Owner of TikTok ByteDance sees a 60% increase in profit in 2023 because to concerns about a US ban.

Together with Tencent and Alibaba, who have both battled to revive growth at a time of economic instability and consumer apprehension in the nation, the owner of TikTok and its Chinese counterpart Douyin solidified its place as one of China’s internet leaders last year.

In 2023, ByteDance Ltd.‘s earnings increased by around 60%, surpassing the rise of its online competitors Tencent Holdings Ltd. and Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. This indicates the TikTok owner’s tenacity in the face of a downturn in the economy.

According to persons familiar with the situation who asked not to be identified because they were talking private information, earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, and amortization increased to more than $40 billion from roughly $25 billion in 2022. According to the folks, the most valuable startup in the world increased sales from $80 billion to about $120 billion.

With its successful short-video platforms, ByteDance was able to break into international e-commerce and maintain its global appeal. These figures indicate the first time that ByteDance has surpassed archrival Tencent in terms of both revenue and profit. Although internal data from ByteDance hasn’t been properly examined, it appears that in 2023, the ad-churning social media behemoth became one of the fastest-growing digital corporations globally.

A request for response from a ByteDance representative was not answered.

Together with Tencent and Alibaba, who have both battled to revive growth at a time of economic instability and consumer apprehension in the nation, the owner of TikTok and its Chinese counterpart Douyin solidified its place as one of China’s internet leaders last year.

In the home market, Douyin is evolving into an all-in-one app similar to Tencent’s WeChat. With its new capabilities, it is challenging Meituan for food delivery orders and intruding on Alibaba’s eshop space. Despite the encouraging outcomes, ByteDance made the decision in February to restructure the management of its China business. Kelly Zhang resigned as CEO without any intention of selecting a replacement.

TikTok Shop’s successful international launch in countries like the US and Southeast Asia has opened up additional revenue streams outside of digital marketing. TikTok is seeking to grow the size of its US ecommerce business tenfold this year. In the nation, 170 million people use it.

And that’s in its most valuable market, TikTok, despite its existential crises. A bill to outlaw TikTok in the US until ByteDance sells its valuable asset was passed by the US House of Representatives in March; however, the bill’s chances of passing the Senate are less likely. Beijing’s reaction and Joe Biden and Donald Trump’s rematch for the presidency later in the year might further complicate things.

In recent months, ByteDance has begun to unwind riskier bets, just like its Chinese counterparts. Its enterprise software and game development divisions have laid off hundreds of workers, which has hurt profitability and mostly fallen short of expectations. Rather, the business is developing its own chatbots and extensive language model in an effort to catch up with generative AI.

The long-awaited ByteDance stock market debut is still unlikely as the business deals with increased scrutiny in the US. At a $268 billion valuation, the company made an offer in December to buy back up to $5 billion worth of investor shares. In certain private transactions, ByteDance was valued at over $400 billion at its height.