Cheetah Mobile
- 🦄Became a unicorn2014
- 📈Peak valuation$1.95 Billion ’14
- 💔Became a Unitard2018
- 💸Last valuation~$195M
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 — 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)
