(Reuters) – iQIYI said on Monday an internal review concluded that a short-seller’s allegations about the streaming service inflating many of its financial metrics were without merit.
Shares of the company were up 3% in early trading.
IQIYI, owned by China’s Baidu Inc, said in August it was being probed by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, which was seeking documents related to acquisitions and investments identified in a report issued by short-seller firm Wolfpack Research in April.
Wolfpack did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
It had accused iQIYI of inflating user numbers, revenue and the prices the company pays for content.
(Reporting by Munsif Vengattil in Bengaluru; Editing by Maju Samuel)
