[Featured Stock] SOOP Hits 52-Week High... Solid No.1 in Korea and Overseas Momentum Highlighted

Highest Price Record in About 5 Months Since February 28
No.1 Domestic Internet Broadcasting Platform After Twitch Withdrawal
Overseas Streaming Launch, Expected Growth in Thai Market

SOOP recorded an intraday 52-week high for the first time in five months. It appears that its earnings growth and overseas business momentum are steadily being highlighted.

As of 11:11 AM on the 1st, SOOP is trading at 141,600 KRW, up 7.84% (10,300 KRW) from the previous close. It reached a high of 142,000 KRW. This surpasses the previous 52-week high of 139,600 KRW recorded on February 28.

After Twitch Korea's withdrawal, SOOP has firmly established itself as the number one internet broadcasting platform in South Korea. According to SoftCon Viewership, a ranking platform for personal broadcasting platforms, as of 11 PM on the 30th of last month, the number of concurrent viewers reached 403,066. The competing platform Chijijik had 184,448 viewers. This is more than double the difference.

As SOOP continues its dominance in internet broadcasting, the number of paid subscribers is also increasing. Changyoung Lee, a researcher at Yuanta Securities, stated, "It is estimated that the increased number of paid subscribers and average revenue per user (ARPU) maintained in the second quarter are effects of Twitch’s high-spending users migrating to the platform." He added, "Platform revenue is expected to continue its high growth of about 24% in the second quarter following the first quarter." Advertising revenue is also expected to surge by about 37% due to the market’s peak season in the second quarter and increased content revenue from game leagues starting in the second quarter. Second-quarter sales are projected at 103.2 billion KRW, with operating profit at 30.7 billion KRW. These figures represent increases of 19% and 30% year-over-year, respectively.

Additionally, SOOP launched its overseas live streaming service on the 5th of last month. Traffic is increasing due to the rise in content from top local streamers in Thailand. Thailand is a country where esports is highly popular, ranking third in the 2023 Hangzhou Asian Games esports events, following China and South Korea. Researcher Changyoung Lee said, "Like South Korea, Thailand has high potential for live streaming growth in the future," and added, "Exclusive operation of the 2024 Thailand Valorant Challengers, expansion of popular Southeast Asian content such as billiards, and simultaneous global broadcasting of popular domestic Afreeca TV content are expected to expand global traffic."