[Click eStock] "Woongjin ThinkBig, AI Edutech Overseas Success Potential↑"

Shinhan Investment Corp. on the 13th expressed a high possibility of success for Woongjin ThinkBig's artificial intelligence (AI) edutech in overseas markets and forecasted that its operating profit will increase by more than 57% this year.

Woongjin ThinkBig is an education-specialized company that grew primarily through print-based learning materials. Starting with Woongjin Book Club in 2014, it pioneered the domestic digital learning market. Its main customer base consists of toddlers and lower-grade elementary school students. Recently, it has been expanding its customer portfolio to include middle school and upper-grade elementary students.

SmartAll is an AI-based educational platform that covers all subjects in the curriculum. SmartThinkBig offers single-subject learning conducted via tablets, evolving from the print-based (ThinkBig) method. This year, sales by segment are estimated to be 30% from SmartAll, 25% from SmartThinkBig + ThinkBig, 16% from Book Club + SuperPod, and 8% from others.

Researcher Lee Byunghwa of Shinhan Investment Corp. stated in a report on the day, “Customized education platforms based on big data such as learning habits and problem-solving patterns are becoming the trend in the education market, and we focus on the expansion of SmartAll’s scope.” He analyzed, “Since its launch in 2019, SmartAll secured 230,000 members as of the end of last year, with an estimated customer distribution of 15% kids, 65% elementary, and 20% middle school.”

Researcher Lee explained, “The importance of AI-based proprietary content is increasing, leading to a decreasing dependence on instructors.” He added, “Therefore, an operating leverage effect is expected when product sales such as SmartAll expand. This is the basis for estimating this year’s operating profit margin to increase by 1.3% from the previous year to 4.3%.”

He continued, “AR Pedia is an interactive book providing AR-based reading experiences, and interest in overseas markets has increased since winning an award at CES last year.” He analyzed, “With the expansion of content through securing global IP and collaborations, the possibility of success in overseas markets is high.”

Furthermore, he predicted that Woongjin ThinkBig will record sales of 1.0185 trillion KRW and operating profit of 43.4 billion KRW this year, representing increases of 12% and 57%, respectively, compared to the previous year. SmartAll’s sales are expected to increase by 30% year-on-year to 304.2 billion KRW.

He emphasized, “The expansion of SmartAll’s sales share, diversification of the customer portfolio to include upper-grade elementary and above, overseas expansion and visible results of AR Pedia, and steady performance growth are factors for stock price revaluation.” He added, “It is a time to observe the transformation process of AI edutech.”