On April 20, it was reported that ByteDance's (字节跳动) overseas revenue recorded strong growth of nearly 50% in 2025, significantly outperforming the approximately 20% growth seen in its domestic revenue. This shift has pushed the share of overseas revenue from 25% in 2024 to over 30%, a historic high for the company.
The primary driver of this growth was the explosion of TikTok Shop. In 2025, its Gross Merchandise Volume (GMV) grew by nearly 70% year-on-year, with active consumers exceeding 400 million and annual GMV approaching the $100 billion milestone.
However, despite surging revenue, ByteDance's (字节跳动) net profit for 2025 plummeted by over 70%. According to reports, the sharp decline was primarily due to the company's aggressive strategic investment in its AI business during the second half of 2025. These expenditures were mainly directed toward the procurement of AI processors, large-scale model R&D, and infrastructure development. Consequently, ByteDance's (字节跳动) net profit margin saw a significant year-on-year drop. The company has already disclosed a 2026 capital expenditure plan of $23 billion (approx. 160 billion CNY), with 85 billion CNY specifically earmarked for AI chips and computing power centers.
In the global market, TikTok Shop is reshaping the e-commerce landscape. In 2025, its sales in the U.S. market grew by 108%, while the European market saw an increase of over 100%. It remains the second-largest player in Southeast Asia. In newly expanded markets, Brazil's GMV grew 25-fold within the first three months of launch, and the Japanese market grew 20-fold within four months. Although profitability remains under pressure in the short term due to AI spending and U.S. data security compliance costs, ByteDance (字节跳动) management indicated in internal communications that the company will further increase technical investment in 2026 to ensure its lead in embodied AI, multi-modal large models, and the global e-commerce ecosystem.