By Tracy Qu

Shares of Chinese film and entertainment companies fell sharply after a poor showing at the box office over the Lunar New Year holiday.

China Film Group, Shanghai Film and Hengdian Entertainment all dropped by 10% in early trading Tuesday, hitting the daily price limit on the main Shanghai board. Beijing Enlight Media slumped 20%, the daily trading limit for the Nasdaq-style ChiNext board in Shenzhen. Hong Kong-listed Maoyan Entertainment shed about 7%.

All five stocks underperformed the broader market. The Shanghai Composite Index was recently 1.2% higher, the ChiNext Price Index added 1.8% and the Hang Seng Index was down 2.0%.

The declines came amid weak box-office receipts during the long Spring Festival holiday, which lasted nine days in 2026.

This year's Lunar New Year box-office performance was the weakest since 2018, according to data compiled by Citi analysts. Ticket sales were also 40% lower than the same period last year, they wrote in a note.

Citi said the weak performance reflected the content's low consumer appeal. The longer-than-usual holiday this year also meant that some Chinese chose to travel rather than go to the movies, it said.

The soft box-office performance will weigh on sector sentiment, Citi said, adding that there are limited near-term catalysts for film and entertainment stocks.

Write to Tracy Qu at tracy.qu@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

February 23, 2026 22:44 ET (03:44 GMT)

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