Korea Investment & Securities Co. said on the 9th that NAVER could see its short-term investment appeal weaken, adding that whether it can confirm strengthened commerce competitiveness will be key to a rebound in the share price. It maintained a Buy rating and a target price of 330,000 won. NAVER's previous closing price was 249,000 won.
NAVER's fourth-quarter results last year were revenue of 3.19 trillion won and operating profit of 610.6 billion won, in line with the consensus (the average of securities firms' forecasts). Search platform revenue was 1.06 trillion won, which it assessed as weak due to a one-off settlement base effect and the long Chuseok holiday.
Commerce revenue came in at 1.05 trillion won, and Korea Investment & Securities Co. said commerce ads continued strong growth and commission revenue rose sharply. Fintech revenue was 453.1 billion won, and it assessed the rising share of external payment volume as positive.
However, it said short-term investment appeal could decline.
Jeong Ho-yoon, an analyst at Korea Investment & Securities Co., said, "Even taking Chuseok and the base effect into account, ads were weaker than expected, and there is a risk of declining transaction value due to the recent fall in virtual asset prices," adding, "If stablecoins are allowed to be issued first to a bank controlling-shareholder consortium, uncertainty over the new business centered on Dunamu could expand."
Structurally, it added that what matters is whether the recent Coupang issue can be turned into a structural rise in commerce market share. Jeong said, "On the conference call, it emphasized aggressive investment in logistics, and with strategy changes to strengthen price competitiveness also being confirmed, the potential is sufficient."