NEW YORK — Reddit made a profit for the first time as a public company.

The social platform reported profit of $29.9 million, or 16 cents per share, for the period ending in September and reported revenue of $348.4 million, topping the $312 million mark. $8 million forecast by analysts. Reddit also increased its number of daily users to 97.2 million, a 47% increase over the same period last year, according to a company declaration.

In a letter to shareholdersReddit CEO Steve Huffman said its new AI translation feature – which allows readers to convert posts between English, French, Spanish, Portuguese, Italian and German – was one of the main drivers of user growth, especially internationally in countries like France, India and the Philippines. . Huffman wrote that Reddit plans to expand this feature to more than 30 countries by 2025.

“In 2024, ‘Reddit’ was the sixth most searched word on Google in the United States, highlighting that when people are looking for answers, advice, or community, they turn to Reddit,” Huffman wrote. “We saw this unfold in real time when the White House took to Reddit to share critical information during recent hurricanes, reaching populations in affected areas with timely updates. »

Although the company’s advertising remains its primary source of revenue, Reddit’s earnings summary notes its recent data licensing agreements are starting to bear fruit financially. Google and OpenAI have signed deals with Reddit to train their artificial intelligence models on its content.

San Francisco-based Reddit Inc., whose investors include OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, went public in March at $34 a share. Before that, it reported profits in the first quarter of 2021 and the fourth quarter of 2023.

Since the IPO, the stock has tripled, jumping 42% to close Wednesday at $116.05.

___

This story has been updated to correct that Reddit made its first profit since its IPO, not in its 20-year history.