[Click eStock] "Kakao, Key to Proving Platform Competitiveness with AI Mate"

Daishin Securities raised the target price for Kakao from 48,000 won to 50,000 won, stating that if the AI (artificial intelligence) services scheduled to be launched from the first half of this year improve KakaoTalk's user metrics, revenue growth is expected. The investment rating was maintained as 'Buy.'

Kakao's upcoming generative AI services are broadly categorized into four types: ▲ KakaoTalk AI Search ▲ AI Mate launch ▲ Kanana ▲ joint development products with OpenAI. Among these, the fastest to be released are the AI Search and AI Mate scheduled for the first half of the year, with AI Mate expected to be launched as a talk channel within KakaoTalk.

Lee Ji-eun, a researcher at Daishin Securities, analyzed, "If AI Mate provides a personalized experience closely connected to users' daily lives, user metrics such as time spent within KakaoTalk and retention rate (the number of users who continue to use the app for a certain period after installation) are expected to improve. Accordingly, revenue per user within KakaoTalk could increase." The researcher explained that Meta Platforms, which had experienced traffic stagnation, also enjoyed effects such as increased ad impressions and unit prices, as well as improved commerce purchase conversion rates by introducing generative AI into advertising products of existing apps.

The researcher added, "So far, Kakao has continuously made efforts to activate traffic not only in the chat tab but also in various tabs through adding functions to the Friends tab, revamping commerce, and opening the Open Chat tab, but it was difficult to confirm results as expected. If user metrics within KakaoTalk improve through the introduction of AI Mate and AI Search, and this naturally leads to performance growth in advertising and commerce, the platform value of KakaoTalk can be re-evaluated."

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