[Special Stock] Despite Significant Target Price Increase, NCSoft Drops Over 8% Intraday

[Asia Economy Reporter Minji Lee] NCSoft's stock price is showing a rollercoaster pattern, plunging 8% in just one day.

At 10:06 AM on the 12th, NCSoft was trading at 719,000 KRW, down 8.52% from the previous trading day. Designated as a cautionary stock on the same day, NCSoft's price fell as much as 11% during the session to 694,000 KRW. Although it closed at the daily upper limit of 786,000 KRW the previous day, it showed a sharp decline within a day, giving back its gains.

However, the securities industry is raising target prices reflecting expectations for the NFT (Non-Fungible Token) business. NCSoft plans to release a significant number of new titles as NFT-based P2E (Play-to-Earn) games. Lineage W, scheduled for release in North America and Europe in the first half of next year, will be launched as an NFT game. Titles such as Aion 2 and Project TL may also apply NFTs with simultaneous global releases.

KTB Investment & Securities has significantly raised NCSoft's target price from 830,000 KRW to 1,100,000 KRW. Jin-gu Kim, a researcher at KTB Investment & Securities, said, "NCSoft's NFT business strategy is a very aggressive approach to activate its own platform and secure an economic ecosystem," adding, "Based on core intellectual property rights, it will have a strong synergy effect with the games."

Ebest Investment & Securities raised its target price by about 60%, from 740,000 KRW to 1,180,000 KRW, citing expectations for the success of Lineage W, NFT, and metaverse businesses. Jong-hwa Sung, a researcher at Ebest Investment & Securities, said, "The key to Lineage W's success is that users from different countries communicate in real time and a competitive structure between countries naturally forms," adding, "Since item acquisition and distribution are major elements of the game, it is suitable to apply NFT-based 'Play-to-Earn' (P2E) games."