[Click eStock] "AfreecaTV, Qatar World Cup... Expecting Indicator Improvement"

[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Jung-yoon] Korea Investment & Securities maintained a buy rating and a target price of 220,000 KRW on AfreecaTV on the 30th, expecting improved indicators due to the 2022 Qatar World Cup.

AfreecaTV's first-quarter sales this year are projected to be 74.4 billion KRW, a 22.2% increase from the previous year, and operating profit is expected to rise 26.5% to 24.8 billion KRW. Growth is anticipated to recover as popular BJs return. Additionally, advertising revenue is analyzed to reach 14.9 billion KRW, and total operating expenses are expected to be 49.6 billion KRW, reflecting personnel costs and broadcasting rights fees for the Beijing Winter Olympics.

The monthly active users (MAU), which averaged 6 million in 2020, decreased to 5 million by the fourth quarter of last year. However, years with major sports events saw significant traffic inflows. Jeong Ho-yoon, a researcher at Korea Investment & Securities, said, "The quality of AfreecaTV content has greatly improved over the past few years," adding, "We can expect a virtuous cycle where users newly attracted by the Qatar World Cup remain in the AfreecaTV ecosystem and become paying users (PU)."

He continued, "The average revenue per user (ARPU) has steadily increased, and this year, user indicators are expected to recover due to sports events," explaining, "This will lead to stable growth in platform revenue, and the value of AfreecaTV as an advertising medium will be highlighted, with advertising revenue expected to grow significantly."

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