[Click eStock] Netmarble with New Release Imminent, Entering a Period of Earnings Growth?

This Year's Most Anticipated Release 'Seven Knights 2' Imminent
Netmarble's Weakness 'Own IP' Overcoming in Focus... Expectations for Platform Expansion Including Consoles

[Asia Economy Reporter Minwoo Lee] Expectations are rising for Netmarble, with the release of highly anticipated titles such as 'Seven Knights 2' and 'Marvel Realm of Champions' approaching. Amid steady overseas sales, attention is focused on whether the new releases will usher in a period of performance growth next year.

On the 12th, NH Investment & Securities maintained a 'Buy' rating on Netmarble and raised the target price by 3.4% to 150,000 KRW. The closing price the previous day was 129,500 KRW. The release of this year's biggest anticipated title, 'Seven Knights 2,' is imminent on the 18th, and the release date for 'Marvel Realm of Champions,' expected to perform well on the overseas stage, has been set for the 17th of next month, heightening expectations for the new titles.

In particular, Seven Knights 2 is one of the few games based on Netmarble's own intellectual property (IP). Since the previous installment was a great success, attention is focused on whether it can resolve Netmarble's weakness of lacking IP. As it is considered the most anticipated game in the domestic mobile game market in the second half of the year, it is expected to rank high in sales after release. 'Marvel Realm of Champions,' targeting the overseas market, is also expected to generate favorable sales, given the considerable success of its predecessor, 'Marvel Contest of Champions.'

Recently, 'Seven Knights Time Wonderer,' released on the Nintendo platform, has shown favorable results, increasing expectations for future IP expansion. Next year, 5 to 6 new titles, including 'The Second Country' and 'Seven Knights Revolution,' are scheduled for release.

Third-quarter performance was also solid. On a consolidated basis, sales were 642.3 billion KRW and operating profit was 87.4 billion KRW, growing 3.61% and 3.55% respectively compared to the same period last year. Operating profit exceeded the market consensus of 79.1 billion KRW. Jaemin Ahn, a researcher at NH Investment & Securities, explained, "Marketing expenses decreased significantly to 85.7 billion KRW compared to the previous quarter, resulting in favorable operating profit. Sales of 'Lineage 2 Revolution' and 'Marvel Contest of Champions' increased compared to the previous quarter, showing good performance even four years after their release, and the initial performance of 'Stone Age World' and 'Magumagu 2020' contributed to the results."

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