NC was up more than 6% in early trading on the 16th. Buying appears to have poured in after the securities industry said NC's operating profit in the first quarter of this year would surge more than 1,500% from a year earlier on the back of new releases and genre diversification.
As of 10:06 a.m. that day, NC was trading at 263,500 won, up 16,000 won (6.46%) from the previous session on the Korea Exchange. It rose to as high as 272,000 won in early trading, marking a 1-year high.
SK Securities projected NC's first-quarter revenue this year at 494.4 billion won and operating profit at 87.6 billion won. Revenue rose 37.2% from a year earlier, and operating profit increased 1,578.1%.
Nam Hyo-ji of SK Securities said, "On PC, the results of 'AION2' and 'Lineage Classic' are reflected, and on mobile, the earnings of the casual game studios Lehoohu and Springcomes acquired last year are reflected, so total revenue will grow from the previous quarter."
They also projected that NC will show solid earnings growth with revenue increasing each quarter this year. In particular, considering the global launch of AION2 scheduled for the fourth quarter, they expected revenue of 400.3 billion won.
Nam said, "AION2 has higher user retention after launch than past massively multiplayer online role-playing games (MMORPGs)," adding, "Revenue fluctuations from new titles are also moderate, making it a clear key revenue driver this year."