The main thing from ByteDance's annual report: revenue of $34.3 billion and MAU of 1.9 billion people

ByteDance has reported for 2020. The company’s revenue reached $34.3 billion, an increase of 111% compared to the previous year. Rumors around a possible IPO of the Chinese giant could play an important role in this.

ByteDance office in Shanghai 

The financial indicators of the company were shared by the CNBC business portal with reference to the data of the ByteDance management announced at the corporate meeting.

• Last year, ByteDance’s gross profit amounted to $19 billion — an increase of 93% in annual terms.
• Advertising was the main source of revenue for ByteDance in 2020. How much of the earnings fell on the company’s gaming direction is not specified.
• As CNBC points out, the Chinese company’s revenue growth may be explained by the fact that, according to rumors, it intends to enter the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. As a result, ByteDance’s valuation is capable of reaching $400 billion.
• Despite the growth in revenue and gross profit, the company’s operating losses for the reporting period amounted to $2.1 billion. For comparison, ByteDance ended 2019 with an operating profit of $684 million.
• ByteDance explained the expenses by compensation payments on shares to employees. Also, the Chinese GameLook portal added that the company’s losses could be related to the expansion of the staff by 10 thousand people per year and M&A activity.
• ByteDance reported that by the end of last year, the audience of its apps and games totaled more than 1.9 billion people per month. Recall that the company’s services include TikTok.