think the company is worth. One way to get more context on these forecasts is to look at how they compare to both past performance, and how other companies in the same industry are performing. We would highlight that revenue is expected to reverse, with a forecast 2.7% annualised decline to the end of 2026. That is a notable change from historical growth of 4.3% over the last five years. By contrast, our data suggests that other companies (with analyst coverage) in the same industry are forecast to see their revenue grow 15% annually for the foreseeable future. So although its revenues are forecast to shrink, this cloud does not come with a silver lining - Zhihu is expected to lag the wider industry. The most important thing to note is the forecast of increased losses next year, suggesting all may not be well at Zhihu. Fortunately, they also upgraded their revenue estimates, although our data indicates it is expected to perform worse than the wider industry. The consensus price target held steady at US$4.55, with the latest estimates not enough to have an impact on their price targets. With that in mind, we wouldn't be too quick to come to a conclusion on Zhihu. Long-term earnings power is much more important than next year's profits. We have estimates - from multiple Zhihu analysts - going out to 2028, and you can see them free on our platform here. We don't want to rain on the parade too much, but we did also find 1 warning sign for Zhihu that you need to be mindful of. Have feedback on this article? Concerned about the content? Get in touch with us directly. Alternatively, email editorial-team (at) simplywallst.com.This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. We provide commentary based on historical data and analyst forecasts only using an unbiased methodology and our articles are not intended to be financial advice. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned.

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 investmentsAs 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: [email protected] Christensen AdvisoryRoger HuTel: +86-10-5900-1548Email: [email protected]

Interested in Zhihu Inc. Sponsored ADR? Here are five stocks we like better. Zhihu returned to adjusted profitability in Q1 2026, with adjusted net profit of CNY 17.2 million versus an adjusted loss in Q4 2025, while the year-over-year revenue decline narrowed to CNY 651.6 million. Gross margin also improved sequentially as cost controls helped offset softer top-line growth. Paid content and IP operations are becoming a key growth engine, with revenue in that segment up 15.8% sequentially to CNY 402.3 million and monthly subscribing members rising to 13.1 million. Management said the strategy extends Zhihu’s original content into short dramas, film/TV adaptations, and games, supported by strong growth in IP partnerships and creator earnings. AI remains central to Zhihu’s long-term strategy, but management said it will focus on community data, expert data solutions, and AI-driven content formats rather than “burn cash” for growth. The company also said it has removed more than 250,000 pieces of low-quality AI-generated content since the start of 2026 while continuing share repurchases and maintaining a strong cash position. Zhihu (NYSE:ZH) reported a narrower year-over-year revenue decline and a sequential return to adjusted profitability in the first quarter of 2026, as management pointed to improving monetization, growth in intellectual property operations and continued investment in artificial intelligence-related initiatives. Founder, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Zhou Yuan, whose prepared remarks were delivered in English by an AI agent identified as Victor Zhou, said the company’s “high-quality growth strategy” helped strengthen user engagement and the platform’s content ecosystem. Average daily time spent per daily active user reached nearly 42 minutes, increasing both year-over-year and quarter-over-quarter, according to Zhou. → Palantir’s Drone Tailwind Puts Its Defense AI Story Back in Focus for Investors Zhou said Zhihu’s community remains centered on “professional, authentic, and in-depth content from real people,” which he described as a competitive advantage in the AI era. The company also said it is expanding AI capabilities across content creation, discovery, consumption and social interaction while maintaining controls over low-quality AI-generated content. Chief Financial Officer Wang Han said first-quarter revenue was CNY 651.6 million, compared with CNY 729.7 million in the same period of 2025. The decline reflected continued revenue mix optimization and a focus on higher-quality services, he said, while revenue grew sequentially due to contributions from paid content and IP operations. → Best Buy’s AI Laptop Boost Sparks Hope for a BBY Turnaround On a non-GAAP basis, adjusted net profit was CNY 17.2 million, compared with an adjusted net loss of CNY 39.4 million in the fourth quarter of 2025. Adjusted net income also increased from CNY 6.9 million in the prior-year period. The company’s GAAP net loss narrowed to CNY 8.5 million from CNY 10.1 million a year earlier. Gross profit was CNY 388.3 million, down from CNY 451.1 million in the first quarter of 2025. Gross margin was 59.6%, compared with 61.8% a year earlier, but improved from 53.6% in the fourth quarter of 2025. Wang attributed the sequential improvement to cost controls across content and cloud operations. → 3 Up-and-Coming Stocks That Could Be the Next NVIDIA Total operating expenses decreased 10.4% year-over-year to CNY 451.2 million. Selling and marketing expenses fell 11.1% to CNY 285.1 million, while research and development expenses declined 