KANZHUN LTD - ADR (NASDAQ:BZ) Reports Q2 2025 Earnings Beat and Inaugural Dividend Amid Revenue Miss

KANZHUN LTD - ADR (NASDAQ:BZ) reported second-quarter 2025 financial results that demonstrated mixed performance relative to analyst expectations, with the market showing a muted initial reaction. The Chinese online recruitment platform posted revenues of RMB 2.10 billion (approximately $293.5 million), falling short of the consensus estimate of RMB 2.14 billion. This represents a 9.7% year-over-year increase but indicates a slight revenue miss of approximately 1.5%.

Earnings Performance Versus Estimates

While revenue came in below expectations, the company significantly outperformed on profitability metrics. Kanzhun reported earnings per share (EPS) of RMB 2.08 for the quarter, substantially exceeding the analyst consensus estimate of RMB 1.90. This represents a robust beat of nearly 9.8% on the bottom line. The strong EPS performance was primarily driven by impressive operational efficiency and cost management, as evidenced by an 81.6% surge in income from operations, which reached RMB 651.2 million. Total operating costs and expenses actually decreased by 7.2% year-over-year, a notable achievement that highlights effective cost control measures.

Key Operational Highlights from the Quarter

The company's core business metrics showed healthy growth, underpinning its financial results. Paid enterprise customers grew by 10.2% to 6.5 million in the twelve months ended June 30, 2025. Average monthly active users saw even stronger growth, increasing by 16.5% to 63.6 million for the quarter. These figures suggest that while monetization per user may have been slightly softer than expected—resulting in the revenue miss—the platform's user base and customer count continue to expand at a solid pace. Management attributed this growth to a recovering job market in China and the continued integration of AI technologies across its platform to improve user experience and operational efficiency.

Capital Allocation and Shareholder Returns

In a significant development for shareholder returns, Kanzhun's board approved its first annual dividend policy alongside the earnings announcement. The company declared a cash dividend of $0.168 per ADS, totaling approximately $80 million, to be paid in October 2025. Concurrently, the board authorized an expansion of its share repurchase program, extending it through August 2026 and increasing the authorization to $250 million. These moves signal confidence in the company's cash-generating ability and a commitment to returning capital to shareholders, supported by a strong balance sheet that showed cash and equivalents of RMB 16.02 billion ($2.24 billion) as of June 30, 2025.

Market Reaction and Outlook Comparison

The market's reaction in pre-market trading was slightly negative, with shares down approximately 1.4%. This reaction appears to reflect the revenue miss more than the earnings beat, suggesting investor focus on top-line growth potential. For the third quarter of 2025, management provided revenue guidance between RMB 2.13 billion and RMB 2.16 billion, representing year-over-year growth of 11.4% to 13.0%. This outlook slightly exceeds the analyst consensus estimate of RMB 2.22 billion for the next quarter, indicating management's confidence in continued growth acceleration despite the Q2 shortfall.

For a comprehensive view of historical earnings performance and future analyst estimates, readers can examine detailed data here.

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