[Click eStock] "NAVER, Q2 Operating Profit Expected to Meet Consensus... Target Price Up"

[Asia Economy Reporter Oh Ju-yeon] KB Securities forecasted that NAVER's Q2 performance this year will meet market consensus. They also maintained a 'Buy' investment rating and raised the target price by 19.2% to 298,000 KRW, reflecting the rise in major asset values and the corporate value of the webtoon sector.

According to KB Securities on the 23rd, NAVER's Q2 revenue is expected to reach 1.8 trillion KRW, and operating profit is projected at 231.2 billion KRW, increasing by 11.2% and 80.2% respectively compared to the same period last year.

Researcher Lee Dong-ryun stated, "NAVER Platform's operating profit is expected to be 305.6 billion KRW, similar to the previous quarter (307.5 billion KRW), while the Line and other segments are expected to improve as losses narrow."

He added, "NAVER Platform's profit improvement is limited due to increased marketing expenses related to NAVER Plus Membership, bank accounts, and webtoons. Advertising and business platform revenues are expected to grow by -3.9% and +7.1% respectively compared to the same period last year, suggesting that the economy is passing through the bottom caused by COVID-19."

The revaluation of the corporate value of the webtoon sector is also noteworthy. Following the announcement of the integration of NAVER and Line's webtoon business units, the previous structure?where NAVER and Line held 70:30 stakes in the Japanese business and NAVER had 100% control over the Korean and global businesses?will be reorganized so that the US corporation Webtoon Ent. will oversee the global business.

Researcher Lee diagnosed, "NAVER and Line's shareholding in Webtoon Ent. is 66.6% and 33.4% respectively. Considering the 2019 transaction amounts (NAVER Webtoon 250 billion KRW, Line Manga 270 billion KRW), NAVER's growth potential appears to be highly valued."

He estimated that Webtoon Ent.'s 2020 transaction amount was 715 billion KRW, with a corporate value of 5.4 trillion KRW.

Furthermore, the strengthening of the commerce ecosystem is expected to solidify its leading position.

Researcher Lee said, "The market dominance of commerce-fintech businesses is further strengthening," adding, "NAVER launched NAVER Plus Membership and NAVER Bank services in Q2, and in the second half of the year, expansion of financial services such as postpaid payments and insurance is expected."

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