Zhihu (NYSE:ZH) Posts Quarterly Earnings Results, Misses Expectations By $0.06 EPS

Posted by Brian Himes on Aug 28th, 2026

Zhihu (NYSE:ZH – Get Free Report) released its earnings results on Wednesday. The company reported ($0.07) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.01) by ($0.06), Zacks reports. The business had revenue of $101.57 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $104.60 million. Zhihu had a negative return on equity of 7.67% and a negative net margin of 11.33%.

Here are the key takeaways from Zhihu’s conference call:

Revenue was RMB690.1 million, down 3.7% year over year but up 5.9% sequentially, as paid content and IP operations helped offset continued weakness in marketing services. Monthly subscribing members remained stable at 13.1 million.
Zhihu reported a RMB37.4 million net loss and a RMB10.3 million adjusted net loss, while gross margin declined to 57% from 62.5% a year earlier. Management warned that quarterly profitability may fluctuate as it invests in new initiatives and that marketing recovery remains structural rather than linear.
IP licensing continued to gain momentum, with licensing cooperation up 105% sequentially and more than sixfold year over year. Management said AI-generated comic dramas can extend the life cycle and improve monetization of Zhihu’s original story library, while maintaining a flexible, relatively disciplined approach to production investment.
Zhihu is expanding AI initiatives across AI search, community agents, content-asset services and expert data solutions; its AI Works platform hosts more than 2,600 projects and its open-data platform has attracted over 17,600 developers. Management emphasized that these businesses remain early-stage and have not yet produced stable, scalable revenue.
Operating expenses fell 13% year over year, and the company ended June with RMB4.4 billion in cash and liquid investments. Zhihu repurchased 6.5 million Class A shares during the quarter and said it will continue disciplined capital allocation and share repurchases.

Zhihu Price Performance

NYSE:ZH opened at $3.06 on Friday. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $3.19 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $3.21. Zhihu has a 1 year low of $2.57 and a 1 year high of $5.55. The company has a market capitalization of $265.28 million, a P/E ratio of -5.57 and a beta of 0.28.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

An institutional investor recently raised its position in Zhihu stock. Ameriprise Financial Inc. boosted its position in Zhihu Inc. Sponsored ADR (NYSE:ZH – Free Report) by 44.3% during the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 36,088 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 11,082 shares during the period. Ameriprise Financial Inc.’s holdings in Zhihu were worth $183,000 as of its most recent SEC filing. Institutional investors own 28.92% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ZH has been the subject of several research reports. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Zhihu from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, June 6th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Zhihu in a research report on Friday, July 17th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Sell rating, According to data from MarketBeat.com, Zhihu presently has a consensus rating of “Sell”.

Check Out Our Latest Report on Zhihu

About Zhihu

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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.