Zhihu Inc. key statistics and ratios

In fiscal 2025, Zhihu Inc. had return on equity of -4.8%, an operating margin of -18.5%, debt equal to 0.9% of equity and a current ratio of 3.73. Each ratio below is calculated from the figures on its income statement, balance sheet and cash flow pages.

Financial ratios

US$ thousands unless shown otherwise. Fiscal years, plus the last twelve months (LTM) when newer.

Zhihu Inc.: financial ratios, annual
Fiscal year	2019Dec 2019	2020Dec 2020	2021Dec 2021	2022Dec 2022	2023Dec 2023	2024Dec 2024	2025Dec 2025
Gross margin	46.6%	56.0%	52.5%	50.2%	54.7%	60.6%	59.9%
Operating margin	−157.9%	−44.6%	−47.0%	−44.5%	−25.5%	−13.4%	−18.5%
Net margin	−149.8%	−38.3%	−43.9%	−43.9%	−20.1%	−4.8%	−7.0%
Free-cash-flow margin	−107.4%	−18.2%	−15.1%	−30.9%	−10.1%	−7.9%	−13.3%
Return on equity	—	—	−150.4%	−25.1%	−16.2%	−3.9%	−4.8%
Return on assets	—	−13.0%	−20.6%	−18.9%	−11.5%	−2.7%	−3.5%
Asset turnover	—	0.34	0.47	0.43	0.57	0.57	0.50
Current ratio	—	3.67	4.39	4.01	3.28	3.60	3.73
Debt to equity	—	—	0.0%	0.0%	0.0%	0.0%	0.9%
R&D as % of revenue	52.3%	24.4%	20.9%	21.2%	21.5%	20.4%	19.1%
Capital spending as % of revenue	0.7%	0.1%	0.3%	0.0%	0.2%	0.1%	0.0%

Returns use average equity or assets over the year. Return on equity is left blank when equity is negative or so small that the ratio says nothing (above ±200%); interest cover is left blank above 200 times. Price-based ratios such as P/E are on the valuation page.

Financial health

2 of 2 checks passed · December 31, 2025

What it owns · $742m

Short-term assets $677mLonger-term assets $66m

What it owes, and who funded it · $732m

Short-term liabilities $181mLonger-term liabilities $7mShareholders' equity $544m

Short-term assets cover short-term liabilities $677m of assets due within a year against $181m of liabilities due within a year.
Short-term assets cover long-term liabilities $677m short-term assets against $7m of longer-dated liabilities.
More cash than debt Cash or debt not separately reported. Not assessable.
Debt below 40% of shareholders' equity Equity or debt not reported. Not assessable.
Debt burden no higher than five years ago Five-year comparison not available. Not assessable.
A year's operating cash flow covers at least 20% of debt Cash flow or debt not reported. Not assessable.
Operating profit covers interest at least five times over Interest not separately reported. Not assessable.

From Zhihu Inc.'s latest balance sheet as filed. Checks are fixed, documented rules (methodology), counted only where the company reports the figures — a dot means the filing doesn't break the item out. Descriptions of reported data, not advice.

Moat

Not assessed: fewer than five years of comparable figures in the filings. AI disruption exposure for this industry: Medium.

A rules-based reading of reported figures, not a forecast and not investment advice. How the score is built: methodology.

Compare with peers

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Figures from Zhihu Inc.'s SEC filings (10-K and 10-Q). How we read and check them: methodology and data sources. Not investment advice. Back to Zhihu Inc.