Didi Chuxing’s fourth-quarter results for 2025 show that its domestic mobility business continues to grow, but the cost of overseas expansion is becoming harder to ignore.
Revenue rose 10.5% year-on-year (YoY) to RMB 58.4 billion (USD 8.5 billion) in the December quarter, while core platform transaction value increased 19.9% to RMB 123.8 billion (USD 17.9 billion) and core platform transactions rose 13.5% to 4.84 billion.
The company’s domestic China mobility operations remained the main source of strength, with segment GTV (gross transaction value) up 11.2% to RMB 87.2 billion (USD 12.6 billion), platform sales up 24.7% to RMB 20.8 billion (USD 3 billion), and adjusted EBITA improving to RMB 2.6 billion (USD 376.3 million) from RMB 2.2 billion (USD 318.4 million) a year earlier.
These figures support Didi’s argument that its core business remains durable. Average daily transactions in its domestic China mobility business reached a record 38.9 million in the quarter, suggesting that demand in the company’s home market is still compounding even as competition remains intense.
However, this strength was not enough to move the company into profitability for the quarter. Didi reported a net loss of RMB 333 million (USD 48.2 million) in Q4, compared with a net loss of about RMB 1.3 billion (USD 188.1 million) a year earlier.
Adjusted EBITDA swung to a loss of RMB 1.4 billion (USD 202.6 million) from a gain of RMB 1.1 billion (USD 159.2 million), while adjusted EBITA fell to a loss of RMB 2.1 billion (USD 303.9 million) from a gain of RMB 322 million (USD 46.6 million). Operating loss widened to RMB 2.7 billion (USD 390.7 million) from RMB 236 million (USD 34.2 million).
The primary driver was not deterioration in the core business, but the cost of growth elsewhere. Didi’s international operations continued to expand rapidly, with GTV rising 47.1% YoY, or 38.4% on a constant currency basis, to RMB 36.6 billion (USD 5.3 billion). Platform sales in the segment rose 22.3% to RMB 2.9 billion (USD 419.7 million). Adjusted EBITA loss in the international segment widened sharply to RMB 3.4 billion (USD 492 million) from RMB 706 million (USD 101.3 million) a year earlier, which the company attributed to higher incentives and marketing expenses.
This divergence defines the quarter’s central tension. Didi’s domestic China mobility operations are generating scale and positive segment profit, but the company is spending heavily enough overseas to offset those gains at the consolidated level:
- Sales and marketing expenses nearly doubled in the quarter, rising 95% YoY to RMB 6.2 billion (USD 897.3 million), primarily due to higher consumer incentives and 0
- Operations and support expenses also rose 15.5% to RMB 2.4 billion (USD 347.3 million), reflecting higher customer service and driver operations costs.
The full-year picture is less negative than the fourth quarter alone suggests.
For 2025, Didi reported revenue of RMB 226.7 billion (USD 32.8 billion), up 9.6% YoY. Core platform transaction value rose 14.8% to RMB 450.8 billion (USD 65.2 billion), while operating cash flow increased to RMB 9.8 billion (USD 1.4 billion) from RMB 6.5 billion (USD 940.7 million).
The company also ended the year with RMB 55.7 billion (USD 8.1 billion) in cash and treasury investments. Domestic China mobility operations remained the company’s anchor, with full-year adjusted EBITA rising to RMB 12.4 billion (USD 1.8 billion) from RMB 9.2 billion (USD 1.3 billion).
Even so, the annual numbers show that growth came with a meaningful profitability trade-off. Adjusted EBITDA for 2025 fell to RMB 6.5 billion (USD 940.7 million) from RMB 9.8 billion (USD 1.4 billion), while adjusted EBITA declined to RMB 3.7 billion (USD 535.5 million) from RMB 7.2 billion (USD 1 billion).
The international segment’s full-year adjusted EBITA loss widened to RMB 6.1 billion (USD 882.8 million) from RMB 1.8 billion (USD 260.5 million), underscoring how much of the earnings pressure came from overseas expansion.
Another cost item also affected the annual results. General and administrative expenses rose 70.2% in 2025 to RMB 15.1 billion (USD 2.2 billion), primarily due to a RMB 5.3 billion (USD 767 million) provision related to a previously disclosed shareholder class action lawsuit. This item makes the annual earnings profile somewhat noisier, though it does not change the broader point that international expansion has become materially more expensive.
Didi’s own language suggests this pressure may persist. CEO Cheng Wei said the company increased investment in new overseas businesses during the fourth quarter and plans to continue strategic investments in 2026. The company also plans to increase investment in autonomous driving R&D and operations, making it difficult to frame the quarter’s profitability weakness as temporary.
Didi is not facing a demand problem in its home market. Its domestic China mobility business continues to add transactions, expand platform sales, and generate segment profit. The pressure instead reflects concurrent strategic choices: expanding more aggressively overseas while continuing to invest in long-term initiatives such as autonomous driving.
Viewed this way, the quarter reads less like a setback and more like a signal about capital allocation. Didi has proven that its domestic base can fund expansion, but it has not yet shown that the next phase of expansion will preserve the level of earnings stability investors expect.
Note: RMB figures are converted to USD at rates of RMB 6.91 = USD 1 based on estimates as of March 16, 2026, unless otherwise stated. USD conversions are presented for ease of reference and may not fully match prevailing exchange rates.
T. K. Lin
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