[Click eStock] "Pearl Abyss, Anticipation for Next Year's New Release 'Bulgeun Samak'... Target Price Up"

Daishin Securities raised the target price for Pearl Abyss by about 22%, from 50,000 won to 61,000 won, on the 4th.

Pearl Abyss's sales for the second quarter of this year are expected to record 85.8 billion won, down 8.7% compared to the same period last year. An operating loss of 6.2 billion won is also expected, indicating continued deficits. Both sales and operating profit are below market expectations.

Despite positive feedback on the recent Morning Country update for the game "Black Desert," the update effect is limited as the U.S. region update will take place in June, and related marketing expenses are expected to increase. Going forward, marketing expenses are expected to continue rising in the second half of the year due to marketing related to the 2024 new release "Red Desert," in addition to existing games.

The main reason for raising the target price despite sluggish sales is the anticipation for the new release "Red Desert," scheduled for launch next year. The release is expected in the second quarter of 2024.

Lee Ji-eun, a researcher at Daishin Securities, said, "In the case of Red Desert, although high expectations were confirmed at several past game shows, considering that it is a new intellectual property (IP) and the currently low hit ratio of domestic console new releases, we reflected an initial sales volume of 3 million units in the estimate." She added, "If high expectations comparable to those of major titles with large past sales are confirmed at various game shows, including Gamescom in August, which is expected to be attended in the future, there is room to revise the estimate upward." She continued, "The release schedule is expected to be at the end of the first half of next year, but participation in various game shows in the second half of this year is expected to act as momentum for the new release."

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