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Cheetah Mobile

Mobile softwareChina
New to Unitard
πŸ“‰ Public < $1B
PeakΒ $1.95 BillionRecorded estimate
~-90%
from peak
  1. πŸ¦„
    Became a unicorn
    2014
  2. πŸ“ˆ
    Peak valuation
    $1.95 Billion ’14
  3. πŸ’”
    Became a Unitard
    2018
  4. πŸ’Έ
    Last valuation estimate
    ~$195M
Current status
Listed on NYSE (CMCM)

The rise & fall

7 moments Β· 2010–2024

The key moments.

2010
Founded in Beijing
Formed from Kingsoft's security business, with Fu Sheng at the helm and Android utility apps as the product.
Wikipedia
2014
The peak: ~$1.95B after the NYSE IPO$1.95B
The Clean Master maker lists in New York in May 2014 at the height of the utility-app boom β€” unicorn status and peak in the same year.
Macrotrends
Nov 2018
An ad-fraud report lands
Researchers allege Cheetah apps grabbed ad credit through click injection; Google pulls apps from the Play Store.
BuzzFeed News
2018
Slips out of the club
The ad-driven model cracks and the market cap drops below $1B for good.
Macrotrends
Feb 2020
Google bans its apps outright
Cheetah's remaining apps are removed from the Play Store, severing its main distribution channel.
TechCrunch
2020–24
The pivot to robots
Revenue shrinks as Cheetah retools around AI and service robots; the market cap settles near $0.2B β€” about 90% below peak.
Macrotrends

How it happened

Cheetah Mobile, the Kingsoft-affiliated Chinese app developer behind hugely popular utility apps like Clean Master, Cheetah Security Master and Battery Doctor, reached a market capitalization of about $1.95B after its May 2014 NYSE IPO.

Its model leaned on Android utility apps and advertising, and it was badly damaged by a 2018 report alleging ad-click fraud and by Google's removal of several of its apps from the Play Store.

Revenue shrank as it pivoted toward AI and robots, and its market cap has since fallen to roughly $0.2B β€” about 90% below its peak and long under the $1B line.

Source: stockanalysis / Macrotrends / NYSE (Kingsoft-affiliated maker of Clean Master and other utility apps; May 2014 NYSE IPO at ~$1.95B peak market cap; hit by a 2018 click-fraud report and Google Play app removals; market cap ~$0.2B in 2024-25)

Founder

  • Fu Sheng
    founder & CEO (founded Conew Image, which merged with Kingsoft Security in Nov 2010 to form Cheetah)
    No public profile matched

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