36Kr Holdings Inc. (KRKR) Reports Q3 Loss of $0.002, Revenues Beat

36Kr Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ: KRKR) reported Q3 EPS of $-0.002. Revenue for the quarter came in at $18.2 million versus the consensus estimate of $17.4 million.

Third Quarter 2020 Financial Results

Total revenues were RMB123.5 million (US$18.2 million) in the third quarter of 2020, compared to RMB130.9 million in the same period of 2019.

• Online advertising services revenues decreased by 5.5% to RMB51.1 million (US$7.5 million) in the third quarter of 2020, from RMB54.1 million in the same period of 2019. The decrease was primarily attributable to the relatively weak demand from certain advertisers in the wake of COVID-19.
• Enterprise value-added services revenues increased by 3.8% to RMB66.4 million (US$9.8 million) in the third quarter of 2020, from RMB64.0 million in the same period of 2019. The increase was primarily attributable to the recovering demands from certain enterprise value-added services customers.
• Subscription services revenues were RMB6.0 million (US$0.9 million) in the third quarter of 2020, compared to RMB12.9 million in the same period of 2019. The decrease was primarily attributable to the decrease of individual subscription revenues associated with relatively weak demand.

Cost of revenues was RMB76.6 million (US$11.3 million) in the third quarter of 2020, compared to RMB75.8 million in the same period of 2019.

Gross profit was RMB46.8 million (US$6.9 million) in the third quarter of 2020, compared to RMB55.1 million in the same period of 2019.

Operating expenses were RMB63.2 million (US$9.3 million) in the third quarter of 2020, compared to RMB77.9 million in the same period of 2019. The decrease was mainly due to decrease in general and administrative expenses in the third quarter of 2020.

• Sales and marketing expenses were RMB31.6 million (US$4.7 million) in the third quarter of 2020, compared to RMB31.8 million in the same period of 2019. The decrease was primarily attributable to the decrease of payroll-related expenses, partially offset by the increase of share-based compensation expenses.
• General and administrative expenses decreased by 45.3% to RMB20.5 million (US$3.0 million) in the third quarter of 2020, compared to RMB37.4 million in the same period of 2019. The decrease was primarily attributable to the decrease of share-based compensation expenses, partially offset by the increase of professional fees.
• Research and development expenses increased by 28.6% to RMB11.2 million (US$1.6 million) in the third quarter of 2020, compared to RMB8.7 million in the same period of 2019. The increase was primarily attributable to the increase in technology expenses related to technology procurement, device maintenance and testing.

Share-based compensation expenses recognized in cost of revenues, sales and marketing expenses, research and development expenses, and general and administrative expenses in total were RMB4.6 million (US$0.7 million) in the third quarter of 2020 and RMB25.8 million in the same period of 2019.

Other income was RMB2.5 million (US$0.4 million) in the third quarter of 2020, compared to RMB12.8 million that included an income of RMB11.5 million from the realized disposal gain associated with the overseas business investment in the same period of 2019.

Income tax expenses were RMB21 thousand (US$3 thousand) in the third quarter of 2020, compared to RMB2.4 million in the same period of 2019.

Net loss was RMB14.0 million (US$2.1 million) in the third quarter of 2020, compared to RMB12.4 million in the same period of 2019. Non-GAAP adjusted net loss6 was RMB9.3 million (US$1.4 million) in the third quarter of 2020, compared to Non-GAAP adjusted net income RMB13.4 million in the same period of 2019.

Net loss attributable to 36Kr Holdings Inc.'s ordinary shareholders was RMB14.0 million (US$2.1 million) in the third quarter of 2020, compared to RMB635.6 million in the same period of 2019, which included the accretion on redeemable non-controlling interests, accretion and re-designation effect of convertible redeemable preferred shares.

Basic and diluted net loss per share were both RMB0.014 (US$0.002) in the third quarter of 2020, compared to RMB2.535 in the same period of 2019.

Mr. Dagang Feng, co-chairman and chief executive officer of 36Kr, commented, “With a focus on operations during the third quarter, we achieved encouraging sequential recovery across key traffic metrics, despite the impact of lingering pandemic-related macro challenges. In the third quarter, we reached a record high average monthly PV of 566.3 million for the twelve months ended September 30, 2020, marking our 10th consecutive quarter of PV growth. Our livestreaming and short-video content initiatives continue to attract increasing traffic and drive greater engagement, especially with the younger generation. Notably, we also achieved year-over-year revenue growth in our enterprise value-added services in the third quarter, demonstrating the vitality and robustness of this business segment.

“Our fundamentals remain solid and as COVID-19 containment measures are gradually relaxed in China, most offline activities are returning to normalcy. As we broaden industry-leading professionally generated content (“PGC”) and user generated content (“UGC”) production capabilities along with our innovative and attractive value-added services, we are well positioned in the booming New Economy community. Supported by our stellar brand, we will continue our strategic efforts to boost the diversity of our product and service offerings, optimize our network communities, increase our customer base and further explore new growth opportunities to improve our monetization capabilities,” Mr. Feng concluded.

Ms. Jihong Liang, director, and chief financial officer of 36Kr, stated, “Despite the challenging operating environment, our third quarter financial performance showed meaningful improvement, particularly on a quarter-over-quarter basis. Nevertheless, our total revenues in this quarter slightly decreased on a year-over-year basis, which was primarily attributable to the lingering impact of COVID-19. We have achieved positive operating cash flow for the second consecutive quarter, which further reflects our capabilities to navigate market dynamics. In addition, our account receivables continued to improve, supported by our adjusted prepayment policies and our optimization of client base for a better quality. Moreover, we maintained prudent investment in technologies that are critical to further innovation and future growth. We remain committed to the promising development of the New Economy and believe our competitive strengths will allow us to withstand challenges and thrive in the community with our partners.”

For earnings history and earnings-related data on 36Kr Holdings Inc. (KRKR) click here.

You May Also Be Interested In

• Tesla plans 'flying' Roadster stunt at SpaceX Texas site as early as August
• Fort Technology posts 49% revenue rise in first half of 2026
• Z Squared outlines AI power strategy and Paradox Data acquisition