ZHIHU(US:ZH) 凤凰网财经·2025-10-17 05:45Core Viewpoint - The recent outage of Zhihu has brought the platform back into public attention, highlighting its ongoing operational challenges and declining performance metrics [1][4]. Performance Summary - Zhihu reported a total revenue of 1.447 billion RMB for the first half of 2025, a significant decline of 23.7% year-on-year, with all three core business segments experiencing contraction [11]. - The paid membership segment saw its first revenue drop of 7.1%, with the number of monthly subscribers decreasing from 14.7 million to 13.7 million, losing 1 million paid users [12]. - Marketing services revenue plummeted by 37.8% to 420 million RMB, attributed to both a strategic shift towards optimizing low-margin services and a general decline in platform traffic [12]. - The vocational training segment also faced a sharp decline of 43.87%, with revenue falling to 157 million RMB, explained as a result of "strategic optimization adjustments" [13]. Profitability Analysis - Despite the revenue decline, Zhihu achieved a net profit of 62.37 million RMB in the first half of 2025, maintaining Non-GAAP profitability for three consecutive quarters, largely due to significant cost-cutting measures [13]. - Total operating expenses decreased by 30.9%, with sales expenses down 27.72%, R&D expenses down 29.29%, and management expenses down 47.61% [13]. Strategic Concerns - The aggressive cost-cutting strategy raises concerns about the long-term sustainability of profitability, as it may hinder future growth and innovation, particularly in R&D [14]. - The recent resignation of the Chief Technology Officer (CTO) adds to the uncertainty surrounding Zhihu's strategic direction, especially as the company is focusing on AI initiatives [14]. - The timing of the CTO's departure in relation to the platform's technical issues raises questions about the stability of the technical team and the potential impact on infrastructure and service reliability [14].