On the morning of September 8th, the cultural media sector continued its strong rally. Longban Media hit its daily limit-up just four minutes after the market opened, trading at 18.82 yuan per share and officially securing a seventh consecutive limit-up day. At the same time, China Publishing achieved its third straight limit-up, while Duzhe Media locked in its second. CITIC Press surged impressively with a 20% gain. The entire media sector was set ablaze, and the catalyst behind this surge was a traditional textbook publisher — and its AI video business that generated a mere 80 yuan in revenue.

The seeds of this story were planted as early as August 26th. In its 2026 semi-annual report, Longban Media disclosed that its "first AI animated drama 'Time Travel to 1988' had completed 170 episodes and launched online, amassing over 120 million views across platforms with a heat score exceeding 40 million." This pushed AIGC video concepts into the spotlight. By August 31st, Mango Excellent Media's AI-generated 30-episode drama "Journey to the West: The Later Chapters" premiered on Hunan Satellite TV during prime time, ranking first in viewership among provincial channels. Mango Excellent Media subsequently posted two consecutive 20% limit-up days, and Longban Media quickly rode this wave. From August 31st onward, the stock price of Longban Media soared like a runaway horse, hitting limit-up for seven consecutive trading days.

But what truly stunned the market wasn't the seven limit-ups themselves — it was the fundamentals underpinning the frenzy. On September 4th, in a risk warning announcement, Longban Media finally disclosed that its AI video business generated approximately 80 yuan in revenue in June and about 75,000 yuan in July. Eighty yuan — barely enough for three movie tickets — yet it fueled a market value surge of over 70%. The extreme contrast between 120 million views and 80 yuan in revenue quickly ignited public debate. Regulators clearly took notice of this "miracle" worth 80 yuan. On September 4th, the Shanghai Stock Exchange issued a regulatory warning to Longban Media and its then-board secretary, Sun Fujun. The core issue centered on inconsistent disclosures: on September 2nd and 3rd, the company stated that "the AI video business generated no operating revenue," but on September 4th, it revised this to claim "June revenue of approximately 80 yuan." The exchange deemed this conduct as "inaccurate information disclosure, insufficient risk warnings, and contradictory statements that could mislead investor decisions." The company subsequently clarified that its AI video business accounted for less than 0.01% of 2025 revenue and is not expected to significantly impact future performance.

Yet market enthusiasm showed no sign of cooling. On September 7th, Longban Media continued its limit-up streak, and by September 8th, it locked in its seventh with a four-minute surge to the daily ceiling. This isn't the first time Longban Media has been swept up by a speculative concept. In late 2023, it surged 143% in two months under the "data elements" label. Back then it was data speculation; now it's AI — the stories change, but the underlying logic remains the same. Beneath the AI narrative's halo, Longban Media's fundamental picture tells a different story. In the first half of 2026, the company posted operating revenue of 659 million yuan, up 5.62% year-over-year, but net profit attributable to shareholders fell to just 78.678 million yuan, a sharp decline of 34.46%. Its gross margin was 43.81%, down 3.43 percentage points year-over-year, while its net margin dropped to 11.93%, a 7.3 percentage point decrease. The core business remains heavily reliant on traditional publishing, printing, and distribution. More notably, R&D expenses during the period totaled a mere 641,100 yuan, with an R&D-to-revenue ratio of approximately 0.1%.

Longban Media is hardly an isolated case — the entire cultural media sector is experiencing systematic valuation turbulence. Looking at sector data, the Shenwan Media Index rose 6.03% last week (August 31st to September 4th), while the CSI 300 fell 1.33% over the same period, giving the sector a 7.36 percentage point outperformance, ranking first across all industries. The AI animated drama concept has become the core driver of this rally, supported by favorable policy signals. However, looking at Longban Media's seven consecutive limit-ups, the company's forward P/E ratio has already climbed above 50x, far exceeding the benchmarks of the news and publishing industry index. Behind this collective carnival ignited by AI narratives and fueled by short-term speculative capital lies a traditional publisher with declining profits and R&D spending below one-thousandth of its revenue. When the tide recedes, time will reveal who's swimming naked.