[Click eStock] "NCSoft, Next Year's New Release Momentum Expected to Grow"

Ebest Investment & Securities Issues 'Buy' Rating and Sets Target Price at 1.1 Million KRW... Closing Price at 800,000 KRW on the 16th

[Asia Economy Reporter Kum Boryeong] There is a growing expectation that the momentum for new releases next year related to NCSoft will become more prominent over time.

According to Ebest Investment & Securities on the 17th, NCSoft's consolidated operating profit for the third quarter was 217.7 billion KRW, and sales were 585.2 billion KRW. Compared to the previous quarter, these increased by 4.2% and 8.7%, respectively.

Seong Jonghwa, a researcher at Ebest Investment & Securities, explained, "PC game sales for Lineage and Guild Wars 2 increased significantly compared to the previous quarter. Third-quarter Lineage sales reached 49.9 billion KRW, a sharp 45.5% increase from the previous quarter, approaching the level of the second quarter last year when sales surged due to the remaster launch in March. This was due to the effect of a large-scale content update carried out on August 12 after one year. The strong performance of Guild Wars 2 is attributed to increased playtime driven by expectations for the expansion pack release next year." He added, "For mobile games, Lineage M sales surged 53.4% compared to the previous quarter, while Lineage 2M sales sharply declined by 26.8%."

According to Seong's analysis, the fourth quarter is expected to be a period of consolidation. He said, "With launch schedules for Blade & Soul 2 in Korea and Lineage 2M in Taiwan all adjusted to the first quarter of next year, PC Lineage and mobile Lineage M are expected to experience a significant level of consolidation due to the base effect following the sharp rebound in the third quarter." He also noted, "Lineage 2M is expected to continue a gradual downward stabilization."

Ebest Investment & Securities has given NCSoft a 'Buy' rating with a target price of 1.1 million KRW. The closing price on the 16th was 800,000 KRW. Researcher Seong said, "The fourth-quarter earnings consolidation due to the adjustment of new release schedules has been anticipated early on," and added, "We expect the momentum for new releases in the first quarter of next year to become more prominent over time."

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