KUAISHOU Technology’s Hong Kong-listed shares yesterday tumbled after the firm, a rival to TikTok-owner ByteDance Ltd., reported a faster decline in its livestreaming business while boosting investments in newer businesses.

The stock slumped nearly 8 percent in Hong Kong yesterday, after analysts at brokerages including Morgan Stanley cut their share price targets.

While revenue climbed 37 percent to 17 billion yuan (US$2.65 billion) in the three months ended March, sales from its livestreaming business fell almost three times faster than a year earlier.

Sales and marketing expenses surged to roughly 69 percent of revenue, while spending on research and development tripled after the short-video giant boosted hiring to grow advanced technologies like artificial intelligence.

Kuaishou, the operator of China’s most popular short-video platform after ByteDance’s Douyin, is trying to establish its place among a generation of mega-startups like food delivery giant Meituan and ride-hailing leader Didi.

Shares in Tencent Holdings Ltd.-backed Kuaishou had more than doubled since its February initial public offering, the top performer among recent major mainland tech listings in Hong Kong.

But founder Su Hua’s company, which is expanding beyond its roots in video content, is grappling with an influx of rivals from up-and-comers like Bilibili Inc. to WeChat. Tencent’s ubiquitous social app is venturing into TikTok-style clips, taking a page straight out of ByteDance and Kuaishou’s playbook. (SD-Agencies)