IQiyi: 'China's Netflix' Shares Dip In US Stock Debut

Image copyright Iqiyi

Chinese video streaming service iQiyi - often called China's Netflix - made a rocky US stock market debut as it launched on the Nasdaq.

Shares opened slightly ahead of the $18 listing price, before quickly falling back and closing down 14%.

But iQiyi chief executive Gong Yu said he was not concerned about the "short term volatility".

The firm, controlled by Chinese internet giant Baidu, raised more than $2.2bn (£1.6bn) in the listing.

The initial public offering (IPO) gave the streaming service a valuation of about $12.7bn.

Despite the initial stock price fall, Mr Gong was confident about the firm's future prospects.

"Long term, you'll see how much value the IPO creates," he told the Reuters news agency.

iQiYi had more than 50 million subscribers by the end of 2017 and an average of more than 420 million mobile users per month, according to Reuters.

But while revenues have risen in recent years, iQiyi has never posted a profit since it launched in 2010.

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In China, it competes with fellow streaming platforms Youku Tudou, which is owned by Alibaba, and Tencent Video.

In April 2017, iQiyi signed a licensing agreement with Netflix to stream some of the US provider's original content including Stranger Things and Black Mirror.

Last year, iQiyi posted a net loss of 3.7bn yuan (£425m; $592m) compared with 3.1bn yuan in 2016, though revenue jumped by 55% to 17.4bn yuan.

Baidu, which founded the business as Qiyi before later changing its name to iQiyi, is itself listed in the US.