Krafton Excels Alone... Target Prices Rising One After Another

Stock Price Soars 36% This Year, Outperforming Other Game Companies
Steady Growth in Performance Noted with PUBG IP

Krafton's stock price is soaring. Strong performance continues based on the intellectual property (IP) of 'PUBG: Battlegrounds (hereinafter PUBG)'. Securities firms are also raising their target prices, stating that Krafton's growth will continue due to the prolonged PUBG IP cycle.

According to the financial investment industry on the 10th, Krafton recorded a closing price of 263,500 KRW the previous day, up 36.11% compared to the end of last year. During the day, it reached 271,000 KRW, marking the highest price of the year. During the same period, NCSoft fell 23.28%, and Netmarble rose 11.53%, making Krafton's performance superior.

The reason Krafton's stock price increase rate is higher than other game companies is interpreted as strong performance based on the PUBG IP. Krafton recorded sales of 665.9 billion KRW and operating profit of 310.5 billion KRW in the first quarter. This is an increase of 23.6% and 9.7%, respectively, compared to the same period last year. This exceeds the sales and operating profit forecasts by 17.20% and 28.80%, respectively, based on FnGuide.

Lee Dayeon, a researcher at Hanwha Securities, explained, "PUBG IP sales greatly exceeded expectations for both PC and mobile," adding, "PC sales continued to rise in traffic after the Rondo Map update at the end of last year, and mobile sales maintained a stable upward trend across most countries."

Lim Heeseok, a researcher at Mirae Asset Securities, also said, "For PC, the traffic (daily peak concurrent users of 600,000 to 700,000) that sharply increased after the December update last year was maintained, leading to strong sales," and "Although the strength of the Lunar New Year promotion in the China region was reduced, global sales elsewhere grew rapidly, offsetting this."

Securities firms continue to raise Krafton's target price due to the long-term growth of PUBG IP. This month, 17 securities firms, including Korea Investment & Securities, Daishin Securities, and Samsung Securities, released reports on Krafton, with 15 of them raising their target prices. According to FnGuide, securities firms expect Krafton's sales and operating profit this year to reach 2.1666 trillion KRW and 776.9 billion KRW, respectively. This is an increase of 6.33% and 7.30%, respectively, compared to the forecasts three months ago of 2.0376 trillion KRW in sales and 724 billion KRW in operating profit.

Nam Hyoji, a researcher at SK Securities, evaluated, "Although PUBG IP is in its seventh year, traffic and sales efficiency continue to rise," adding, "They did not aggressively monetize at the early stage of release and have maintained high traffic through steady content updates and stable live services." He emphasized, "Starting this year, they are securing additional upside by actively engaging in second-party publishing (combining minority equity investment and publishing contracts) and strengthening their position in the Indian market," and "They have steadily secured a mid-to-long-term pipeline by acquiring 10 creatives last year and 9 in the first half of this year."