US Stock IPO Outlook | Revenue Doubles and Profits Smoothly, is Black Eye Technology's lecturer the next "small but beautiful" US stock gaming target?

As of Q2, a "alternative" company has emerged in the U.S. stock market's Chinese concept stock IPOs, namely DarkIris Technology from the gaming industry. In fact, since 2021, there have been very few domestic gaming companies choosing to go public on Nasdaq. Against the backdrop of the current Chinese concept stock IPO landscape, which is dominated by "technology + pharmaceuticals + industry," the appearance of a mobile game company is particularly eye-catching.

A New Member of Small IPOs in Chinese Concept Stocks

Although the external environment has been turbulent this year, the number of Chinese concept stock IPOs remains considerable. Data shows that 31 Chinese companies have gone public in the U.S. stock market this year, raising approximately $772 million, a 63% year-on-year increase in the number of IPOs compared to the same period last year.

However, due to the special environmental impact, there has been a noticeable increase in small IPOs this year, while large IPOs have been relatively quiet. The overall fundraising amount for Chinese concept stocks has decreased by 55% year-on-year. The total market capitalization of all IPOs this year does not exceed $10 billion, with an average fundraising of less than $25 million and an average issuance ratio of about 8%. Among them, only Bawang Chaji (CHA.US) raised over $200 million, while the fundraising scale of other Chinese concept stocks generally did not exceed $15 million, with 22 stocks raising less than $10 million.

Returning to DarkIris Technology, the company is registered in the Cayman Islands and previously conducted business through its Hong Kong subsidiaries Quantum Arts Co., Limited and Hongkong Stellar Wisdom Co., Limited. As a comprehensive technology company, it mainly engages in the development, distribution, and operation of mobile digital games through various third-party digital platforms. Its business scope includes game design, programming, and image production, as well as the distribution and operation of mobile games across multiple platforms.

This time, DarkIris Technology plans to issue 1.5 million shares of Class A common stock, with an initial offering price expected to be $4 per share, raising $6 million. Based on the proposed price, DarkIris's market capitalization will reach $70 million. According to the prospectus, approximately 40% of the funds raised will be used for the expansion of the operations team and rewarding the existing team, 40% will be invested in product development, and the remaining will be used for working capital and other general corporate purposes.

From the perspective of equity structure, DarkIris Technology has a total share capital of 16 million shares before going public, including 10.5504 million Class A shares and 5.4496 million Class B shares. After the IPO (assuming the over-allotment option is not exercised), the Class A shares will increase to 12.0504 million shares, bringing the total share capital to 17.5 million shares. CEO Hong Zhifang will control approximately 90.04% of the voting rights with about 31.14% of the equity by holding all Class B shares.

In terms of business division, DarkIris Technology's Hong Kong operating subsidiary Quantum focuses on game development and distribution, while another Hong Kong operating subsidiary Stellar mainly engages in video marketing on social media and video content platforms (such as YouTube) In fact, historically, Black Eye Technology also had a subsidiary in Guangzhou, TuringGame, which primarily focused on mobile game publishing and intellectual property resource management. Turing has always existed as a cost center for the company, relying on R&D personnel to support the overall business. Later, considering that most of the company's revenue comes from overseas, and Turing's revenue accounted for less than 3% of the company's total revenue, the company began to gradually shift its business focus to overseas markets centered around Hong Kong since the beginning of this year to align with the nature of its business and reduce costs while increasing efficiency.

Regarding the company's performance, the prospectus shows that the company's revenue for the past fiscal years 2023, 2024, and the first six months of 2025 were $3.9511 million, $7.9205 million, and $5.2047 million, respectively, with corresponding net profits of -$1.2578 million, $1.0968 million, and $0.9074 million. Additionally, the revenue for the 12 months ending March 31 of this year was $10 million.

