A record year! ByteDance's profit is reportedly expected to reach $50 billion.

Latest news shows that ByteDance’s profit this year is set to reach a company record high.

On Friday the 19th, Eastern US Time, media cited sources stating that ByteDance had accumulated about $40 billion in net profit over the first three quarters of this year, and its net profit for the whole of 2025 is expected to reach about $50 billion, setting a historical high. ByteDance’s profit has already surpassed the internal target set at the beginning of the year, bringing its profit level close to that of US social media giant Meta Platforms Inc. Meta’s expected profit this year is approximately $60 billion.

In terms of revenue, ByteDance’s growth is equally robust, reportedly expected to grow more than 20% this year. Based on previously reported revenue target figures, ByteDance is closing in on Meta’s expected annual revenue of about $200 billion.

ByteDance’s spokesperson did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

ByteDance’s apps now have over 4 billion monthly active users, rivaling Meta in scale. ByteDance’s rapid growth is driven by aggressive expansion in e-commerce and new markets, particularly the global surge of TikTok and its push into live streaming shopping.

Revenue Target Within Reach

Founded in 2012, ByteDance owns several of China’s most popular digital services, including Douyin. The company is competing with domestic and international peers such as Alibaba and Tencent in the field of artificial intelligence (AI), developing large language models, chatbots, and other services.

According to past reports, ByteDance has maintained more than 20% annual revenue growth in recent years, while its valuation keeps climbing due to expansion in AI. ByteDance is widely seen as a leader in China’s AI sector and has reportedly invested billions of dollars in purchasing overseas chips, building AI infrastructure, and developing related models.

As reported in May this year, ByteDance set a revenue target for 2024 of about $186 billion, aiming for an annual increase of about 20%. Although this growth rate is slightly slower than last year’s 29%, the goal is considered achievable, meaning the company's revenue would be only slightly behind Meta’s.

In August, reports indicated ByteDance’s first-quarter revenue exceeded $43 billion, making it the highest-earning social media company worldwide for that quarter, surpassing Meta’s $42.3 billion for the same period. In the second quarter, ByteDance’s revenue grew to around $48 billion, a year-on-year increase of 25%. Thanks to strong advertising demand, both ByteDance and Meta maintained revenue growth rates above 20% in the second quarter.

Valuation Continues to Rise

Over the past two years, more and more investors have raised ByteDance’s valuation. Last year, SoftBank’s Vision Fund re-evaluated ByteDance, estimating its worth at more than $400 billion, partly due to its growing influence in generative AI. Fidelity Investments and T. Rowe Price Group Inc. valued it at over $410 billion and $450 billion, respectively.

As a non-listed company, ByteDance provides liquidity to employees via semi-annual share buybacks. In August, media reported ByteDance launched a new round of buybacks at $200.41 per share, giving it a valuation above $330 billion—a 5.5% increase compared to around $315 billion about six months earlier.

Last month, Wallstreetcn reported that through stock auctions, Chinese investment firm Capital Today acquired a stake in ByteDance at a $480 billion valuation, with a transaction amount of $300 million, making it one of ByteDance’s largest secondary market deals of the year.

At the time, media reported that seven institutions bid for the ByteDance shares, with the final deal driving the price up to about $300 million, corresponding to a valuation close to $500 billion. The fierce bidding reflected the capital market’s continued optimism about ByteDance’s AI strategies and global expansion.

According to CB Insights data, at a valuation of $480 billion, ByteDance surpassed SpaceX to become the world’s second most valuable startup, second only to OpenAI, valued at $500 billion.

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