Kanzhun Earnings Call Highlights Record Margins, AI Push

Kanzhun Ltd. Sponsored Adr ((BZ)) has held its Q4 earnings call. Read on for the main highlights of the call.

Kanzhun Ltd.’s latest earnings call painted a firmly upbeat picture, with management emphasizing double‑digit revenue growth, record margins, strong user and engagement trends, and disciplined cost control. While higher taxes, one‑off charges, seasonal softness in Q1 guidance, and AI‑related uncertainties surfaced, the dominant message was of robust momentum and growing cash returns to shareholders.

Revenue Growth in Q4 and Full Year 2025

Kanzhun reported Q4 revenue of RMB 2.08 billion, rising 14% year on year, underscoring resilient demand despite macro headwinds. For full year 2025, revenue reached RMB 8.27 billion, up 12.4%, showing the platform continues to scale meaningfully off a larger base.

Record Adjusted Profitability and Margins

Adjusted operating profit excluding share‑based compensation surged 37% in Q4 to RMB 900 million, lifting the adjusted operating margin to a quarterly record of 43.3%. For 2025, adjusted operating profit of roughly RMB 3.38–3.5 billion translated into a 40.8% margin and a record adjusted net margin of 43.6%, highlighting powerful operating leverage.

User Growth and Platform Reach

The company added nearly 46 million newly verified users in 2025, pushing monthly active users on the BOSS Zhipin app above 60.7 million, up 14.5%. Cumulatively, Kanzhun’s platform has now served more than 250 million job seekers and 36 million enterprise users, reinforcing its scale advantage in China’s online recruitment market.

Network Effects and Matching Activity

Kanzhun’s matching engine processed over 2.27 billion mutually consented exchanges in 2025, a 22.4% year‑on‑year increase that signals growing activity depth. Average mutual consents per job seeker climbed 7%, suggesting strengthening two‑sided network effects that should support engagement and defensibility.

Monetization and SME Traction

Paid enterprise customers rose 11.6% to 6.83 million in 2025, with revenue from companies under 100 employees surpassing 50% of the total for the first time. In Q4, revenue from small‑size accounts grew 21% year on year, confirming that Kanzhun’s strategy to penetrate China’s vast SME segment is bearing fruit.

Cost Discipline and Higher Gross Margin

Total operating costs and expenses fell 7% year on year in Q4 to RMB 1.4 billion and also declined 7% to RMB 5.8 billion for the full year, underlining tight cost control. Share‑based compensation dropped 23% in Q4 and 20% for 2025, while gross margin improved by 2 percentage points to 85.1%, further supporting profitability.

Cash Generation, Balance Sheet and Payouts

Net cash from operating activities reached RMB 1.3 billion in Q4 and RMB 4.6 billion for 2025, up 29% year on year, bolstering an already strong balance sheet. Cash stood at RMB 19.9 billion at year‑end, backing a USD 80 million dividend in 2025, USD 50 million of buybacks so far in 2026, and a new policy to return at least half of adjusted net income via dividends and repurchases over the next three years.

AI Progress and Emerging Revenue Streams

AI‑enabled closed‑loop services have already reached the “hundreds of millions” of RMB in revenue and are growing faster than Kanzhun’s legacy businesses, suggesting a meaningful new growth engine. The firm highlighted positive results from an AI quick‑hiring tool, broader use of AI‑assisted interviews, and strong external traction for its Nanbeige 4.1/3B model, which ranked highly on HuggingFace.

Spring Recruitment Momentum and Market Outlook

Following the Chinese New Year, Kanzhun saw record‑high active users and double‑digit year‑on‑year growth in average daily job postings during the first 15 days, pointing to robust underlying demand. Management expects revenue growth to accelerate over the coming quarters from this recruitment season, even though Q1 is affected by holiday timing.

Early International Success with OfferToday

Outside mainland China, Kanzhun’s OfferToday product has quickly gained traction in Hong Kong, ranking number one by mobile daily active users. Among the roughly 3 million local workforce, about one in 50 people use OfferToday daily, and the company is leaning into localization and talent hiring to build on this early momentum.

Tax, Impairment and Margin Headwinds

Income tax expense in Q4 jumped 81% to RMB 165 million, driven by higher pre‑tax earnings and a top‑up provision related to global minimum tax rules, trimming bottom‑line growth. For the full year, G&A expenses rose 10% to RMB 1.2 billion, largely due to a one‑off impairment of intangible assets recorded in Q3, partially offsetting efficiency gains elsewhere.

Seasonality and Monetization Limits

Management acknowledged that Q1 2026 guidance implies slower revenue growth because a later Lunar New Year compresses the peak hiring period into fewer days, making the quarter look softer despite healthy fundamentals. They also noted that average revenue per paying user stayed broadly flat and that paying ratios grew only modestly, as SME‑driven volume offset limited ARPPU expansion.

AI Uncertainty and Structural Risks

Analysts pressed management on how generative AI might reshape white‑collar employment and competition in online recruiting, highlighting a key strategic risk for Kanzhun. Executives conceded there is real uncertainty about how AI adoption could shift market dynamics over time, even as the company’s own AI offerings are currently gaining traction and generating new revenue.

Forward Guidance and Capital Return Plans

For Q1 2026, Kanzhun guided revenue to RMB 2.050–2.085 billion, implying 6.6%–8.4% growth and stressing that the lower rate mainly reflects holiday seasonality, not a demand slowdown, with acceleration expected later in the year. Management aims to add at least 40 million newly verified users in 2026, expects closed‑loop placement revenue to double or triple, and still sees adjusted operating margin edging up from 2025’s 40.8%, supported by nearly RMB 20 billion of cash and a commitment to return at least half of adjusted net income to investors through dividends and buybacks.

Kanzhun’s earnings call showcased a platform firing on multiple cylinders, from user and revenue growth to expanding AI‑driven services and rising shareholder payouts. While tax changes, one‑off charges, seasonal noise, and long‑term AI uncertainties warrant monitoring, the company’s strong balance sheet, record margins, and clear capital‑return framework present an attractive narrative for investors tracking China’s digital recruitment space.