iQIYI files for IPO in Hong Kong, re-entering the capital market: The anxiety and self-rescue of the long-form video giant
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Author | Huang Yu
After suffering from two consecutive years of revenue decline and the pain of reaching the ceiling in its core business, iQIYI, as the only independently listed platform among "Ai Teng You Mang", has decided to knock on the door of the capital market once again.
On March 30, iQIYI officially announced that the company had secretly submitted a listing application to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, seeking approval for its Class A ordinary shares to be listed and traded on the main board. This move aims to broaden its financing channels in Hong Kong’s capital market and expand its investor base in Asia.
To appease the market and demonstrate confidence in its long-term business prospects, iQIYI on the same day approved a share repurchase plan effective immediately, planning to repurchase up to $100 million worth of shares over the next 18 months.
At the same time, iQIYI also announced the official launch of the commercial open testing for its self-developed intelligent product “Nadou Pro,” which is designed for the generation of professional long videos.
Listing, repurchase, and new product launch — this “combination punch” reflects iQIYI’s sense of urgency amid the current zero-sum game in the industry.
Moreover, internet analyst Zhang Shule pointed out to Wallstreetcn that, unlike other long-video platforms, iQIYI’s current offline real-scene strategy urgently requires the IPO’s financial injection.
In 2018, iQIYI, which was not yet profitable but desperately needed funding, joined the IPO craze of listing in the US. However, its performance in the US stock market over the years confirmed the prediction of iQIYI’s founder and CEO, Gong Yu: it is not easy for overseas capital markets to truly understand the business model of Chinese local entertainment companies.
At that time, iQIYI’s share price fell below its offering price on its first day of listing, closing more than 10% down from the $18 IPO price, and has been declining ever since. As of the close on March 27, iQIYI’s share price was only about $1.2 per share with a total market value of around a few billion dollars, evaporating nearly 90% compared to its IPO day.
iQIYI’s intention to seek a second listing in Hong Kong has long been no secret in the industry. After all, compared to Tencent Video and Youku, which are part of big companies, iQIYI, as an independently listed platform with weaker financial strength, must seek more external funding.
As early as August 2020, Bloomberg reported that iQIYI was negotiating with Credit Suisse about a possible second listing in Hong Kong.
At that time, the market generally believed that Chinese stocks returning to Hong Kong or listing on mainland A-shares was an inevitable trend. According to Wallstreetcn statistics, around 2020, internet giants like Alibaba, JD.com, NetEase, Baidu, Bilibili, and Kuaishou had already flocked to listing in Hong Kong.
Although iQIYI’s plan to return did not materialize that year, since then news about its intention to list in Hong Kong has repeatedly emerged.
In 2023, when rumors resurfaced, Gong Yu responded to the media stating that the company was conducting feasibility studies on the technical details of listing but had not yet set a specific timetable. He also expressed the company’s eagerness to attract new investors to provide fresh funding for increased original content and AI investment.
Gong Yu’s confidence that year stemmed from improvements in iQIYI’s financial indicators.
Thanks to cost reductions, efficiency improvements, and hit productions like "A Lifelong Journey", "Love Between Fairy and Devil", "New Life Begins", "Wind Blows in Half Summer," iQIYI reached a turning point in 2022, achieving operating profitability for the first time in a full year. Its loss also narrowed significantly that year, from a net loss attributable to parent of RMB 6.17 billion in 2021 to RMB 136 million.
Gong Yu even called 2022 iQIYI's “year of breakthrough” and “year of miracles.”
By 2023, the hit series "The Knockout" brought iQIYI huge growth, with all core metrics — total revenue, operating profit, net profit, and cash flow — hitting record highs.
However, the good times did not last. Under the chill of the film and television industry and the impact of short dramas, iQIYI’s situation has become difficult again in the past two years, with revenue declining for two consecutive years, a 7% year-on-year decrease in 2025.
Dragged down by declining revenues, although iQIYI achieved Non-GAAP operating profitability for four consecutive years, its 2025 profits shrank by 70% year-on-year, and net profit attributable to iQIYI turned from profit to loss.
Five years ago, the long-video industry was at the tail end of its "burn money for scale" phase, with every company fighting for absolute dominance.
However, times have changed. Now that iQIYI is finally taking substantial steps toward a Hong Kong listing, the underlying logic has fundamentally shifted: from seeking development and expanding territory to breaking through under the pressure of its main business.
Facing the dual pressure of a business ceiling and profitability, iQIYI must tell a new growth story to the capital market, and its offline real-scene amusement parks have become one of its most important chips at this stage.
Reportedly, the first iQIYI park opened for business in Yangzhou on February 8 of this year. Compared with traditional theme parks, it aims to bring users an immersive experience by combining IP with AI, XR and other technologies. According to iQIYI’s plan, two more parks in Kaifeng and Beijing are expected to open within the year, marking the start of scaled operations for its amusement park business.
Zhang Shule believes that even quality film and TV IPs usually only achieve break-even or small profits directly (box office, advertising, etc.), so learning from Disney and Universal to turn IP into real scenes and merchandise has always been the ultimate aspiration for domestic film companies — seeking to achieve an ideal 3:7 ratio between film and peripheral product revenue.
Although iQIYI claims to operate its parks under a light asset model, mainly providing IP content, technical support, and operation management, building a complete IP ecological loop is still a marathon that severely tests capital and patience.
Beyond this story of extending offline, iQIYI’s other growth pole is anchored in cutting-edge AI technology and overseas market expansion.
Whether constructing an offline real-scene entertainment map or fully embracing AI large models and going global, abundant funds are needed as a foundation, making a Hong Kong IPO a realistically inevitable choice for iQIYI.
This is not only iQIYI's self-rescue in combating growth anxiety, but also a bold attempt by China’s long-video industry to explore the “Oriental Disney” model. The outlook is promising, but the journey is still long, and the market is waiting for iQIYI to present a more convincing answer.
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