[Click eStock] "NCSoft, a Safe Asset Standing Out in Crisis... Target Price Up"

[Asia Economy Reporter Eunmo Koo] Meritz Securities has evaluated NCSoft as a safe asset that stands out in times of crisis.

On the 5th, Donghee Kim, a researcher at Meritz Securities, diagnosed in a report that the prolonged COVID-19 pandemic highlights the revenue-generating ability of the Lineage intellectual property (IP). Researcher Kim stated, "'Lineage 2M' revealed the '100 Days Eve' event at the end of last month, and it is estimated that sales and traffic surged in early March," adding, "The average daily sales in the first quarter are steady at around 4 billion KRW, and marketing expenses decreased by 20% compared to the previous quarter, maximizing profit leverage."

In addition, on the 26th of last month, NCSoft opened 'Blade & Soul Frontier World,' showcasing remastered graphics, combat, and systems. On the 28th, at the US game show 'PAX East 2020,' they revealed a demo version of 'Fuser' (a console and PC-based music rhythm game), thereby establishing a stable portfolio of existing cash cows and new games.

It is estimated that first-quarter sales this year will increase by 101.8% year-on-year to 723.8 billion KRW, and operating profit will rise by 279.0% to 301.4 billion KRW, surpassing market expectations (sales of 699.6 billion KRW and operating profit of 284.3 billion KRW).

The investment opinion was maintained as 'Buy,' and the target stock price was raised from the previous 770,000 KRW to 820,000 KRW. Researcher Kim explained, "The expected 2020 price-to-earnings ratio (PER) of the fair stock price is 22.2 times, which is a valuation level similar to global leading game companies such as Blizzard and EA."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.