Mango Excellent Media soars 44% amid AI drama frenzy

A Chinese media company just became one of Asia’s hottest stocks this week, and all it took was teaching artificial intelligence to rewrite a 16th-century novel. Mango Excellent Media (300413.SZ), the state-controlled long-video platform behind one of China’s most-watched satellite channels, surged after premiering Journey to the West: The Later Tale on August 31. The series holds a distinction no other show can claim: it’s China’s first fully AI-generated long-form drama to air during prime time on a mainstream satellite channel. Two days, two limit-ups The stock hit its 20% daily limit-up on August 31, closing at 16.98 yuan. It did it again the next day, climbing to approximately 20.38 yuan on September 1. That’s two consecutive days slamming into the ceiling that China’s stock exchanges impose on daily price moves. The cumulative gain over those 48 hours came in around 44%, adding more than 10 billion yuan to the company’s market capitalization. By the time the dust settled, Mango’s valuation had ballooned to somewhere in the range of 31.8 to 38 billion yuan. The rally didn’t stay contained to Mango’s ticker, either. Other A-share companies linked to AI and media saw sympathetic...