22.4% to CNY 110.1 million. General and administrative expenses rose to CNY 56 million, which Wang said was primarily due to a higher allowance for expected credit losses on trade receivables. Zhihu said it began combining IP-related revenue previously reported in other revenue with paid membership revenue into a new “paid content and IP operations” segment. Zhou said the change better reflects the commercialization potential of the company’s Yan Yan story franchise. Revenue from paid content and IP operations was CNY 402.3 million in the quarter, compared with CNY 420.9 million a year earlier and up 15.8% sequentially. Average monthly subscribing members reached 13.1 million, up 7.9% quarter-over-quarter. Management said the increase was driven by Chinese New Year content consumption and improved customer acquisition efficiency. Chief Operating Officer Zhang Rongle said during the question-and-answer session that the reclassification reflects a broader strategy to move beyond subscription revenue and develop the full commercial life cycle of Zhihu’s original content and IP. Zhang said Zhihu’s short-form original stories can be monetized through short dramas, comic dramas, film and television adaptations and games. Zhang said the number of IP partnerships increased 564% year-over-year and 248% quarter-over-quarter in the first quarter. He also said total creator earnings from copyrights rose 5.6 times from the prior-year period, indicating that Zhihu’s creator ecosystem is contributing more directly to IP commercialization. Marketing services revenue was CNY 191.4 million, compared with CNY 197 million in the same quarter of 2025. Zhou said the year-over-year decline in marketing services narrowed meaningfully, while Wang said the segment showed stabilization due to continued refinement of service offerings. Management cited improved average revenue per user in core verticals such as gaming and automotive, as well as better commercial efficiency across gaming, travel and transportation. Zhou also highlighted the launch of “Tech Bytes,” a technology-themed commercial IP introduced at the Appliance & Electronics World Expo, where Zhihu creators provided guided walkthroughs and technical explanations for consumers. Other revenue was CNY 57.8 million, compared with CNY 111.8 million a year earlier. Wang said the decrease was primarily due to strategic refinements in the vocational training business. Zhou said Zhihu’s expert data solutions business began generating revenue in the quarter and has gained recognition from leading enterprise clients and top-tier AI labs. In response to an analyst question from CICC’s Xueqing Zhang, Zhou said Zhihu does not view its strategy as simply “AI plus” community or adding AI features to the community. Instead, he said users primarily seek cognitive improvement, experience sharing and real connections. Zhou said Zhihu is in a second phase of AI development that includes building a data platform based on cleaned and credibly ranked community data, as well as an open platform that provides access to community APIs. He said Zhihu has opened data to developers through MCP and Skills and has hosted its first hackathon based on the open platform. Wang told Goldman Sachs analyst Lincoln Kong that Zhihu’s AI investment priorities remain AI short dramas and comic dramas, along with expert data solutions. He said these areas have among the healthier cash flow profiles in AI-related verticals and are where Zhihu believes it has advantages. Wang added that the company would not “burn cash to chase growth” and would focus investment on long-term capabilities. The company also described efforts to preserve content quality as AI-generated material increases. Since the start of 2026, Zhihu said it has removed more than 250,000 pieces of low-quality AI-generated content and penalized more than 11,000 violating accounts. As of March 31, 2026, Zhihu had CNY 4.5 billion in cash and cash equivalents, term deposits, restricted cash and short-term investments. Wang said in prepared remarks that, as of March 31, the company had repurchased 34.8 million Class A ordinary shares for an aggregate value of US$70.7 million on the New York Stock Exchange and the Stock Exchange of Hong Kong. During the first quarter, Zhihu repurchased 3.7 million Class A ordinary shares for US$4.2 million. In response to Haitong International analyst Daisy Chen, Wang said Zhihu remains committed to large-scale repurchases. He said that since 2022, the company has repurchased 63.5 million Class A ordinary shares for US$130 million, and that year-to-date in 2026 it had repurchased 4.61 million shares for US$5.06 million. Wang said shares repurchased during the first quarter of 2026 had been fully canceled. Management said it expects 2026 to be a year of “high-quality growth,” with continued focus on operational profitability, execution efficiency and AI-related initiatives tied to content, expert networks and data solutions. Zhihu is China's leading online question-and-answer platform, providing a space where users can ask questions, share knowledge, and engage with content across science, technology, business, culture, and lifestyle. Founded in 2011 and headquartered in Beijing, Zhihu has cultivated a community-driven environment that emphasizes credible, in-depth answers from experts, professionals, and enthusiasts. The company's core service revolves around its Q&A platform, enabling registered users to post questions and receive comprehensive responses. This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to [email protected]. The article "Zhihu Q1 Earnings Call Highlights" was originally published by MarketBeat. View MarketBeat's top stocks for June 2026.

