NH Investment & Securities said on the 10th that PUBG is expected to drive earnings growth this year with stable traffic and that anticipation for new titles will gradually be reflected. It maintained a "Buy" investment opinion and a target price of 350,000 won. Krafton's previous closing price was 236,500 won.
Krafton posted revenue of 919.7 billion won and operating profit of 2.4 billion won in the fourth quarter of last year. Operating profit fell well short of the consensus (market average forecast) of 123.2 billion won.
NH Investment & Securities projected that Krafton's future earnings will not deteriorate further.
Ahn Jae-min, an analyst at NH Investment & Securities, said, "Due to seasonality in the fourth quarter of last year and competition from other games, Peacekeeper Elite underperformed, but its sales ranking recovered to the top tier of China's App Store from January," adding, "With promotions around the Lunar New Year in February, we expect a visible rebound for PUBG starting in the first quarter."
There was also optimism about new releases. Ahn said, "Anticipation for the new lineup, including 'PUBG: Blindspot,' which began early access on the 5th, 'Subnautica 2,' and 'Palworld Mobile,' is also expected to rise."
Krafton unveiled a new shareholder return policy through 2028. Over three years, it will buy back more than 700 billion won in treasury shares and pay cash dividends of 100 billion won annually. It also begins a 200 billion won share repurchase starting today.