[Special Stock] PlayD Hits Upper Limit on Record-Breaking Earnings of Clients Meta and Naver

Reached Intraday Limit Up in 18 Minutes
Major Clients Meta and Naver Achieve Record-Breaking Performance
Also Naver's Largest Partner in Search Advertising Sector

PlayD entered the upper price limit during trading hours. This is interpreted as being influenced by the strong performance of its major clients.

As of 9:53 AM on the 2nd, PlayD is trading at 6,820 KRW, up 29.90% (1,570 KRW) from the previous day. The stock opened at 5,600 KRW, up 6.67% from the previous day’s close of 5,250 KRW, and reached the upper price limit within 18 minutes. PlayD’s 52-week high is 8,740 KRW, recorded on February 8, 2023.

PlayD is a digital advertising agency under the KT Group. It has established strong partnerships with major media companies such as Google, Naver, Kakao, and Meta. Its main products are Search Advertising (SA) and Display Advertising (DA), helping advertisers maximize advertising effectiveness within their budget. Revenue is generated from commissions, which are about 15% of advertising costs. As of 2022, PlayD reported sales of 43.9 billion KRW and operating profit of 5.6 billion KRW.

Major clients of PlayD, Meta and Naver, have consecutively announced 'strong earnings.' Meta, the world’s largest social networking service company, posted Q4 2023 revenue of $40.111 billion and quarterly earnings per share (EPS) of $5.33, exceeding consensus estimates by 2.38% and 7.51%, respectively. Revenue increased by 24.7% compared to the same period in 2022. After the earnings announcement on the 1st (local time), Meta’s stock surged more than 12% in after-hours trading.

Naver announced on the 2nd that its annual and Q4 revenue and operating profit for the previous year reached record highs. Naver’s 2023 revenue was 9.6706 trillion KRW, with operating profit of 1.4888 trillion KRW. Q4 revenue (2.537 trillion KRW) and operating profit (405.5 billion KRW) were also the highest on record on a quarterly basis. PlayD originated from Naver’s search business division and was incorporated into the KT Group in 2016. It maintains its relationship with Naver through contracts for SA, DA, and shopping advertisements on a semiannual or annual basis. Among Naver’s partners, PlayD holds the largest share in the search advertising sector.