“It is not a negative stance regarding the return of founder Lee Hae-jin, who led overseas investments. However, hasn’t Naver recently failed to achieve any global investment results? The ‘LINE incident’ caused significant noise, and the listing of Naver Webtoon on the U.S. stock market did not yield satisfactory results for shareholders.”
“There is no one around me using Naver artificial intelligence (AI). Only OpenAI's 'ChatGPT' is making headlines in the domestic market.”
“What is the reason the stock price is not moving at all? Kakao recently saw its stock price rise due to its collaboration with OpenAI and the announcement of its stock repurchase. But no matter what Naver announces, even the news of the founder's return, there is no change in the stock price.”
At the annual general meeting held on the 26th at Naver's Green Factory in Bundang, Seongnam, heated questions from shareholders continued. Shareholders pointed out that Naver lacks clear long-term growth drivers, including AI, and has failed to achieve concrete results in its overseas market expansion.
At the meeting, the appointment of founder Lee Hae-jin as an inside director and the reappointment of CEO Choi Soo-young as an inside director were proposed and passed. Since the founder highlighted search technology as a core competitiveness since the company’s establishment in 1999, it is expected that he will bolster the enhancement of major services such as search using AI. It has been eight years since the founder returned to Naver's board of directors. He announced that he would resign from his position as Global Investment Officer (GIO) and focus solely on board duties.
Although there were no opposing opinions on the proposals for the appointments of the founder and CEO Choi, some shareholders voiced their dissatisfaction with the management. One shareholder pointed out, “I understand that the return of the founder is aimed at targeting the global market, but in fact, overseas business makes up only a small part of Naver’s revenue, and has there been no results?” In response, CEO Choi noted, “While it is important to defend the domestic market, I believe it is also crucial for a Korean internet corporation to create good examples overseas,” and added, “We have laid the groundwork for various overseas businesses, such as securing 100 million users on LINE.”
Another shareholder said, “Naver acquired Poshmark (a U.S. second-hand trading platform) for 1.8 trillion won under the premise of preparing future growth drivers, but it has only yielded results sufficient to barely avoid losses,” and added, “There are concerns that it may be perceived as a second-hand trading company rather than a tech company. Furthermore, it has acquired various consumer-to-consumer (C2C) platforms, but the results are not visible.” CEO Choi responded, “I fully comprehend the painful criticisms,” and stated, “I will consider ways to generate synergy between the acquired platform and existing businesses.”
On this day, the proposals to appoint Professor Roh Hyuk-jun from Seoul National University School of Law and Professor Kim I-bae from Duksung Women’s University in accounting as outside directors and members of the audit committee were also passed. However, one shareholder questioned, “Last year, we appointed an expert in accounting at the shareholders’ meeting, so why appoint another accounting professor now?” and pointed out, “Wouldn’t it be more suitable to appoint an AI expert to strengthen competitiveness?” In response, CEO Choi stated, “We made the appointment to manage issues concerning financial statements more smoothly,” and added, “We will also consider appointing experts who can provide advice on AI trends.” The proposal for board compensation cap was also passed, remaining the same as the previous year at 8 billion won.
Naver achieved its highest-ever annual sales of 10 trillion won for the first time since its founding last year. However, the stock price remains sluggish. As of the 25th, Naver’s stock price stood at 207,500 won, down 4.2% from January 31 of this year (216,500 won). While the stock price has risen 9.8% compared to the same period last year (188,900 won), it has dropped 11.9% compared to the previous peak recorded on the 7th of last month (235,500 won). In particular, it has not yet recovered from the price of 300,000 won immediately after CEO Choi took office.
Starting from the 27th, when searching on Naver's web or mobile platforms, users will see AI search results that match the search content appearing at the top or in the middle. Naver has been operating the conversational AI search service 'Cue' since 2023, but it had been provided only to a limited number of users who applied, after initially being released in beta service format.
The growth rate of commerce transaction volume, which drove Naver's revenue growth last year, is expected to remain sluggish for the time being. Nam Hyo-ji from SK Securities Research Institute stated, “Due to the active promotions being carried out to expand consumer awareness of the app, there will be marketing cost burdens in the first half of this year,” and analyzed, “Concerns over the low transaction volume growth rate from last year led to a poor stock performance.”
On this day, CEO Choi told shareholders, “The management is making a lot of efforts from technology development to service development,” and added, “If we successfully announce good services and strategies and users actively engage with them, I believe the mid- to long-term stock price will respond accordingly.”