NCSoft Plummets Amid Boycott... Target Price Also Downgraded

Expectations for Stock Rebound with New Blade and Soul 2 Release... But Securities Firms Lower Target Prices One After Another
Some Predict a Drop to the 700,000 Won Range

[Asia Economy Reporter Minwoo Lee] As the boycott movement against NCSoft intensifies and its stock price continues to decline, securities firms have also started to lower their target prices.

On the 30th, according to the financial investment industry, securities firms have successively downgraded NCSoft's target price. Shinhan Investment Corp. lowered its target price by 12.5%, from 1.2 million KRW to 1.05 million KRW. Daishin Securities and Samsung Securities also cut their target prices by 8.33% and 14.29%, respectively. Korea Investment & Securities lowered its target price from 1.2 million KRW to 1.1 million KRW just one month after raising it. This is due to the sharp drop in stock price amid the intensifying boycott movement sparked by Lineage M.

Recently, the gaming industry has faced criticism for excessively low probabilities of loot box items and for not properly disclosing these probabilities. While companies like Nexon have issued official apologies, NCSoft's lack of response has increased user dissatisfaction. The boycott movement against NCSoft escalated especially after it was revealed that a user who purchased loot box items worth 160 million KRW demanded a refund. Some users have even raised awareness of the loot box issue overseas and sent protest trucks to NCSoft's headquarters.

Amid these negative factors, NCSoft's stock price closed at 834,000 KRW on the previous day, down 7.13% from the day before. This drop was even steeper than the historic plunge of the KOSPI on March 19 last year (-7.02%) due to the COVID-19 impact. Compared to the record high of 1,048,000 KRW recorded during trading on the 8th of last month, the stock price has fallen about 20.5% in one month. As of 11:20 AM on the same day, it slightly rebounded to 842,000 KRW but still showed a sluggish trend.

Some analysts predict the price could fall to the 700,000 KRW range. Ho-yoon Jung, a researcher at Korea Investment & Securities, explained, "If the boycott movement causes Lineage M's sales to significantly decline compared to the past, the lower bound of the stock price could drop further. If Lineage M's daily average sales, currently in the low 2 billion KRW range, fall to around 1.5 billion KRW, the stock price bottom based on a price-earnings ratio (PER) of 20 times would be about 700,000 KRW."

However, there is still potential for a rebound with new game releases. The fact that securities firms have maintained a 'buy' investment opinion is interpreted in this context. Mina Lee, a researcher at Daishin Securities, said, "Although the performance of Lineage 2M in Japan has been weaker than expected, it is necessary to watch the release of the highly anticipated Blade & Soul 2. If this new title succeeds, the stock price could rebound."

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