[Click eStock] "DNC Media, the Gem of K-Webtoon"

Meaningful Growth Expected in Japan and North America Regions

[Asia Economy Reporter Gong Byung-sun] It has been analyzed that D&C Media, a leading webtoon content production company (CP), will rise to a dominant position thanks to growth in overseas markets. Accordingly, NH Investment & Securities has raised the target price for D&C Media from 41,000 KRW to 50,000 KRW, maintaining a 'Buy' investment rating.

According to NH Investment & Securities on the 18th, D&C Media is expected to achieve high growth in the Japanese market this year. In Japan, where the overall comic market size is five times that of Korea, D&C Media is already generating significant sales related to major intellectual properties (IP), including "Solo Leveling." In particular, attention should be paid to D&C Media's major client, Piccoma. Piccoma is Japan's number one platform, with transaction amounts of 400 billion KRW last year and an expected 900 billion KRW this year. Through Piccoma, D&C Media can actively target the Japanese comic market.

Meaningful growth is also being seen in the North American webtoon market. North American webtoon platform Tapas Media has received investment from Kakao and is expected to become the main supply channel for CPs trading with Kakao Page and Piccoma. D&C Media is already serializing seven works on Tapas Media. Additionally, it is serializing 17 works on another North American webtoon platform, Tappytoon.

Reflecting this, NH Investment & Securities has raised D&C Media's stock price target to 50,000 KRW. A price-earnings ratio (PER) of 40.5 times was applied. This reflects a 10% discount from Studio Dragon's PER of 45 times this year. Baek Jun-gi, a researcher at NH Investment & Securities, explained, "Since the export ratio is expected to reach 40% this year, applying a global IP-level corporate PER is reasonable," adding, "Sales this year are expected to increase by 26% year-on-year to 72.8 billion KRW, and operating profit is expected to rise by 36.9% to 18 billion KRW."

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