Shares of LAOPU GOLD (06181) plummeted 5.03% during intraday trading on Wednesday, extending a sharp selloff that began in the prior session, as investors reacted to the company's disappointing second-quarter performance.

The decline followed a positive profit alert issued earlier in the week, which, while showing an 83%-85% year-over-year increase in adjusted net profit for the first half, revealed that Q2 revenue fell an estimated 70-80% sequentially from Q1 and came in roughly 30% below analyst expectations. The miss prompted a wave of target price cuts from major investment banks, including Macquarie, Citi, and CICC, with some slashing their targets by as much as 44%.

Analysts attributed the slowdown to gold price volatility impacting sales, the company's unhedged inventory strategy creating impairment risk during gold price declines, and elevated operating expenses tied to new product launches and high-value customer management. These factors have collectively dampened sentiment and fueled the ongoing selloff.