Citigroup: Maoyan Entertainment (01896) exceeded expectations in profitability, expected to drive stock price performance positively. "Buy" rating.

Citibank released a research report stating that MAOYAN ENT (01896) announced a profit joy, with estimated revenue for the 2025 fiscal year ranging from 4.6 billion to 4.7 billion yuan, in line with the bank's forecast of 46.6 billion yuan; net profit is expected to be 540 million to 590 million yuan, an increase of 197% and 224% year-on-year, surpassing Citibank's forecast of 4.22 billion yuan by 34%. Citibank has set a target price of 9.3 Hong Kong dollars for MAOYAN ENT, based on a price-to-earnings ratio of 14 times in 2026, and rated it as "buy". Citibank believes that the outstanding performance of Maoyan last year was due to it being a good year for China Film Group, with the movie "Ne Zha 2" contributing 15 billion yuan in box office revenue. Last year, China's total box office revenue was 52 billion yuan, 6% higher than Citibank's forecast of 47 billion yuan. Maoyan, as the largest ticketing platform, benefits from its ticketing revenue. Furthermore, Maoyan has participated in multiple film projects, with impressive results and profits. These include "Detective Chinatown 1900" with 3.6 billion yuan in box office revenue, "The Legend of Hei" with 1.7 billion in box office revenue, "Lychee of Chang'an" with 691 million yuan in box office revenue, "Demon Slayer: Mugen Train" with 678 million yuan in box office revenue, and "Black Roco's War Diary 2" with 533 million yuan in box office revenue. Citibank predicts that the announcement of the profit joy this time will drive the stock price of Maoyan to perform positively and continue to see Maoyan as a key leader in content investment in the film sector.