[Click eStock] "Kakao Games, Target Price Lowered from 27,000 to 24,000 Won"

On the 10th, Kiwoom Securities lowered the target price of Kakao Games from 27,000 KRW to 24,000 KRW. The investment rating was maintained at 'Outperform' (exceeding market returns).

Jingu Kim, a researcher at Kiwoom Securities, stated, "The new target price is based on the controlling shareholder equity of 113.7 billion KRW in 2025, reflecting the performance of major new releases. This is divided into 30.5 billion KRW based on Lionheart Studio's separate profit attributable to controlling shareholders and 83.2 billion KRW excluding this. A target PER of 20 times was applied equally to each profit basis, with an annual discount rate of 10%. For the former, an additional 20% discount was applied assuming Lionheart Studio's IPO and dual listing. Researcher Kim added, 'The target multiple has room for upward revision upon verification of the game quality of ArcheAge 2 and Lionheart Studio's new releases. However, since the 2024 and 2025 new release performances are generally estimated to be neutral or better, the current corporate valuation is considered to be at a generally reasonable level.'

The global daily average revenue of the major game Odin was assumed to remain at 790 million KRW from 2024 to 2025, and the daily average revenue of ArcheAge War was reflected to increase from 300 million KRW in 2024 to 440 million KRW in 2025. The daily average revenue of Ares was reflected to increase from 100 million KRW in 2024 to 450 million KRW in 2025. The increases in ArcheAge War and Ares reflect expansion into new release regions, and considering potential decreases due to intensified competition within the same genre, these estimates can be defined as neutral or better. The daily average revenue of Goddess Order was estimated at 500 million KRW in Q3 2024, 440 million KRW annually in 2024, and 280 million KRW in 2025. The daily average revenue of Rom was reflected as 220 million KRW in 2024 and 120 million KRW in 2025. The initial performance of Path of Exile 2 was newly reflected at 44 billion KRW in 2025. The initial performance of ArcheAge 2 was maintained at the existing estimate of 88.1 billion KRW in 2026.

Researcher Kim said, "ArcheAge 2, currently considered Kakao Games' most highly anticipated title, will be the most important mid-term investment point, depending on whether it can meet user expectations on the console platform." He analyzed that, especially since the genre is MMORPG, it is necessary to evaluate whether it can control load due to user traffic and guarantee AAA-level game quality.

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