ByteDance profit plunges on AI push as TikTok Shop powers overseas growth: reports

ByteDance, the parent company of TikTok and Douyin, saw its net profit plummet by more than 70 per cent in 2025 as it poured money into artificial intelligence, according to Chinese media reports.At the same time, revenue from overseas markets surged by nearly 50 per cent, far outpacing the roughly 20 per cent growth in China, according to reports on Monday by outlets including Securities Times and 36Kr, which cited a person familiar with the matter.For the first time, overseas revenue accounted for more than 30 per cent of the total, up from 25 per cent in 2024, the reports said. The growth was mainly driven by TikTok Shop, the e-commerce business whose gross merchandise value grew nearly 70 per cent last year.Li Liang, vice-president of the company’s Douyin department, said on Monday that the drop was based on figures calculated under international accounting standards that took into account the cost of stock options for employees, which did not “reflect the actual operations”. Overall profit and revenue grew excluding the stock option cost, he added.Li said the operating profit margin “slightly decreased” in the second half of 2025 due to the slowing growth of Douyin e-commerce and increased investments in emerging businesses, but the decline was not as steep.TikTok Shop, ByteDance’s e-commerce business arm, recorded gross merchandise value growth of nearly 70 per cent last year. Photo: ReutersByteDance, a privately owned company that has not made its financials public, did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Monday.