Despite challenges in the US, ByteDance had a strong fiscal year, posting significant growth in revenue and profit. The Chinese tech giant also managed to outperform one of its main rivals, Tencent.
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According to Bloomberg, ByteDance reached $120 billion in revenue in 2023, up 50% year-over-year. For comparison, Tencent recently reported annual revenue of $86 billion.
The TikTok maker’s EBITDA (Earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization) also grew 60% year-over-year to $40 billion.
Bloomberg noted that ByteDance became one of the fastest-growing tech giants in 2023, overtaking Tencent in both revenue and profit for the first time in history.
Unlike Tencent, which views gaming as one of its core businesses, ByteDance last year announced a restructuring of its gaming division. It made job cuts at its Nuverse publishing label, also considering selling some of its titles, including MMORPG Crystal of Atlan and shooter Earth: Revival.
Video games make up a very small portion of the company’s earnings, so its plan to move away from mainstream gaming may sound logical from a business perspective. And one of the main reasons for its impressive growth has been Douyin, the Chinese version of TikTok. Just like Tencent’s WeChat, it is now turning into an all-in-one platform for domestic users, adding ecommerce, food delivery, and other features.
It is worth noting that ByteDance is still a private company and its financials haven’t been independently audited. The firm has yet to go public, and its stock market debut could also be challenged by ongoing scrutiny in the US, where authorities recently tried to ban TikTok.