Shares of Kuaishou Technology, the owner of a popular Chinese short-video platform that competes with ByteDance Ltd., fell 15% on Thursday after the company removed a US app and the industry it operates in was criticized by one outlet. of state communication.
Kuaishou, which means “fast hand” in Chinese, slid to a new closing low, crystallizing 70% from its first trading day and finishing 22.5% below its initial public offering price. Shares of Tencent Holdings Ltd., which has a sizable stake in the company, fell nearly 4% on Thursday to their lowest close in more than a year.
Beijing-based Kuaishou traded in February to much fanfare after raising $ 5.4 billion from global investors. The shares initially rose, taking the company’s market capitalization to more than $ 220 billion in a matter of days. It dropped to about $ 48 billion on Thursday, according to FactSet.
Kuaishou recently removed a video-sharing app called Zynn from US app stores and notified users that Zynn’s services would be ending soon. In response to a query, a company spokesperson said the service will be discontinued on August 20, calling the move a “normal operating adjustment” that would not affect the company’s overall strategy.
Zynn launched in May 2020 and was a rival to the popular privately owned ByteDance TikTok app. It sparked controversy last year after some internet users questioned Zynn’s offers to pay people to invite friends to join the platform.
