[Click eStock] "Naver's Surprise Q4 Earnings Last Year... Target Price Up"

[Asia Economy Reporter Ji Yeon-jin] Hyundai Motor Securities announced on the 29th that it is raising the target stock price of Naver (NAVER) to 450,000 KRW, reflecting the Q4 earnings surprise from last year.

Naver recorded operating revenue of 1.5126 trillion KRW in Q4 last year, a 28.3% increase compared to the previous year. Operating profit was 323.8 billion KRW, up 17.6% year-on-year, exceeding market expectations. The increase in external growth rate was driven by DP advertising increasing by 35% year-on-year and search platform sales growing by 11.3%. The operating margin of the cash cow advertising business also reached 21.4%, while commerce, fintech, and content all maintained ultra-high growth in sales.

In shopping, Smart Store transaction volume surged by 75% year-on-year, and NaverPay's transaction volume grew 68% to 7.8 trillion KRW, exceeding forecasts by 10%. The ecosystem strengthened around shopping, including Plus Membership, seller loans, and shopping live, demonstrating a virtuous cycle structure linked to high growth in financial services.

Hyundai Motor Securities analyst Kim Hyun-yong said, "Naver, which controls about 50% of the entire online advertising market, is judged to have firmly secured domestic market dominance in commerce, fintech, and content in that order," adding, "The next step is to leverage its stake in Line to meaningfully expand business in Japan and Southeast Asia."

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