NH Investment & Securities analyzed on the 24th that while SOOP (formerly AfreecaTV) has a unique platform competitiveness, its performance growth is inevitably low due to heightened base effects. They lowered the target stock price from 140,000 won to 115,000 won while maintaining their investment opinion of 'buy.' The closing price of SOOP on the previous trading day was 83,800 won.
NH Investment & Securities projected that SOOP's revenue and operating profit for the first quarter of this year would reach 108.7 billion won and 29.4 billion won, respectively, marking increases of 14.5% and 3% year-over-year. Operating profit is expected to be similar to the market consensus of 30.3 billion won.
Although advertising revenue, which is in the off-season, is expected to decrease by 42.1% year-over-year to 19.6 billion won, platform revenue is expected to show stable growth, recording 88.0 billion won, an increase of 11.7% compared to the previous year.
An Jae-min, a researcher at NH Investment & Securities, noted, "Although stock prices fell due to concerns about the slowdown in the growth rate of the streaming industry, it is still the dominant live broadcasting platform in the country, and the momentum for expansion into overseas markets, including Southeast Asia, remains valid." This year, SOOP's price-earnings ratio (PER) has entered an undervalued range at 9.3 times.
The global industry has recently confirmed a degree of potential, marked by an increase in traffic due to simultaneous broadcasts from several streamers. Researcher An stated, "If there is an emergence of various streamers, related revenue could increase," adding that "the synergy from the recently acquired PlayD's advertising business is also expected to contribute to consolidated performance."
However, it was pointed out that while SOOP showed positive performance growth due to Twitch's withdrawal from the Korean market last year, its performance growth is inevitably low this year due to heightened base effects. Researcher An remarked, "Considering the base effects, I adjusted the target PER for SOOP from the previous 15 times to 13 times, hence lowering the target stock price."