Zheshang: AI comic drama has unlimited potential for going global. We are optimistic about the performance and prospects of leading companies.

Zheshang released a research report stating that the market size of comic dramas is expected to exceed 20 billion levels by 2025. With the launch of comic drama support plans by major platforms, comic dramas are likely to become the next phenomenon-level trend. AI significantly reduces the production costs of comic dramas, leading to low costs and high ROI, greatly increasing profit margins. The industry heavily favors the performance and prospects of leading companies. The commercialization path of the industry is upgrading from a single profit-sharing model to a multi-level monetization structure centered around IP. Key points from Zheshang's report include: - The comic drama market is rapidly expanding from a new attempt within the short drama system to a content track with an independent user mentality, mature supply structure, and sustainable business model. - In 2025, there were approximately 60,947 comic dramas launched on Douyin throughout the year, with a total viewership exceeding 70 billion (corresponding to the content sharing ratio estimated by Zheshang in the billion levels). The most popular among them, "I Shocked the Gods Under the Beheading Immortal Platform," had a viewership exceeding one billion, with Douyin's daily investment exceeding 20 million yuan. The market size is expected to exceed 200 billion levels by 2025. The number of comic dramas on WeChat ecosystem increased by 3,380% in 2025 compared to the previous year, reflecting an explosive growth in demand for comic dramas within the WeChat ecosystem. With the implementation of various platforms' comic drama support plans, comic dramas are likely to become the next big trend. - AI significantly reduces the production costs of comic dramas, leading to low costs and high ROI, greatly increasing profit margins. - Top companies in the industry receive the majority of the traffic in the comic drama market, with the top 20 companies holding 1/3 of the overall market share. - The commercialization path of comic dramas is upgrading from a single profit-sharing model to a multi-level monetization structure centered around IP. Investment recommendations include focusing on companies with business layout in AI comic dramas such as Kunlun Tech, COL Group Co., Ltd., Ronshin Group, H&R Century Union Corporation, IReader Technology, Shenzhen MTC Co. Ltd, Decai Decoration, and Wondershare Technology Group. Companies with rich IP resources like COL Group Co., Ltd., IReader Technology, and CHINA LIT are also recommended. In the field of multimodal large models, companies like Kwai (HKEx), Alibaba (HK/US), MiniMax (HKEx), and Tencent (HKEx) are mentioned as potential investment targets. Risk warnings include changes in issuance-related policies, regulatory uncertainties, and risks of AI investment output efficiency falling below expectations.