Kuaishou Technology is scheduled to report its second-quarter results on Wednesday. Here's what you need to know:
NET PROFIT FORECAST: Kuaishou's net profit for the three months ended June 30 likely dropped 30% from a year earlier to 3.92 billion yuan, equivalent to $581.5 million, according to a poll of 21 analysts by VisibleAlpha.
REVENUE FORECAST: The Chinese short-video platform's second-quarter revenue is expected to have jumped 1.4% to 35.54 billion yuan, according to VisibleAlpha.
WHAT TO WATCH:
-- KLING AI: Markets are watching the capital-spending plans and outlook for Kuaishou's AI video and image generator, Kling, which recently raised around $2.8 billion from private investors at an approximate valuation of $15 billion. Morningstar director Ivan Su said Kling's long-term prospects remain challenging, as the funds raised are likely to cover only about one year of spending.
-- BYTEDANCE COMPETITION: Kling faces significant competition from ByteDance's rival AI model, Seedance, Nomura analysts said. Investors will be assessing the impact of Seedance 2.0 and 2.5, which were launched earlier this year, on Kuaishou and whether Kling can narrow any performance gap as competition between the platforms intensifies.
-- TENCENT'S STAKE: Tencent's disposal of Kuaishou shares in July, which reduced its stake to under 10%, came as a surprise and likely weighed on market sentiment toward Kuaishou, Citi analysts said. While Kuaishou's fundamentals and Kling's potential remain intact, investors are watching closely to see whether one of the company's most prominent backers will further reduce its stake, which would affect broader confidence in the company, Citi said.
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