[Click eStock] "Naver, Focus on AI Business and Webtoon IPO This Year"

Target Price Maintained at 340,000 Won

Kiwoom Securities stated on the 8th that investors should pay attention to NAVER's AI business performance this year and the US listing of its webtoon entertainment, maintaining a target stock price of 340,000 KRW.

Researcher Kim Jin-gu of Kiwoom Securities analyzed, "We maintain the target stock price of 340,000 KRW for the company and continue to recommend it as a top pick in the internet and gaming sector," adding, "The company's fair value is 55.2 trillion KRW."

This valuation reflects the fair values of the search platform cloud-centered business division at 11.5 trillion KRW, NAVER AI intrinsic value at 11 trillion KRW, NAVER Shopping fair value at 12 trillion KRW, Japanese e-commerce solution fair value at 1.5 trillion KRW, NAVER Financial equity value at 4.6 trillion KRW, webtoon entertainment equity value at 6.4 trillion KRW, and LY Corporation equity value at 8.1 trillion KRW.

Researcher Kim added, "We changed the base year for corporate value calculation to 24E, and considering the recovery of the advertising market leading to securing normal operating profit at headquarters and the increase in profit levels due to the expansion of the commerce solution business, we slightly lowered the related multiples."

Operating profit for the fourth quarter is expected to reach 399.4 billion KRW. While search platform sales are projected to increase by 5% compared to the previous quarter, ongoing marketing cost efficiency is expected to exceed the operating profit estimate by 4%.

Additionally, the key points to watch this year are the performance level following the execution of detailed plans for the AI business and the listing of webtoon entertainment. Researcher Kim stated, "In particular, the webtoon business is likely to pursue strategic partnerships with global partners engaged in secondary video production businesses to level up the corporate value, and through this, will explore the possibility of success in the US."

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