On May 22, 2023, Kuaishou released its 2023 first quarterly report. In Q1 2023, its revenue increased 19.7% from the same period last year, with an adjusted net profit of CNY 42 million.
Kuaishou Technology (hereinafter referred to as "Kuaishou", Chinese: 快手, HKSE: 1024), headquartered in Beijing, recently released its 2023 first quarterly report. In Q1 2023, the company achieved revenue of CNY 25.22 billion (USD 3.58 billion), up 19.7% year-over-year, and adjusted net profit of CNY 42 million, compared to a net loss of CNY 3.722 billion from the same period last year. The company has achieved its first profitable quarter since its IPO
Founded in 2011, Kuaishou is a leading global content community and social media platform. Kuaishou's revenue consists of three main components, namely online marketing services (advertising) revenue, live streaming revenue and other services revenue. In Q1 2023, online marketing services contributed CNY 13.06 billion in revenue to Kuaishou, up 15.1% year-on-year; live streaming revenue was CNY 9.32 billion, an 18.8% increase from the same period last year; and other services revenue reached CNY 2.83 billion, 51.3% higher than in the previous year.
Internationalization is one of Kuaishou's key strategies. In 2017, Kwai (the international version of Kuaishou) was first launched in South Korea, Thailand, Russia and Indonesia, and in 2019, Kuaishou began preparations for the "K3 campaign" (300 million DAUs in six months), with Kwai reaching 7 million daily users in Brazil. In Q1 2023, Kuaishou's overseas business revenue reached CNY 338 million, an increase of over 6 times year-on-year. According to the March 2023 ranking of Chinese non-game makers in terms of overseas revenue. According to global leading market research firm data.ai, Kuaishou moved up 2 spots to No. 19 in China's Non-game Manufacturers & Overseas Application Revenue Ranking published in March 2023.
The major competitors of Kuaishou include Chinese companies such as Douyin (Chinese: 抖音), Xigua Video (Chinese: 西瓜视频) and Tencent Video (Chinese: 腾讯视频), as well as international players such as Instagram Reels and YouTube Shorts from the US.
Based on current industry trends, AI technology-enabled short video platforms have become the choice of many companies. Cheng Yixiao, co-founder and CEO of Kuaishou, said, "In terms of potential application scenarios, AI is expected to make its initial foray into the short video field. Kuaishou is primarily focused on two main directions for advancement: the search direction and the generation of graphic videos with the assistance of AIGC. The ChatGPT-like model is anticipated to broaden the search boundary from the current station short video search to encompass the entire network search. Additionally, the AIGC-assisted generation of graphic videos is expected to empower users by reducing the creation threshold and enhancing the quality and diversity of works. "
As of press time, Kuaishou closed at HKD 56.3 apiece, with a market cap of HKD 243.65 billion.