Hyundai Motor Securities noted on the 27th that KRAFTON is expected to release at least three new titles next year, and the profit growth of existing games is likely to continue, leading to positive results. They set a target price of 440,000 won and an investment opinion of 'buy.' The closing price for KRAFTON on the previous trading day was 306,000 won.
Hyundai Motor Securities predicts that KRAFTON's revenue for the fourth quarter of this year will rise by 28.6% year-on-year to 687.7 billion won, and that operating profit will increase by 61.6% year-on-year to 265.6 billion won. The operating profit is expected to exceed the market consensus by about 4%.
Kim Hyun-yong, a Research Institute at Hyundai Motor Securities, said, "PC traffic is expected to grow significantly due to strong sales in the black market, leading to high growth compared to the same period last year. Mobile sales will also show solid growth compared to last year due to the holiday effect after China's National Day and the concurrent launch of various themed modes and high-value products."
Despite the seasonal increase in payment commissions, operating profit growth is expected to exceed the sales growth rate significantly due to stabilized labor and marketing costs.
There is also excitement for new titles. Kim noted, "Beginning with 'Enjoy,' which will be released in early access on Steam on March 28 next year, at least three new self-developed titles including 'Subnautica 2' and 'Dark and Darker Mobile' will be released next year," adding that "visible results are expected from the equity investment and publishing combination (2PP) project." The new title 'Rivals Hover League' from Spain's EF Games is planned for release on Steam at the end of next year.
Kim mentioned, "PUBG will focus on preparing various in-game and out-game contents next year to prevent a slowdown in growth," noting that "PUBG, which will celebrate its 8th anniversary on March 8, has established itself as a long-term live service intellectual property (IP)."
He further added, "Considering PUBG's overwhelming cash cow creation ability and the full-scale expansion into console IP, we believe this is still a highly attractive investment period and maintain KRAFTON as our top pick in gaming stocks."