On September 9, EAST BUY fell 5.18% in regular trading, trading at HK$25.26/share, with turnover of HK$165 million. The decline was triggered by a commentary article published by People's Daily on September 8, publicly questioning the company over a suspected counterfeit product incident under the headline urging EAST BUY to choose authenticity, dealing a blow to the brand trust the company had built around food safety.

The media scrutiny comes at a sensitive juncture. EAST BUY had just reported strong annual results on August 21, with total revenue of RMB 57.01 billion, up 29.8% year-over-year, and operating profit of RMB 6.63 billion, marking a successful turnaround from the prior year's RMB 1.10 billion operating loss. Net profit surged to RMB 5.44 billion, up 8,684.8% year-over-year. Post-earnings, the stock had rallied over 28%, setting the stage for profit-taking pressure once negative sentiment emerged.

Additionally, on September 7, a Beijing court ruled in EAST BUY's favor in a defamation case regarding false claims of maggots in its chicken products, ordering the defendant to apologize and pay RMB 20,000 in damages. However, the state-level media's direct questioning on product authenticity has overshadowed that legal victory and amplified investor concerns.

(The above content is based on publicly available market information, generated by a program or algorithm, and is intended solely as a stock movement alert. It does not constitute investment advice or a basis for trading decisions.)