On November 27th Eastern Time, Douyu (DOYU) fell 9.55% during trading, hitting a historic low of $0.805 at one point. As of the close of the day, Douyu US stocks fell 8.63% to $0.813, with a total market value of $260 million. Douyu has fallen 13.33% in the past five trading days, 5.68% since the beginning of the month, and 41.93% since the beginning of the year.
On the evening of November 27th, Douyu announced that the company's board of directors had established a temporary management committee on November 24th, 2023, consisting of Su Mingming, the company's director and chief strategic officer, Cao Hao, the company's director and vice president, and Ren Simin, the company's vice president. The temporary management committee will manage the operation of the company until further notice.
Before the establishment of the temporary management committee, on the evening of November 21st, Douyu's official website announced that CEO Chen Shaojie was arrested by Chengdu police around November 16th. At noon on November 22, the Dujiangyan Irrigation Project Public Security Bureau issued a notice stating that after investigation, Chen Moujie (male, 39 years old) was suspected of opening a casino. At present, Chen Moujie has been arrested in accordance with the law. The case is under further investigation.
Douyu mentioned in its announcement on November 21 that Chen Shaojie's continued detention and any subsequent legal proceedings and enforcement actions against relevant parties may have a significant adverse impact on the company's reputation, business, and operating performance. The company maintains the normal operation of its business and continues to be committed to maintaining the regulatory compliance of its platform. The board of directors and management will oversee the operation of the company and develop emergency plans to respond to Chen Shaojie's arrest and related investigations.
In the announcement of the establishment of the temporary management committee, Douyu stated that the board of directors believes that under the leadership of the temporary management committee, the company will continue to operate normally. The members of the management committee, with years of experience in the company and industry, will provide stable leadership. At the same time, Chen Shaojie focused on his own situation.
In addition, Ren Simin has been appointed as the Vice President of Douyu International, effective from November 24, 2023. Ren Simin has been serving as the Vice President of Douyu Domestic Company since June 2021, responsible for project management and business compliance in the PMO department, as well as anchor management and content ecology.
Douyu, headquartered in Wuhan, is a leading game live streaming platform in the industry. In addition to games, the platform also covers various live content such as entertainment, variety shows, sports, and outdoor activities. According to Douyu's April announcement, as of March 31, 2023, Tencent holds 37.7% of Douyu's shares, while CEO Chen Shaojie holds 17% of Douyu's shares.
According to the latest financial report, Douyu's revenue in the second quarter was 1.3922 billion yuan, a year-on-year decrease of 24.1%; The net profit was 6.8 million yuan, while the net loss for the same period in 2022 was -38.8 million yuan. Since 2020 to 2022, Douyu's revenue scale has been on a downward trend, with a revenue of 9.6 billion yuan, 9.1 billion yuan, and 7.1 billion yuan respectively. In 2020, Douyu's net profit was 540 million yuan, followed by a net loss of 620 million yuan in 2021 and a narrower loss of 90.4 million yuan in 2022.
At the beginning of 2021, the stock price of Douyu reached a peak of $20.54 per share, which has now dropped by 90% and fluctuated in single digits. As of the closing of the US stock market on November 27th, the total market value of Douyu was only $260 million, down 90% from its valuation of $3.7 billion at the time of listing.
On October 25th, Douyu announced that due to the past 30 consecutive working days, the closing price of Douyu's American Depositary Stock (ADS) has been below the minimum buying price of $1. If the stock price does not return above $1 by April 22, 2024, it may face delisting.