Kuaishou: Taking Social Media by Storm with Unmatched Engagement and E-commerce Success
Kuaishou, recognized as a **leading short-video platform in China**, has cemented its position as one of the globe’s most significant content and social platforms. Striving to be the world’s most customer-centric company, Kuaishou is utilizing advanced AI capabilities to innovate and expand its service offerings significantly. In the first quarter of 2025, Kuaishou reported a **total revenue of RMB 32.6 billion**, marking a **10.9% increase year-over-year**. The company recorded an adjusted net profit of **RMB 4.6 billion** and an adjusted net margin of **14.0%**. Impressively, Kuaishou achieved its first-ever quarterly operating profit in the overseas segment.
The monthly active users (MAUs) on Kuaishou reached a staggering **712 million**, while the daily active users (DAUs) stood at **441 million**. Notably, the average daily usage time per DAU was recorded at an impressive **133.8 minutes**. Kuaishou’s e-commerce sector has also shown remarkable growth, with the **gross merchandise volume (GMV)** increasing by **15% year-over-year** to reach **RMB 332 billion**.
AI: The Driving Force Behind China’s Short Video Explosion
China’s short video market is in a robust growth phase, largely fueled by AI advancements. The **online audiovisual market** reached a value of **RMB 1.2 trillion** in 2024, reflecting a rise of **6.1% year-over-year**. By December 2024, the number of short video users in China surpassed **1 billion**, with daily usage time per user ranking highest among all internet applications. Kuaishou effectively captures users’ fragmented attention spans through stunning visuals, algorithm-driven content distribution, and simplified consumption methods, quickly escalating user engagement.
At the forefront of this AI-driven transformation, Kuaishou proudly presents its proprietary AI video generation platform, **“Kling AI” (可灵)**. This landmark tool stands out as China’s first paid AI video solution designed not only for consumers but also for professional creators. The underlying AI infrastructure has far-reaching applications, including intelligent customer service, dynamic ad delivery, and AIGC (AI-generated content).
Kling AI: A Revolutionary Growth Engine in Kuaishou’s Business Strategy
As the **first paid AI video generation tool** tailored for professionals in China, **Kling AI** has made significant strides toward commercialization. The platform prioritizes high model quality and zeroes in on the “**prosumer**” segment—individuals who merge consumer trends with professional purchasing capabilities, like content creators and digital marketers. In the first quarter of 2025, Kling AI generated revenue exceeding **RMB 150 million**, with nearly **70%** of this revenue coming from paid subscriptions by prosumer users. Currently, Kling AI boasts a global user base of over **22 million** and serves more than **10,000 enterprise clients** through API integration.
This innovative tool serves multiple sectors including content creation, advertising, gaming, film and animation, and smart devices, achieving a commendably high enterprise renewal rate.
Kling AI: Elevating Visual Quality and Cost Efficiency
Kling AI has undergone rapid iterations, focusing on enhancing both quality and efficiency. The **April launch of Kling 2.0** brought significant improvements in semantics, motion, and aesthetics, while the newly unveiled **Kling 2.1 series** sets new benchmarks for cost-effectiveness and speed. Users can now generate **5-second videos** at a fraction of the cost—just 20 Inspiration Points for 720p and 35 Points for 1080p—without compromising performance. In high-quality mode, videos are rendered in less than a minute, outperforming many industry competitors. Kling AI has effectively positioned itself as a global leader in visual AI, now providing a broad and efficient suite of solutions for diverse content creation needs.
MVL Framework: Unlocking New Commercial Innovations
Kuaishou recently unveiled its **MVL (multi-modal visual language)** framework, allowing for a richer expression by merging various input formats—text, images, videos, sounds, and motion data—into one creative workflow. This innovative approach captures and realizes users’ creative intent more effectively than text alone. Kling AI 2.0 utilizes this cutting-edge framework to facilitate more precise and expressive content creation. The commercial applications of this framework span advertising, professional content creation, film and television production, and entertainment. Following the **official launch of Kling 2.0** on April 15, significant acceleration in AI monetization is anticipated throughout **FY2025**.
AI Revolutionizes E-commerce Efficiency
Kuaishou’s e-commerce operations have also been empowered by AI-generated content. The use of **AIGC** has proven to enhance merchant efficiency by cutting down operating costs through automated content creation, intelligent product matching, and virtual customer service. Leveraging video recognition technology and **DeepSeek’s semantic understanding**, Kuaishou can automatically generate highlight clips from livestreams to showcase product features and attract long-tail traffic. By the first quarter of 2025, the daily GMV generated from AI-driven livestream clips had surged over **300% year-over-year**.
Kuaishou’s Attractive Valuation Amidst Rapid Growth
As Kuaishou continues to experience GMV growth exceeding **15% year-over-year**, alongside its swift AI business expansion, the company’s valuation appears increasingly appealing. Within its three main segments, the “**Other Services**” category is forecasted to be the fastest growing, predominantly driven by the synergies between Kling AI and e-commerce. Projections indicate that revenue from this segment will escalate by **18% year-over-year** in FY2025. Kuaishou is primarily valued using the **EV/EBITDA** method. Currently trading at **HK$51.65 per share**, the company has an estimated market capitalization of around **HK$221.6 billion**. Market consensus predicts EBITDA of **HK$32.0 billion** and **HK$37.7 billion** for FY2025 and FY2026 respectively, indicating EV/EBITDA multiples of **5.5x** and **4.7x**. This is significantly below the industry averages of **9.8x** and **8.3x**.
Conclusion: Kuaishou’s Bright Future ahead
With its innovative use of AI and robust growth in e-commerce, Kuaishou is not just participating in the short-video revolution but is actively shaping its future. As the platform continues to enhance user engagement while maintaining strong commercial growth, investors and users alike have much to look forward to in the evolving landscape of digital content and e-commerce in China. Kuaishou’s impressive financial performance and cutting-edge technology position it favorably within a highly competitive market, suggesting a bright future ahead.
