Zhihu Inc (NYSE:ZH) Q3 2024 Results Conference Call November 26, 2024 6:00 AM ET

Company Participants

Yolanda Liu - CEO
Wang Han - Chief Financial Officer
Zhou Yuan - Chairman and Chief Executive Officer

Conference Call Participants

Xueqing Zhang - CICC
Daisy Chen - Haitong International
Lincoln Kong - Goldman Sachs
Vicky Wei - Citi
Stella Wang - TH Capital
Cici Cheng - CLSA

Operator

Good morning, ladies and gentlemen. Thank you for standing by, and welcome to the Zhihu Inc. Third Quarter 2024 Financial Results Conference Call. [Operator Instructions] Today's conference call is being recorded.

And at this time, I would like to turn the conference over to Ms. Yolanda Liu, Director of Investor Relations. Please go ahead, ma'am.

Yolanda Liu

Thank you, operator. Hello, everyone. Welcome to Zhihu's Third Quarter 2024 Financial Results Conference Call. Senior management joining me today are Mr. Zhou Yuan, our Founder, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer; and Mr. Wang Han, our Chief Financial Officer.

Before we get started, 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 these and other risks and uncertainties is included in our public filings with the U.S. SEC and Hong Kong Stock Exchange. The company does not assume any obligation to update any forward-looking statements, except as required under applicable law.

Additionally, the matters we will discuss today will include both GAAP and non-GAAP financial measures for comparison purpose only. For a definition of non-GAAP financial measures and a reconciliation of GAAP to non-GAAP financial results, please see the earnings release issued earlier today. In addition, a webcast replay of this conference call will be available on our website at ir.zhihu.com.

I will now turn the call over to Mr. Wang Han, CFO of Zhihu. Han, please go ahead.

Wang Han

Thank you, Yolanda. Hello, everyone. Thank you for joining Zhihu's Third Quarter 2024 Earnings Call. I'm pleased to deliver today's opening remarks on behalf of Mr. Zhou Yuan, Founder, Chairman and CEO of Zhihu.

We delivered solid third quarter results across key financial metrics, thanks to our continued focus on efficiency enhancement and cost reduction. Gross profit margin improved by over 10 percentage points year-over-year, reaching 63.9%, the highest level since our listing. Total costs and operating expenses decreased by more than 35.6% and 30.5%, respectively, leading to a net loss of RMB 9 million, down 96.8% year-over-year.