Among them, the company's revenue for the fiscal year 2024 doubled year-on-year, mainly benefiting from the launch of new games such as "Immortal Fate" and "Floating Myth," with monthly paying users increasing from 31,100 in 2023 to 101,700 in 2024. After clarifying its overseas strategy, Black Eye Technology also saw a significant improvement in performance. The company achieved profitability in the fiscal year 2024, and in the first half of the fiscal year 2025, the net profit reached 82.73% of the previous year's total.

Entering the Fast Lane of Game Overseas Expansion

Since the beginning of this year, the gaming industry has seen frequent policy releases, pushing domestic game overseas expansion into a new cycle and opening up growth space for many game manufacturers.

From the policy perspective, in January this year, the General Office of the State Council issued "Several Economic Policies to Promote High-Quality Development of Culture"; in April, during a press conference held by the State Council Information Office to introduce the "Comprehensive Pilot Work Plan for Accelerating the Expansion of the Service Industry," it emphasized the need to "develop game overseas business and layout the entire industrial chain from IP creation to game production, publishing, and overseas operations," injecting strong confidence into the gaming industry.

At the local level, in June this year, the Zhejiang Provincial Department of Commerce and 17 other departments jointly issued "Several Measures to Support Game Overseas Expansion" on June 10, proposing more than 20 specific measures from four aspects: promoting the upgrade of the gaming industry, strengthening support for game overseas platforms, improving the ecological service for game overseas expansion, and reinforcing the guarantee of elements for game overseas expansion.

With a series of policy combinations promoting it, domestic game overseas expansion has clearly entered the fast lane. According to the previously issued "2024 China Game Overseas Research Report," the overseas revenue of independently developed Chinese games is expected to reach $18.557 billion in 2024, a year-on-year increase of 13.39%, reversing the previous two years of decline From the performance of corresponding overseas markets in 2024, according to the data from the Sensor Tower's 24Q4 Digital Market Index report, in the fourth quarter of 2024, global in-app purchase (IAP) monetization reached $39.4 billion, a year-on-year increase of 13.5%, hitting a historical high and achieving the fastest growth in the past three years. Meanwhile, mobile game revenue has stabilized, with IAP at $20.2 billion, a year-on-year increase of 2.6%, maintaining a steady growth of 2%-4% for six consecutive quarters.

During this period, the global developed markets performed outstandingly, with Japan's IAP growing by 13% year-on-year, achieving the best performance in mobile games since Q1 2023; the U.S. IAP reached $13.55 billion during the same period, a year-on-year increase of 12%; while Germany's IAP led the European market with a year-on-year growth rate of 22%.

Against this backdrop, Heitong Technology, which focuses on mobile gaming, has chosen to fully shift to overseas markets in 2025, which is evidently timely.

According to Zhitong Finance APP, Heitong Technology's founder, Hong Zhifang, has 20 years of experience in the internet industry, capable of leading the team to integrate Eastern and Western cultural elements and create hit games such as "The Romance of the Three Kingdoms" and "The Nine Heavens Spirit Snake Record."

The company's core business covers two major sectors: game development and game publishing operations. In terms of game development, Heitong Technology primarily creates differentiated products through an in-house team of 8 and collaboration with external developers. The prospectus shows that one of its core games, "The Romance of the Three Kingdoms," generated $1.29 million in revenue in the first half of 2025, with a cumulative player base of 288,800; in terms of game publishing operations, the company has obtained licenses for 12 third-party games, such as the MMO "The Nine Heavens Spirit Snake Record," which is expected to generate $1.88 million in revenue in the 2024 fiscal year, mainly expanding into the Hong Kong, Macau, and Taiwan markets through language adaptation and character costume localization.

Currently, amidst the ongoing fluctuations in tech stocks, some funds in the U.S. stock market have begun to prefer entering gaming targets in a new product cycle, with a noticeable recovery in the sector. In this context, Heitong Technology, which has clearly defined its overseas strategy and achieved rapid revenue growth and profitability, may become one of the "small but beautiful" choices in the U.S. gaming sector