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Investing.com– any color The stock hit an all-time low on Friday, extending its recent decline as deteriorating earnings at the media house's English virtual YouTuber (VTuber) division overshadowed an otherwise strong earnings report.
Anycolor (TYO:) shares fell 22% to an all-time low of 2,440 yen, wiping out about 44 billion yen ($300 million) in a matter of hours.
The decline comes amid growing controversy over the company's treatment of talent, after one of the company's “first generation” VTubers, “Moira,” announced that she would be taking a one-year hiatus.The stock price fell by 6% earlier this week. This was in response to the above decline.
The company's biggest source of revenue is Nijisanji Studio, the second largest VTuber agency after Hololive, which is operated by Cover Corporation.
Anycolor's December quarter results released late Thursday highlighted the deepening decline in revenue at Nijisanji's English division. This also affected the company's bottom line, with operating profit falling 20% year-on-year in the December quarter.
Nijisanji EN's revenue drops significantly, hitting Anycolor stock
Nijisanji EN's revenue for the three months ended December 31st fell 40% to 1.17 billion yen, the lowest level in two years. The decline comes amid mounting criticism of studios over their treatment of talent.
This criticism came to a boil in February 2024, when the company suddenly fired its largest English-language VTuber, Tatsuki Seren, on suspicion of compliance violations. At the time of his withdrawal, Tatsuki had approximately 750,000 subscribers on YouTube.
Tatsuki had accused the agency of bullying talent and fostering a toxic work environment. Tatsuki's exit comes after a series of high-profile exits, or “graduations,” from Nijisanji EN by 2023.
Anycolor's VTubers are the company's biggest source of revenue. VTubers promote products, host sponsored content, and also receive donations from subscribers.
Nijisanji Japan continued to record strong revenue growth in the December quarter, but weakness in its EN division increasingly became a headwind for the company's attempts to enter overseas markets. Its larger rival Hololive has a stronger foothold in this space.
The English division's sales decline occurred even before Tatsuki's dismissal, and his departure is likely to be reflected in Anycolor's March quarter results.
Anycolor has withdrawn troops from India, South Korea and Indonesia in the past two years.
Nijisanji Japan continues
However, Anycolor's overall quarterly revenue still posted strong growth, especially due to the resilience of Nijisanji Japan, the company's largest revenue source.
Overall revenue for the December quarter rose 4.7% to 7.79 billion yen, driven primarily by a 22.4% jump in Japan revenue.