This article first appeared on GuruFocus. Release Date: June 03, 2026 For the complete transcript of the earnings call, please refer to the full earnings call transcript. Zhihu Inc (NYSE:ZH) reported a strong start to 2026 with improved financial performance and operational efficiency. Average daily time spent per DAU increased to approximately 42 minutes, indicating higher user engagement. Revenue from paid content and IP operations grew by 15.8% sequentially, driven by strong IP operations. The company successfully integrated AI capabilities across its platform, enhancing social interactions and content creation. Zhihu Inc (NYSE:ZH) maintained a strong cash position with RMB4.5 billion in cash and cash equivalents as of March 31, 2026. Total revenue for the quarter declined year-over-year from RMB729.7 million in Q1 2025 to RMB651.6 million in Q1 2026. Gross margin decreased to 59.6% from 61.8% in the same period of 2025, although it improved sequentially. Operating expenses remained high, with total operating expenses at RMB451.2 million, despite a year-over-year decrease. The company faced challenges in the macro environment and industry competition, requiring a long-term perspective. Research and development expenses decreased by 22.4% year-over-year, which could impact future innovation. Warning! GuruFocus has detected 4 Warning Signs with ZH. Is ZH fairly valued? Test your thesis with our free DCF calculator. Q: Could management share some of the latest strategic thinking and roadmap around AI, particularly in terms of integrating AI with the community? A: Unidentified_6 (COO): The integration of AI with our community is not about AI itself but enhancing cognitive experiences and real connections. Our strategy focuses on building a high-quality, trustworthy community. We are advancing in two areas: developing a data platform with high-quality community data and an open platform for community API to empower creators. Our initiatives include sustained community investment, product simplification, technical infrastructure, and AI innovation. Q: The company merged paid membership revenue with IP-related revenue into a single category. Does this reflect a new strategic view on market potential and growth drivers? A: Unidentified_6 (COO): Yes, this reclassification reflects our strategic view of paid content and IP operations. It showcases the full lifecycle value of our content and IP, moving from a single subscription model to a full-chain IP operation. Our competitive advantages include a vast library of premium short stories and a strong creator ecosystem, which are crucial for IP monetization. Q: Can management elaborate on the specific allocation of AI investment and how it balances with profitability goals? A: Unidentified_6 (CFO): We focus on AI dramas, comic dramas, and expert data solutions, which have healthy cash flow profiles. Our strategy is not to burn cash for growth but to build core long-term capabilities. We aim to deliver superior products while maintaining a balance between new investments and profitability. Q: Are there any updates to the shareholder return plan, such as methods and scale? A: Unidentified_6 (CFO): We remain committed to our share repurchase program. Since 2022, we have repurchased 63.5 million Class A shares for a total of $130 million. In 2026, we repurchased 4.61 million shares, representing 1.674% of total shares outstanding, and all shares repurchased in Q1 2026 have been canceled. Q: How does Zhihu plan to leverage AI to enhance its content and community interactions? A: Unidentified_6 (COO): We are integrating AI capabilities across content creation, discovery, consumption, and community interactions. Our open platform and API empower developers and creators to explore AI-native content formats. We focus on leveraging AI to enhance creative efficiency and maintain a high-quality content ecosystem. For the complete transcript of the earnings call, please refer to the full earnings call transcript.