Citigroup initiates a 30-day positive catalyst observation for MAOYAN ENT, maintaining a "Buy" rating

Citi released a report indicating that it has initiated a 30-day positive catalyst observation for MAOYAN ENT (01896.HK), driven by the major animated film "Demon Slayer," which is scheduled to be released on November 14, with MAOYAN serving as its distributor. The film has already shown strong performance at the global box office, ranking fifth worldwide as of yesterday, with box office earnings exceeding $677 million, and becoming the top international film in North America. The announcement of the film has generated significant buzz, evidenced by MAOYAN Professional recording over 400,000 "want to see" clicks in just one day.

Citi expects "Demon Slayer" to become the top Japanese animated film in China and assumes box office earnings will reach 1 billion RMB, with expected profit contributions ranging from 108 million to 200 million RMB, compared to Citi's adjusted net profit expectation of 542 million RMB for 2025.

With the New Year holiday starting at the end of November, Citi also anticipates that any better-than-expected box office performance will serve as a positive catalyst for MAOYAN as the largest ticketing platform, assigning a target price of HKD 9.3 to the stock, based on a 14 times adjusted earnings per share for 2026, maintaining a "Buy" rating