AI short drama concept stock Duiba surged 40.94%, with its AI short drama business profitable for three consecutive months
Duiba, a Hong Kong-listed AI short drama concept stock, surged 40.94% on October 21, with intraday gains once exceeding 50%, closing with a market capitalization of HK$1.1 billion and cumulative gains of over 660% in the past two months. Duiba said its AI short drama business has grown rapidly since its launch in January 2026 and is expected to achieve profitability for three consecutive months in July, August, and September 2026; the business has surpassed SaaS to become its largest revenue source. At the industry level, a total of 490,000 micro short dramas were released from January to September 2026, nearly 15 times the full-year total for 2025, the vast majority of which were AI micro short dramas.
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Based on stock price and financial report data, examine how AI short dramas became the largest revenue source for a SaaS company, and provide industry production volume and leading application scale as reference.
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Hong Kong-listed AI short drama concept stock Duiba (01753.HK) continued its sharp climb. On October 21, Duiba surged 40.94%, with intraday gains at one point exceeding 50%. By the close, Duiba's market value reached HK$1.1 billion. Over the past two months, Duiba has risen more than 660% cumulatively, with its share price climbing from HK$0.139 to HK$1.050.
In a recent announcement, Duiba said its AI short drama business has continued to grow rapidly since its launch in January 2026, and it expects the AI short drama business to achieve profitability for three consecutive months in July, August, and September 2026, a significant improvement over the first half of the year.
Duiba listed in May 2019, and its share price declined steadily after listing. Yet in just a few months, Duiba turned itself around on the strength of AI short dramas. According to Duiba's disclosed 2026 interim report, the AI short drama business has surpassed the SaaS business to become its largest source of revenue.
Li Tianyu, head of Duiba's marketing department, said in an interview with a Securities Times reporter that Duiba's core competitiveness is not content production capacity alone, but an AI workflow platform and a self-developed AI Agent matrix covering the entire process from screenwriting and production to distribution. The company applies data and algorithms to topic selection and ad placement, and continuously iterates content and distribution decisions through a "production—distribution—feedback—optimization" data loop, extending AI capabilities from the production stage to the entire commercialization and operations chain.
In addition, Duiba's past experience in user operations SaaS platform business and internet advertising business has also helped the commercialization of its AI short drama business.
Li Tianyu introduced that the company's core team has more than 10 years of experience in performance advertising, and its ad placement strategies and creative iteration experience give the company lower customer acquisition costs and shorter payback periods than peers; the data, algorithms, and ad placement systems accumulated over the years can also be quickly transferred to the short drama sector.
Duiba is just a microcosm of the currently booming AI short drama sector. On October 20, during the China-ASEAN Audiovisual Week, the Development Research Center of the National Radio and Television Administration and the Guangxi Radio and Television Bureau jointly released the "Report on the Development of International Communication of China-ASEAN Micro Short Dramas." The report shows that China's micro short drama market is maintaining rapid growth.
In 2025, a total of 33,000 micro short dramas were launched and broadcast nationwide, while from January to September 2026, a total of 490,000 micro short dramas were launched, nearly 15 times the full-year total for 2025. The vast majority of these were AI micro short dramas.
The short drama sector has also produced a super app, with the user scale of ByteDance's Hongguo Free Short Dramas already far ahead of the pack. According to a report released by industry research firm QuestMobile, in June 2026, the MAU (monthly active users) of Hongguo Free Short Dramas reached as high as 368 million.