Zhihu Clocks 38% Growth In Q1 MAUs, Q2 Guidance Falls Short Of Consensus

• Zhihu Inc ZH reported first-quarter FY21 revenue growth of 154.2% year-on-year to $73 million (RMB478.3 million), beating the analyst consensus of $70.88 million.


• Average monthly active users (MAUs) rose 37.7% Y/Y to 85 million, while average monthly paying members rose 137.8% Y/Y to 4 million.


• Advertising revenue rose 70.1% Y/Y to $32.6 million (RMB213.7 million). Paid membership revenue increased 127% Y/Y to $19.3 million (RMB126.6 million). Content-commerce solutions revenue rose 110 times to $18.4 million (RMB120.8 million), with Other revenues increasing 200% Y/Y to $2.6 million (RMB17.1 million).


• The gross margin expanded 1,540 basis points to 57%.


• Operational loss rose 62.4% Y/Y to $342.5 million, with the net loss increasing 61.3% Y/Y to $49.6 million (RMB324.7 million).


• Adjusted net loss rose 19.7% Y/Y to $29.5 million (RMB193.6 million), with EPS loss of $(0.53) missing the analyst consensus of $(0.07) loss.


• Zhihu held $1.2 billion (RMB7.96 billion) in cash and equivalents, and it had raised $737.1 million from its March IPO.


• Guidance: Zhihu expects Q2 revenue of $94.9 million (RMB622 million) – $95.7 million (RMB627 million), falling short of the analyst consensus of $96.94 million.


• Price action: ZH shares traded higher by 7.38% at $8.58 in the premarket session on the last check Monday.


 

Related content: Benzinga's Full Guidance Calendar