[Click eStock] "Kakao, Uptrend Continues in Second Half Thanks to Webtoon... Target Price Raised"

Mirae Asset Daewoo Issues 'Buy' Investment Rating and 460,000 KRW Target Price... Closing Price on 3rd at 366,000 KRW

[Asia Economy Reporter Kum Boryeong] Kakao is expected to continue its upward trend in the second half of the year thanks to webtoons.

According to Mirae Asset Daewoo on the 4th, the daily transaction amount of Japan's Piccoma is estimated to be 600 million KRW in January, 1.3 billion KRW in June, and 1.6 billion KRW last month. Compared to the previous year, last month's transaction amount increased by 266%, and the number of downloads increased by 205%.

Piccoma's value is rapidly rising in Japan. As of the 3rd, among the top 10 most popular works on Piccoma, six were Korean works including the number one, "Solo Leveling" (Nahonjaman Level Up). Japanese works accounted for three, and Chinese works for one, confirming a global portfolio of works. Kakao Japan is pursuing an initial public offering (IPO) with Nomura Securities as the lead underwriter. Kim Chang-kwon, a researcher at Mirae Asset Daewoo, explained, "The market value evaluation of Piccoma is expected to rise sharply through the IPO," adding, "Following the second quarter, we will see new records of K-webtoons in Japan in the third quarter as well."

In addition, Kakao holds several performance momentum factors for the second half of the year. Growth in new businesses such as mobility and fintech, which are in the early stages of industry entry, is expected to accelerate. Also, the non-face-to-face (untact) benefits of advertising and e-commerce, which are cash cow revenue models, are becoming more prominent.

Mirae Asset Daewoo gave Kakao a "Buy" investment rating with a target price of 460,000 KRW. The target price was raised from the previous 370,000 KRW to 460,000 KRW. The closing price on the previous day was 366,000 KRW. Researcher Kim said, "As Piccoma's steep growth continues into the third quarter, earnings forecasts and valuation have been upgraded," adding, "With the stock price rise of global internet platform companies, Kakao's corporate valuation has also risen accordingly."