Kuaishou Technology (1024 HK): Buy: Waiting for the next Kling model update catalyst

Research evidence excerpt

20 August 2026

Kuaishou Technology (1024 HK)

Equities

Internet Software & Services

Buy: Waiting for the next Kling model update catalyst

China

◆ Core business could be dragged down by macro conditions

MAINTAIN BUY

and regulations in the near term

TARGET PRICE (HKD)

PREVIOUS TARGET (HKD)

45.00

65.00

◆ Maintain Buy; cut TP to HKD45 (from HKD65)

SHARE PRICE (HKD)

UPSIDE/DOWNSIDE

37.80

+19.0%

Core business could face more challenges in the near term: Kuaishou (KS)

2Q26 revenue and profit were in line with Visible Alpha consensus. But given the

weaker macro outlook and ongoing impact from higher merchant compliance costs,

we expect ad and ecommerce growth in 2H26 to face more challenges before

improving into 1H27. Kling AI remains a bright spot as the monetization scenarios

continue to expand steadily, driving up ARR (annualized revenue run-rate). Unveiling

of the next generation of the Kling AI model is a near-term catalyst that could

potentially reaccelerate ARR growth. We trim our 2026-28e revenue estimates by

7-12% on the weaker outlook for ads, ecommerce, and live streaming. We lower our

earnings estimates by c50-60% as we expect a less favourable revenue mix shift and

increased investment in AI. We cut our TP to HKD45, which implies c19% upside,

and we maintain our Buy rating. We believe the share price has already priced in the

weaker outlook as it is down 40% YTD vs Hang Seng Tech Index down 15%. KS’s

strong commitment to returning capital via buybacks and dividends should provide

valuation support as we expect a 4% shareholder yield in 2026e. The recent round of

private fund raising for Kling AI also offers KS more resources to sustain its AI

investment. Moreover, we see upside risk from the next version of Kling.

(as of 19 Aug 2026)

◆ Launch of new iterations of Kling AI could reaccelerate ARR

growth

Updates on Kling AI: 1) Revenue split: Overseas contribution stayed at over 70%

(vs 75% in 1Q26). 2) Usage scenarios: Advertising/marketing, PGC (Professionally

Generated Content) users (e.g. short drama, TV, movie production companies), and

self-media content creators, each contributed one-third of Kling AI revenue. 3)

…