On March 4, 2024, Sohu announced financial reports for the fourth quarter of 2023 and 2023. According to financial reports, Sohu's total revenue for the fourth quarter was US$141 million, and total revenue for the whole year was US$601 million. At the same time, the board of directors of Sohu announced an additional amount for the share repurchase plan, increasing the total amount from a maximum of 80 million US dollars to a maximum total amount of 150 million US dollars.
Zhang Chaoyang, founder of Sohu, Chairman of the Board of Directors and CEO, said, “In the fourth quarter of 2023 and throughout the year, while the advertising budget remains cautious, we continued to improve operational efficiency and strictly control costs. Based on this, in the fourth quarter of 2023, our net profit reached the high level previously anticipated.”
Financial reports show that in the fourth quarter of 2023, Sohu's total revenue was US$141 million. Among them, brand advertising revenue was $20 million, and online game revenue was 115 million US dollars. For the full year of 2023, Sohu's total revenue was US$601 million. Among them, brand advertising revenue was $89 million, and online gaming revenue was $480 million.
Looking at the overall business, “On the Sohu Media side, we are continuously optimizing our products, improving technology, and expanding high-quality content, and further optimizing the user experience. In terms of Sohu Video, we continue to develop a 'dual engine' strategy to continuously produce engaging long and short video content. While vigorously developing short video content and social networking, we are also committed to scientific live streaming and other live streaming events. These activities further promoted users' social interaction and user stickiness on the Sohu platform. At the same time, we are continuously integrating superior resources and using our unique IP to host various content marketing activities to actively explore diverse business opportunities. Finally, the online gaming business remained stable, and revenue was in line with our previous expectations.” Zhang Chaoyang said.
Meanwhile, on March 2, 2024, the board of directors of Sohu approved an additional amount to the previously announced American Depositary Stock Repurchase Plan, increasing the total amount from a maximum of 80 million US dollars to a maximum total amount of 150 million US dollars. As previously announced, the share repurchase program will begin on November 11, 2023 for a period of 2 years. As of February 29, 2024, Sohu has repurchased 1276,457 Sohu American Depositary Shares for a total amount of about US$12 million.