Ants Bought 1 Trillion KRW of Naver and Kakao Shares in One Month

2Q Record-Breaking Earnings Expectations Drive Heavy Buying
Monthly Net Purchases Reach Largest Scale This Year...Reaffirming 'Untact Leader' Status

[Asia Economy Reporter Minwoo Lee] Investor interest is once again focusing on NAVER and Kakao, the leading stocks in the untact (contactless) sector. Following strong performance in the first quarter, excellent results are also expected in the second quarter, attracting nearly 1 trillion KRW in funds within a month.

According to the Korea Exchange on the 30th, individual investors have net purchased NAVER shares worth 504.9 billion KRW so far this month. This is the largest monthly amount this year. Including foreign and institutional investors, there has never been a month when more NAVER shares were bought. The only stocks that individual investors have bought more than NAVER in the domestic market this month are SK Hynix (829 billion KRW) and SK Biopharm (642.4 billion KRW). Kakao, also considered a leading player in the untact sector, shows a similar trend. Individual investors’ net purchases of Kakao this month amount to 466.8 billion KRW, also the largest this year. This exceeds the levels seen during the untact boom from March to May amid the spread of COVID-19. The total value of NAVER and Kakao shares purchased by individuals this month reaches 971.7 billion KRW.

This is interpreted as reflecting expectations that NAVER and Kakao will record another historic level of performance in the second quarter, following the first quarter. On this day, NAVER announced second-quarter consolidated sales of 1.9025 trillion KRW and operating profit of 230.6 billion KRW, marking the highest quarterly performance ever. These figures represent increases of 16.7% and 79.7%, respectively, compared to the same period last year. They also rose 9.8% and 4.1%, respectively, compared to the previous quarter, which had posted a “surprise” performance. Kakao, which will announce its second-quarter results on the 6th of next month, is also attracting attention. According to financial information provider FnGuide, Kakao’s second-quarter market consensus is sales of 914.2 billion KRW and operating profit of 96.1 billion KRW. These are expected to increase by 24.7% and 137.4%, respectively, compared to the same period last year. Compared to the record-breaking first quarter, sales are expected to rise 5.8% and operating profit 8.9%, setting new records.

After some stagnation, stock prices have recently rebounded. NAVER and Kakao both hit record highs of 308,500 KRW and 368,000 KRW, respectively, on the 10th before starting to adjust. NAVER fell to 263,000 KRW on the 20th, and Kakao dropped to 318,000 KRW on the 22nd. They declined approximately 14.7% and 13.6%, respectively, over about ten days. Since then, prices have steadily risen, reaching 293,000 KRW for NAVER and 335,500 KRW for Kakao as of 9:30 a.m. today.

Based on solid performance, it is expected that NAVER and Kakao will further solidify their positions as the leading untact stocks. In particular, both companies are actively advancing into the financial sector with Kakao Pay, Kakao Bank, and NAVER Financial, which is expected to provide additional momentum going forward. Researcher Yongsun Cho of SK Securities explained, “The Financial Services Commission announced a comprehensive digital finance innovation plan and previewed a complete overhaul of the Electronic Financial Transactions Act. By easing various regulations and lowering barriers for IT companies to enter the market, platform companies such as NAVER and Kakao are expected to benefit.”

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