[Featured Stock] Naver Declines Amid Forecast of Weak Performance This Year

Webtoon Nasdaq Listing Costs Reflected
Nasdaq IPO Price Not High
Daishin Securities Lowers Target Price by 7%

Naver is down 3% as of the 1st. There are forecasts that operating profit will fall short of expectations due to costs incurred from the Nasdaq listing of its webtoon business this year. The target stock price has also been lowered, which is interpreted as a contraction in investor sentiment.

As of 10:53 AM, Naver is trading at 161,900 KRW, down 3.00% (5,000 KRW) from the previous trading day.

On this day, Daishin Securities lowered the target price for Naver from 280,000 KRW to 260,000 KRW, a 7% decrease. Lee Ji-eun, a researcher at Daishin Securities, explained, "The reason for lowering the target price is due to the fact that the public offering price is not high compared to the webtoon business value previously reflected in Naver's corporate valuation, and considering the decrease in Naver's shareholding ratio." She also projected the second-quarter operating profit to be 411.7 billion KRW, lower than expected.

The researcher analyzed, "The public offering price of the webtoon is $21, with a market capitalization of about 4 trillion KRW, which is lower than the webtoon business value (5 trillion KRW) reflected in Naver's corporate valuation. For the webtoon listing to lead to an increase in Naver's stock price in the future, continuous growth in the webtoon industry must be confirmed."