Yuanta Securities Korea on the 21st said it expects various business opportunities to arise from the collaboration between InBody and Naver. It did not provide an investment opinion or a target price. InBody's previous closing price was 28,000 won.
Earlier, InBody signed a global Digital Healthcare agreement with Naver in on the previous month. Naver said it will strengthen strategic cooperation to target the global healthcare market by securing 8.5% equity in InBody.
Kwon Myeong-jun, an analyst at Yuanta Securities Korea, said, "Various business opportunities are expected to arise."
InBody holds body composition data and has also built a global network. Analyst Kwon interpreted that "Naver is in the process of expanding its healthcare business globally, and that is where the interests aligned."
Previously, Naver entered the artificial intelligence (AI) clinical trial platform space by signing a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with clinical trial platform JNP Medi. It has also already pursued cooperation on a senior cognitive care AI business through an MOU with Digital Healthcare corporation Emocog.
Analyst Kwon said, "InBody's body composition data is highly likely to be utilized (in the collaborations already underway)," adding, "Hospital appointment schedules, symptom checks, and medication management in Naver Healthcare are also areas that can be linked to tracking users' health changes through trends in body composition analysis."
Meanwhile, InBody reported third-quarter results this year of 59.8 billion won in revenue and 9.83 billion won in operating profit. Those figures improved 17.9% and 0.1%, respectively, from a year earlier. While domestic revenue declined year over year, overseas revenue appears to be maintaining its growth trend.