A report on Friday suggested ByteDance Ltd. is on track to post roughly $50 billion in net income for 2025, marking a record year for the Beijing-based social media giant as it expands aggressively into e-commerce and new markets while its revenue approaches that of U.S. rival Meta Platforms Inc.
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The TikTok parent company generated about $40 billion in net income during the first three quarters of 2025, already surpassing its internal profit target for the year, ,Bloomberg quoted people familiar with the matter on Friday. Meta is projected to earn approximately $60 billion in 2025.
ByteDance's strong performance comes as it targets roughly $186 billion in revenue for 2025, representing an about 20% growth for the year, according to Bloomberg in May. The company's financial strength has reportedly propelled its valuation to $480 billion in recent secondary market transactions, placing it as the second-most valuable startup globally after OpenAI.
The results underscore ByteDance's resilience despite ongoing scrutiny from Washington over national security concerns, with the company now finalizing plans to transfer majority ownership of TikTok's U.S. operations to American investors including Oracle Corp. while maintaining a share of profits from the platform.
Record Earnings Amid U.S. Restructuring
ByteDance's 2025 profit trajectory positions it among the world's most profitable internet companies. TikTok Chief Executive Officer Shou Chew told employees that ByteDance has signed binding agreements to create a joint venture majority-owned by American investors, according to an internal memo reviewed by Bloomberg. Chinese regulators have yet to approve the transaction, a key requirement for the deal to proceed.
Despite Washington's scrutiny, TikTok has expanded globally at a rapid clip, pushing aggressively into e-commerce and livestream shopping and partnering with major American technology companies such as Amazon.com Inc. The same day Chew announced the agreement, TikTok held its first-ever Oscars-style red carpet show in Los Angeles.
Revenue Growth Matching Meta's Scale
ByteDance had targeted approximately 20% revenue growth in 2025 to reach $186 billion, Bloomberg reported in May. That would cap years of 20%-plus growth this year.
The company's second-quarter revenue jumped 25% year-over-year (YoY) to roughly $48 billion, Reuters reported in August, with revenue for the first quarter exceeding $43 billion. That first-quarter figure made ByteDance the world’s No. 1 social media company by sales, topping Meta’s $42.3 billion in the same period. Both firms maintained sales growth above 20% in the second quarter, helped by robust advertising demand.
ByteDance claims more than 4 billion monthly active users for its suite of apps, also in the ballpark of Meta's user base.
Valuation Surge Reflects Investor Confidence
ByteDance's valuation has climbed sharply over the past year. In November, Chinese investment firm Capital Today was reported to acquire shares at a $480 billion valuation, paying roughly $300 million after competitive bidding that involved as many as seven parties. The shares had initially been priced at $200 million with a $360 billion.
That figure significantly exceeds the approximately $330 billion reported valuation ByteDance set for an employee share buyback program in September. SoftBankGroupCorp.′s Vision Fund revalued the company to north of $400 billion last year, while Fidelity Investments and T. Rowe Price Group Inc. marked up ByteDance to above $410 billion and $450 billion respectively, Bloomberg reported.
At $480 billion, ByteDance ranks as the world’s second-most valuable startup after OpenAI’s $500 billion valuaiton, surpassing SpaceX’s roughly $400 billion, according to CB Insights. Meta’s market capitalization stands at around $1.68 trillion as of Friday.
Business Portfolio Beyond TikTok
ByteDance has created several of China's most popular digital services, including news aggregator Toutiao and Douyin, a version of TikTok for the mainland market. The company is also competing with incumbents Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. and Tencent Holdings Ltd. in artificial intelligence, developing large language models, chatbots and other services.
However, growth is likely to slow from previous years. Douyin, its main revenue driver, faces challenges from waning consumption and advertising spending across China's economy. TikTok has increasingly taken up more of the burden for top line growth as ByteDance's international business expands.
The company has been using its own balance sheet for biannual employee buybacks, signaling financial flexibility and healthy margins, unlike many late-stage private companies including SpaceX and OpenAI that rely on external investor capital for such programs.
